Morris L. Smith, 87, retired chemist, inventor and civil rights leader Melanie Burney, The Philadelphia Inquirer When an assassin killed the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968, Lawnside School Board President Morris L. Smith acted quickly to pay homage to the civil rights leader in his South Jersey community. Five days after King was slain, the school district, led by Mr. Smith, adopted a resolution to make King’s Jan. 15 birthday a holiday, commencing in 1969. Lawnside was believed to be the first municipality to commemorate the day, 14 years before it was declared a federal holiday. Mr. Smith, 87, an activist who championed civil rights and diversity, an inventor, a chemist and engineer, a community leader, and a Sunday school teacher, died Wednesday, Dec. 9, at his Lawnside home of complications from colon cancer.