The Carl C. Morgan convention Center has many uses in Selma. The Center can seat up to 400 people and has been used for dinner meetings, weddings, dances and receptions of all kinds.

The Center is named for Carl C. Morgan Jr. who served as president of the Selma City Council from 1964 to 2000. He also served for 14 months as Mayor of Selma when Joe T. Smitherman stepped down in August of 1979.

He was born Aug. 12, 1920, in Uniontown, the son of Carl C. and Evelyn Ellis Morgan, a California native.

In 1946 Morgan and Baker Riddle opened Morgan Black Belt Tractor Company in Selma, one of seven such businesses in a city that seemed open for a bright future.

With other young business owners Morgan worked to organize the Selma Jaycees, which later grew into the Committee of 100 plus and was successful in bringing Hammermill Paper Company (now International Paper) to the city. He served also on the Selma City School Board, took an active role in historic preservation in the city and the state and was instrumental in the formation of the state Cahaba Commission, which he served for a number of years.

He was a founding director of The Old Depot Museum.

During his years in political office, Morgan held a number of positions in the Alabama State League of Municipalities and in the National League of Cities.

— Rick Couch, news editor

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