Marilyn Morris, 65, a professor of history who helped develop the LGBTQ Studies program at UNT, died Aug. 17. She came to UNT in 1991 as an expert in 18th century British political and cultural history and also enjoyed teaching courses on Louis XIV and the Enlightenment. Through her 31 years at the university, she sought to bring a voice to the LGBTQ community, said Clark Pomerleau, associate professor of history, in a statement.

She began by rethinking categories and promoting LGBTQ history. She helped found the Study of Sexualities program in 2003 with other faculty members, obtaining funding for the program and serving as its director for six years. When the name changed to LGBT Studies in 2009, she co-directed the program for another five years.

Her research included areas such as transgendered perspectives, queer identity, domesticity and 18th century gender transgression, among many others. She wrote two books -- The British Monarchy and the French Revolution in 1998 and Sex, Money and Personal Character in Eighteenth-Century British Politics in 2014 – and was writing a third with the working title The Theatre of Matrimony in Georgian Britain.

The Marilyn Morris Award for Outstanding Academic Contributions to LGBTQ Studies was named in her honor, and she received the inaugural award in 2019.

She joined UNT after a three-year stint as assistant editor of the papers of Benjamin Franklin at Yale University. She also worked as a research assistant for the Bentham Project at University College in London.

She earned her bachelor’s degree from Hampshire College in 1979 and her doctorate from the University of London, England, in 1988.

The Department of History is hosting a celebration of her life at 2 p.m. April 28, 2023, in Wooten Hall 222 on campus, with a reception following. Memorial contributions are welcome to the Dr. Marilyn Morris Endowed Scholarship Fund at UNT.