Morris "Mo" King Udall is the son of Arizona Supreme Court Chief Justice Levi S. Udall and Louise Lee Udall and brother of former Congressman and Secretary of the Interior, Stewart Lee Udall. He was awarded a J.D. degree from the University of Arizona in 1949 where he served as President of the Associated Student Government and co-captain of the basketball team. He entered the United States Army-Air Force as a private in 1942 and was discharged as a captain in 1946. Mo played professional basketball for one season (1948-1949) with the Denver Nuggets and is a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame.
He started a law firm with his brother, Stewart served as Pima County Attorney from 1952-1954. He served as Vice-President of the Arizona Bar Association in 1961, was a cofounder of the Bank of Tucson and the Catalina Savings and Loan Association, and served as president of the Tucson YMCA in 1960.
When his brother, Stewart resigned from the House of Representatives to serve as Secretary of the Interior in the Kennedy Administration, Morris was elected to his seat in the 87th Congress (1961-1962) until his resignation on May 4, 1991. Morris served as chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs from 1977 to 1991. He also was the ranking member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs. He was a candidate in the Democratic primaries for President in the 1976 national campaign. He was the keynote speaker at the Democratic National Convention in New York in 1980. In 1992, a special tribute was paid to Morris K. Udall by the Democratic Party at their national convention.
Composed of Morris K. Udall's professional and public papers that document his thirty years as a Representative from Arizona's 2nd Congressional District, his tenure as Chairman of the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, and his campaign for the 1976 Democratic Presidential nomination.
Personal files includes biographical materials; appointment books, daily schedules and guest books; personal correspondence; campaign files, Congressional leadership posts as Speaker of the House and House Majority Leader, and his bid for the 1976 Democratic Presidential nominations; invitations and publications.
Legislative files include correspondence; bill files; legislative assistant files; committee files; voting and attendance records; staff project files; the Central Arizona Project; the Public Land Law Review Commission; the Office of Technology Assessment; Congressional Record Inserts and the Democratic Study Group. Of note are the materials pertaining to the Central Arizona Project, Alaska Lands Act, Strip Mining Act, Arizona Wilderness Act, and other legislation relating to wilderness and related environmental issues.
Administrative files include correspondence, subject files and staff files that relate to routine Congressional office matters, requests and correspondence relating to particular constituent problems or issues.
Media files include correspondence; press releases and statements; mailings, newsletters and robos; clippings; questionnaires and Freshman Seminar.
Supplemental files include memorabilia and pre- Congressional activities as a lawyer and his political activity in Pima County, Arizona.