Dr. Dolores Orinskia Morris, the daughter of Joseph Morris and Gertrude Stokes Elliot, died on May 21, 2022, in New York City. Dr. Morris had a long and esteemed career as a clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst. She received her Ph.D. in psychology from Yeshiva University and a certificate from the New York University Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis, where she became a member of the faculty and a clinical consultant. She also earned a Bachelor of Science (cum laude) at Morgan State University and completed coursework in experimental psychology at Tufts University. While at Morgan State University, Dr. Morris joined the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. She was highly regarded for her excellence as a teacher, and as a mentor to psychoanalysts in training. Dr. Morris had an abiding interest in the maintenance of professional standards and a deep commitment to matters of diversity and social justice. She focused especially on how the interface of culture, ethnicity, and class in clinical and institutional settings shape one’s identity.

Dr. Morris was a member of the NY State Board for Psychology 2005-2010, a founding member of the Eastern region and treasurer of the Association of Black Psychologists (1965-74) and served on the advisory board for the Adolescent unit of Regent Hospital in New York 1990-94. Dr. Morris held leadership positions in several divisions of APA and the New York State Psychological Association. In 2011 she was presented with the Diversity Award by Division 39 of APA. She was a School, Clinical and Psychoanalytic Psychologist who was a national coordinator for the Specialty Board for Psychoanalysis of the American Board of Professional Psychology. Dr. Morris was a Founding Member of Black Psychoanalysts Speak, and she is featured in the film, Black Psychoanalysts Speak.

She was also a contributor to the professional literature. She was, for many years, a supervisor of school psychologists and administrator for the NYC Bureau of Child Guidance, received a certificate in psychoanalysis, maintained an independent practice as a psychologist/psychoanalyst and became one of the first black faculty members at the NYU Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis.

Highly regarded for her intellect, Dr. Morris was astute, sensitive, and warm in her clinical and personal relationships. She also had a distinctive personal style. She expressed her creativity through her love of gardening, writing poetry, and support of the arts in her spare time. She is greatly missed.