Willie Morris was born November 29, 1934, in Jackson, Mississippi, and soon after moved to Yazoo City, where he spent his childhood and youth. He was educated at the University of Texas, where he became editor of The Daily Texan, and graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1956. After graduation, Morris went to Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. From 1960-62 he edited the Texas Observer. From 1963-67 he was an associate editor at Harper's Magazine, and editor-in-chief from 1967 to 1971. In 1980 he became the Writer-in-Residence at the University of Mississippi.

Morris' many works include: North Toward Home (1967), Yazoo: Integration in a Deep-Southern Town (1971), Good Old Boy (1971), James Jones: A Friendship (1978), The Courting of Marcus Dupree (1983), Homecomings (1989), New York Days (1993), A Prayer for the Opening of the Little League Season (1995), My Dog Skip (1995), and The Ghosts of Medgar Evers (1998).

Additional biographical information can be found in the Willie Morris entry in the Mississippi Writer's Page

The collection contains Morris related photographs and ephemera. There is also a manuscript by Bales and a correspondence between Bales and Morris.

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