Born in Oklahoma’s Red River country near the small town of Frederick, Jane Morrison graduated from Oklahoma State University. Her first job was as a newspaper editor in Perry, OK–a job only available to her because all available men were fighting World War II.
She then worked six years as an editor for the Associated Press in Oklahoma City and Kansas City.
Morrison moved to the Bay Area in 1949 with her husband Jack Morrison, who would later serve two terms on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.
In 1952, Jane joined NBC, working at KNBC and later KNBR as manager of public affairs programming, editorialist and trainer of interns. It was groundbreaking work for a woman in that era.
For a number of years, Morrison also taught broadcasting classes part-time at San Francisco State University, the University of San Francisco, and City College of San Francisco.
Jane Morrison became known as the “grand dame of San Francisco politics”, serving as State Women’s Chair of the California Democratic Party from 1958 to 1964 and as an official delegate to the 1960 and 1964 Democratic National Conventions. She served as Chair of the San Francisco Democratic Party from 2002 to 2004.
Jane Morrison died in 2020 at the age of 100.