{{Short description|American politician (1869–1948)}} {{Infobox officeholder |name = Clarence Joseph Morley |image = Bench_and_bar_of_Colorado_-_CLARENCE_J._MORLEY.png |order = 24th |office = Governor of Colorado |term_start = January 13, 1925 |term_end = January 11, 1927 |lieutenant = Sterling Byrd Lacy |predecessor = William E. Sweet |successor = Billy Adams |birth_date = {{birth date|1869|2|9|mf=y}} |birth_place = Dyersville, Iowa, US |death_date = {{death date and age|1948|11|15|1869|2|9}} |death_place = Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, US |party = Republican }}
'''Clarence Joseph Morley''' (February 9, 1869 – November 15, 1948) was the 24th governor of Colorado from 1925 to 1927, serving one two-year term. He was a Republican. Before becoming governor he was a judge in Denver, Colorado. He was a member of the Ku Klux Klan which was an important force in Colorado politics during the 1920s and largely responsible for the division of the Republican and Democratic votes that enabled him to take office.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-06-06|title=The KKK ruled Denver a century ago. Here's how the hate group's legacy is still being felt in 2021.|url=https://www.denverpost.com/2021/06/06/denver-kkk-history/|access-date=2021-06-06|website=The Denver Post|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20030820151335/http://www.colorado.gov/dpa/doit/archives/govs/morley.html Colorado State Archives]</ref>
==Tenure as governor== Morely took office on January 16, 1925, in a ceremony at the Municipal Auditorium in Denver.<ref>[https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/cgi-bin/colorado?a=d&d=KCP19250116.2.5# Clarence J. Morley is Inaugurated Governor], ''Kiowa County Press'' (January 16, 1925).</ref> left|thumb|Morley signing bills in 1925 Virulently anti-Catholic, Morley was one of the most extreme governors in Colorado history.<ref name="Bartels">Lynn Bartels, [http://blogs.denverpost.com/thespot/2014/03/04/bob-beauprez-john-hickenlooper-kkk/106554/ Bob Beauprez bypasses KKK member, attacks Hickenlooper as most "extreme" governor] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140307152644/http://blogs.denverpost.com/thespot/2014/03/04/bob-beauprez-john-hickenlooper-kkk/106554/ |date=2014-03-07 }}, ''Denver Post'' (March 4, 2014).</ref> The Center for Colorado & the West at the Auraria Library wrote:
{{Blockquote|His vitriol toward all things un-American was thinly veiled as an attack on Catholics, and further, on immigration. His goal wasn’t simply to eliminate the use of demon alcohol by banning the use of sacramental wine; it was to stop key elements of Catholic practice, thus the religion itself. Morley espoused the view that if public schools weren't good enough for Catholic children, then Catholics should not teach in public schools. He agitated for the University of Colorado to fire all non-Protestant (that is, Catholic and Jewish) professors.<ref name="Bartels"/>}}
Morely's administration was marked by "scandals and ineptitude."<ref>Ed Quillen, [https://www.csindy.com/temporary_news/welcome-to-kolorado-klan-kountry/article_cd9e6f95-b1e6-52fd-a0f8-4364531315a8.html Welcome to Kolorado, Klan Kountry] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210720183449/https://www.csindy.com/temporary_news/welcome-to-kolorado-klan-kountry/article_cd9e6f95-b1e6-52fd-a0f8-4364531315a8.html |date=2021-07-20 }} at ''Colorado Springs Independent'' (May 21, 2003 Updated Oct 15, 2020).</ref>
==Mail fraud conviction== After leaving office, Morley established C.J. Morley & Company, a stock brokerage firm in Indianapolis, Indiana. In 1935, Morley was arrested on charges from mail fraud; he was convicted for 21 counts of mail fraud and using political influences to defraud customers. Sentenced to five years in Leavenworth Prison, he died three years after being released. He is buried in Denver at Fairmount Cemetery.<ref>[https://www.nga.org/cms/home/governors/past-governors-bios/page_colorado/col2-content/main-content-list/title_morley_clarence.default.html Governor Clarence Morley], National Governors Association.</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-ppo}} {{s-bef|before=Benjamin Griffith}} {{s-ttl|title=Republican nominee for Governor of Colorado|years=1924}} {{s-aft|after=Oliver Henry Shoup}} {{s-off}} {{succession box |before=William Ellery Sweet |years=1925–1927 |title=Governor of Colorado |after=William Herbert Adams }} {{s-end}}
{{Governors of Colorado}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morley, Clarence}} Category:1869 births Category:1948 deaths Category:People from Dyersville, Iowa Category:American politicians convicted of federal public corruption crimes Category:Republican Party governors of Colorado Category:American Ku Klux Klan members Category:Politicians from Oklahoma City Category:Critics of the Catholic Church Category:Colorado politicians convicted of crimes Category:Politicians convicted of mail and wire fraud Category:20th-century Colorado politicians