Anna Morgan was born in Fleming, N.Y on Feb. 24, 1851. She attended the Hershey School of Music in Chicago, Ill., studying elocution, where she quickly gained a reputation as a dramatic reader appreciated for her natural style as well as her interesting mixture of reading material. She had become known as "Miss Anna Morgan, Chicago's Favorite Reader." She toured the U.S. from 1880 to 1883 and then accepted a position as drama teacher at the Chicago Opera House Conservatory.
In 1899 she established her own school, the Anna Morgan Studios, where she presided until her retirement in 1925. Anna was a pioneer in set design in addition to premiering the works of numerous European playwrights such as Henrik Ibsen, George Bernard Shaw and Maurice Maeterlinck. She declined offers to teach in New York, Paris, London and Florence in order to remain at her school and active in the Chicago dramatic scene.