Robert and Elizabeth Morris were the children of Clifton and Claudia Morris. Dr. Robert L. Morris was born on June 21, 1901 in Eaton, Indiana. He received a bachelors degree in literature in 1925 from the University of Arkansas, where he began teaching in 1931, becoming a full professor in 1948. He taught creative writing and other literature courses and wrote poetry, fiction, plays and criticism for literary magazines. He was the author of several articles and book reviews, as well as the biography Opie Read: American Humorist, published in 1965. Dr. Morris retired from the University in 1969, though he continued to work part time as a teacher and stage director for several years thereafter. He died at age 93 on April 18, 1995, in Fayetteville.

Elizabeth Morris Walker was born on December 2, 1909, in Muncie, Indiana. She graduated from Fort Smith High School in 1926, attending the University of Arkansas and then working as an accountant for Fayetteville High School for twenty-one years. She served on the Ozark Regional Library Board for 25 years. Married to Henry B. Walker, she served as choir director for First Christian Church in Fayetteville, retiring in 1977. Both Elizabeth and Robert were benefactors of the University of Arkansas Libraries, and the Special Collections reading room is named in their honor. Elizabeth died at the age of 91 on October 13, 2001, in Fayetteville.