St. Joseph County Commissioner Rafael Morton will be honored with The History Museum’s 2025 African American Legacy Award at their Juneteenth Reception on Tuesday, June 10, 2025, from 5:30-7:30pm.
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Born and raised in South Bend, Rafael Morton is a graduate of LaSalle High School and received his Bachelor of Science in Marketing & Advertising from Indiana University Bloomington School of Business. Mr. Morton has worked as Senior Marketing and Sales Consultant at WSBT-TV since August of 1988. He has dedicated many years to public service, first as a representative to the St. Joseph County Council since 1992, including as its president in 2003. This past November of 2024, he was elected to the St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners.
Morton has served on the boards of St. Joseph County REAL Services, St. Joseph County Community Corrections, and CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate Program), among others. As a member of The Rotary Club, Morton helps coordinate its largest annual service project, delivering food to 150 families in need each Thanksgiving.
A specially appointed committee composed of community leaders and chaired by History Museum board member Marvin Curtis, Ed.D., selected Commissioner Morton as the award recipient from several nominations from the community.
The African American Legacy Award is presented annually by The History Museum to celebrate the immeasurable contributions of members of the African American community in the St. Joseph River Valley, to honor the legacies and achievements of past generations, to shine a light on those in the present, and to influence efforts that will impact the future.
1991
Helen Pope
John Charles Bryant
1992
Theresa Ashe
Virginia Calvin
Kathryn Jeffries
1993
Elizabeth Fletcher Allen
Eugenia Braboy
1994
Dale O. Grayson
Jesse L. Dickinson
1995
Dr. John W. Skinner
Dr. B.W. Streets
Dr. S. Bernard Vagner
Dr. Milton A. Butts
1996
Etta Boswell Bowen
Dr. Roland Chamblee
Ida Mitchum
1997
Louvenia Cain
Rev. L. James Perry
1998
Wilma Gary
1999
Carl Ellison
Ladies of Distinction
Michael Warren
2000
Josephine H. Curtis
Hollis Hughes, Jr.
Ben Johnson
Our Day Together Club
St. Pierre Ruffin Club
2001
Farrow Powell Family
Sondra Mose Ursery
2002
Lester C. Lamon
Unsung Heroes and Heroines
of the Local Civil Rights Movement
2003
American Negro Girls
Softball League and “Uncle Bill’s”
All Colored Girls Softball Team
Coquese Washington
2004
Mary Frances Grayson-Jackson
Rev. Gerald L. Hayden
Elmer S. Joseph
Charles E. Thompson
2005
Chester Allen
Zilford Carter
Jesse Dickinson
Valjean Dickinson
Bernard Luther White, Jr.
Cleo Washington
2017
Marvin V. Curtis Ed.D.
2018
Civil Rights Heritage Center
2019
Jacquelyn Rucker
2023
Verge “Brother Sage” Gillam
2024
Dé Bryant, Ph.D.
