Pauli Murray - A Voice for Justice
Born: November 20, 1910, Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A.
Died: July 1, 1985, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.
Pauli Murray was a lawyer, activist, priest, and poet who fought against both racism and sexism, paving the way for civil rights and women’s rights.
Pauli Murray spent their entire life breaking barriers and fighting for equality. A lawyer, writer, activist, priest, and poet, Murray helped shape both the Civil Rights Movement and the Women’s Rights Movement. They called the struggles they faced “Jane Crow,” a term for the combined weight of racism and sexism. Through determination and courage, Murray became one of the most important social justice leaders of the 20th century.
Pauli Murray was born Anne Pauline Murray on November 20, 1910, in Baltimore, Maryland, the fourth of six children. When Murray was three years old, their mother died. Soon after, Murray’s father, who struggled with illness and grief, was committed to a hospital where he was later killed by a white guard. Murray went to live with an aunt and grandparents in Durham, North Carolina. Murray often said that being an orphan shaped their life more than anything else.
Even as a child, Murray stood out. By age five, Murray had already taught themself to read. In high school, they edited the school paper, joined the debate club, played basketball, and graduated at just 15. Murray wanted to attend a top university but faced limits at every turn. Columbia University would not admit women, and the University of North Carolina rejected them because of race. Instead, Murray enrolled at Hunter College in New York City, graduating in 1933 with a degree in English.
Life after college was hard. The Great Depression left few jobs, and Murray often struggled with poverty. They began writing poems and essays, some of which were published in major magazines, including the NAACP’s The Crisis. Murray also spent this time wrestling with their gender identity, asking doctors for treatments that were unavailable at the time.
Murray’s activism grew in the late 1930s and early 1940s. In 1940, Murray was arrested for refusing to give up a seat on a bus in Virginia, 15 years before Rosa Parks became famous for doing the same. This courage marked the start of Murray’s lifelong fight against segregation.
Murray decided to become a lawyer to take on unjust laws directly. At Howard University Law School, they graduated first in their class in 1944. While there, Murray argued that segregation violated the Constitution. A decade later, this same legal reasoning helped win Brown v. Board of Education (1954), the Supreme Court case that ended segregation in public schools.
Still, discrimination followed Murray everywhere. Harvard Law School rejected them because they were a woman. Undeterred, Murray earned advanced law degrees at UC-Berkeley and Yale, becoming the first Black person to receive a Doctor of Juridical Science (J.S.D.) from Yale.
In 1951, Murray published States’ Laws on Race and Color, a 746-page book that carefully documented segregation laws across the country. Thurgood Marshall, the lawyer who later became the first Black Supreme Court justice, called it the “bible” of the civil rights movement.
Murray never stopped pushing boundaries. In 1966, they helped found the National Organization for Women (NOW) but later criticized it for failing to fully support women of color and working-class women. Murray also worked as a professor at Brandeis University, where they taught some of the first courses in African American and Women’s Studies.
In 1977, Murray broke yet another barrier by becoming the first Black woman ordained as an Episcopal priest. Their first service took place at the Chapel of the Cross in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, the same church where Murray’s grandmother was baptized and just steps away from the University of North Carolina, which had once denied Murray entry.
Pauli Murray died of cancer on July 1, 1985, but their legacy continues to shape American life. Their autobiography, Song in a Weary Throat, was published after their death. Yale University named a college after them, and in 2012, the Episcopal Church declared Murray a saint. In 2024, Murray’s image will appear on a U.S. quarter, a symbol of the lasting hope and justice they stood for.
Historian Susan Ware once said, “All roads lead to Pauli Murray in the 20th century.” Murray’s work in law, poetry, religion, and activism shows how one person can use many talents to make a difference. Above all, Murray believed in equality and never stopped fighting for it.
References:
“The Pioneering Pauli Murray: Lawyer, Activist, Scholar and Priest.” National Museum of African American History and Culture, nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/pioneering-pauli-murray-lawyer-activist-scholar-and-priest.
Rothberg, Emma. “Pauli Murray.” National Women’s History Museum, www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/pauli-murray.
“Who Is Pauli Murray?” Pauli Murray Center, www.paulimurraycenter.com/who-is-pauli.
Key words:
Civil Rights, Justice, Courage, Perseverance, Freedom, Responsibility, Challenge Injustices, Stand Up for Your Beliefs
Image Citation:
"Pauli Murray approx. 1955.jpg" by FDR Presidential Library & Museum licensed under CC BY 2.0 / Changed to black and white and cropped from original
