[Durham INC] news from Raleigh: state marker for Pauli Murray in Durham

[John Schelp]

folks,

Moments ago, the NC Highway Historical Marker Advisory Committee voted to approve a state marker for Pauli Murray in Durham's West End neighborhood.

The support from the community has been heartwarming -- and vital to the process! Again, many many thanks to those of you who wrote letters to the state committee (see below).

Stay tuned for details about the marker's unveiling in 2011 -- as we continue to celebrate Pauli Murray's 100th birthday.

with very best wishes,

John Schelp
Pauli Murray Project :: http://paulimurrayproject.org/

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I write in support of the placement of a historic marker in Durham's West End in honor of Pauli Murray. Murray was a remarkable leader in the civil rights movement, labor movement, and the women's movement. She deserves special recognition for her efforts to integrate the graduate school at UNC-Chapel Hill. She was arrested for where she sat in a bus in Virginia in the early 1940s. She was a founder of the national organization for women. As a lawyer, teacher, writer, poet, prophet, and priest, she was on the cutting edge of social change movements for four decades in the United States.

North Carolina can be very proud of this remarkable woman who grew up in Durham, and a marker will help to educate the public about her. It is particularly appropriate to recognize Murray with a marker this year,  since we celebrate the 100th anniversary of her birth.

The Rev. Jeanette Stokes
Resource Center for Women & Ministry in the South
Durham, NC

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I am delighted to send a letter of support encouraging the State of North Carolina to recognize the work of Pauli Murray by erecting a state marker in her honor. I recently read her book, "Proud Shoes" and realized that she told an important story about Durham history.

Pauli Murray, who grew up in Durham, was a powerful woman who stood as a champion for civil and human rights. She touched many lives through her writing, her teachings and her sermons. She has gained national recognition (she was an advisor to Eleanor Roosevelt and appointed by John F. Kennedy to the President’s Commission on the Status of Women, Committee on civil and Political Rights,) and it is only fitting that the State of North Carolina also honor her work.

Ann Deupree
Woodcroft
Durham NC

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I fully share your hope for obtaining a state marker honoring Pauli Murray. We can all be proud of this impressive individual, and it is important for more citizens to know her inspiring story and her place in North Carolina History.
   
I still recall reading "Proud Shoes" at the suggestion of my mother; it made a big impression and helped lead me toward my lifelong interests as a historian of southern race relations.
   
Several years ago, I made note of her family when I published a short history of black Hillsborough. I am eager to see her story told more widely.

Peter H. Wood
Emeritus Professor of History, Duke University

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I am an Episcopal priest and rector of St Luke's Episcopal Church. When I moved back to Durham in 1986 I helped coordinate a dialogue on the life and work of the Reverend Dr. Pauli Murray. The dialogue was between women of St Luke's and women of St.Titus, the parish where Dr. Murray grew up. Many of the women in the group had long years of experience in the Durham City and Durham County School systems as well as their shared history of living in Durham through many of the decades Dr. Murray lived here.

It was an amazing experience of healing and growing for these black and white women. We found common ground around our varied voices and experiences. We have continued to engage in these kinds of reflections as we share Pauli Murray's life story with newcomers to Durham and new generations of Durham residents.

I, therefore, wholeheartedly support a marker in commemoration of the life, labor and dedication of Pauli Murray.

(the Reverend) Anne Hodges-Copple
St Luke's Episcopal Church
Durham, NC

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I work for Self-Help, a statewide non-profit community development and lending organization that is based in Durham. We work closely with the West End community where Pauli Murray grew up, and know how well Murray's accomplishments resonate with the community even today. Murray was raised in Durham but her importance extends well beyond the city.

One example of her continuing relevance is that, based on the advocacy efforts of community groups, Self-Help has agreed to help acquire Murray's childhood home (right down the street from where a marker would sit) so it can be rehabbed and put to a use that does Murray's legacy justice. I sincerely hope the state agrees to install a historic marker, as Pauli Murray is clearly deserving of the distinction.

Dan Levine
Self-Help
Durham, NC

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I am writing to encourage your support for a marker commemorating the life, work, and ideals of Pauli Murray. Pauli Murray was a leader and visionary for all people, and Durham should proudly celebrate her connections to our city. A state marker will serve as a great reminder of her vision and accomplishments, and inspire Durham to live up to her legacy.

Wendy Kadens
Durham, NC

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My family and I have been proud members of the Greater West End Community, Durham, NC, for over 30 years.

As such, we would be thrilled and energized to have one of our community's most ardent, erudite, persistent, and faithful spokeswomen for the rights of all people, Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray, receive the recognition she had long deserved, by means of a permanent historic marker.

Groups of activists are now coming together to lift up the work of Dr. Murray. The community in which she grew up, meanwhile, needs to have a tangible sign in place, an historic marker, to commemorate her contributions and to inspire all generations henceforth to keep up the good fight for truth and justice.

The time is now; the place is here.

Ethel C. Simonetti
Dean Street
Durham, NC

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I have heard with great pleasure that there is a possibility of a Pauli Murray marker in Durham.

Although I now live far away, I grew up in Durham and relished reading "Proud Shoes" when I was a teen. I followed news of Murray's many proud accomplishments. She has made her city and state shine even more brightly in the history of our nation.

A reminder of her life would be a great service to Durham and its residents.

Susan Bissette Preston
Madison, Wisconsin

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I am writing to urge you to support the creation of a marker in honor of Pauli Murray, one of Durham’s most significant historical residents. The accomplishments of this woman are not only extraordinary in themselves but extraordinary in that they were all accomplished in a single lifetime, especially considering gender and racial challenges she faced. She continues to be an inspiration and her influence extends well beyond Durham, North Carolina. Thank you for considering this request.

Barclay McConnell
Durham, NC

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What an honor to be able to recognize such an accomplished woman that had roots in our state! What a privilege to be able to recognize her and her accomplishments. Yes, I support her recognition and ask how can we not recognize this amazing woman that accomplished so much at such a difficult time in history, not only for woman but a black woman. It is long overdue.

Rebecca Heil
Durham, NC

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I am writing in support of the effort to get a state marker celebrating Pauli Murray as a champion for civil and human rights. Pauli Murray is one of my heroes and a person who had a profound impact on the effort both for civil rights for African-Americans and for women. I recall that she was rejected for law school by UNC because of the color of her skin and by Harvard because of her gender. She had the courage to take on the biggest problems of her time and she did so without regard to the penalties she would have to bear for challenging the status quo.

Pauli Murray is and should be celebrated as a source of great pride for our community.

Ken Rose
Durham, NC

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I am writing to support erecting a state marker celebrating Dr. Pauli Murray, champion for civil, human rights AND a citizen of Durham, North Carolina. Lucky us to have had such a brave foot soldier in the war of injustice. Her passion and determination paved a smoother path for all of us. A state marker would help keep her spirit alive and inspire generations to come.

Marcia Kirinus
Durham, NC

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Preservation Durham supports the Pauli Murray Project in its efforts to have a state marker erected in commemoration of civil rights activist Pauli Murray. Pauli Murray was a leader and visionary for all people, and Durham should proudly celebrate her connections to our city. Please do everything in your power to facilitate the creation of a state marker recognizing Pauli Murray.

Sean Stucker
Preservation Durham

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I’m writing in support of the State of North Carolina acknowledge one of her most accomplished daughters, Pauli Murray. Growing up in Durham’s West End neighborhood, Murray graduated from Hillside High School. Much of the social movements of the 20th century were embodied by her actions. She worked on the Brown vs. Board of Education case that led to the end of separate but equal schools, was a founder of the National Organization for Women, and was the first black woman to be ordained an Episcopal priest.

She published many articles, essays, poems and sermons, but her most famous book is Proud Shoes: The Story of an American Family is set in Durham. Written in 1956, covering almost one hundred years of history, this story of her family includes both painful and joyful events, and is an inspiration to all who read it.

Joanne Abel
Durham County Library

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I am writing to urge you to support the creation of a marker in honor of Pauli Murray, one of Durham’s historical heroes. Pauli Murray helped our country take giant steps forward in civil rights for African Americans and women. Let's show the world that we are proud of her and her North Carolina roots.

Christine Westfall
Clarendon Street
Durham, NC

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I have read "Proud Shoes" and am part way through her autobiography. It just makes sense to have a monument to this amazing women in the town she grew up in.

Robert Cook-Deegan, MD
Sanford School of Public Policy, Duke University

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Please support the Pauli Murray marker. Among so many things, Pauli Murray co-founded the National Organization for Women and served on the national board of the American Civil Liberties Union. She broke barriers, she did it with her intelligence, she did it with her devotion, she did it with your passion. I am a proud citizen of North Carolina and I want my great state to recognize this great woman.

Risa Foster
Durham, NC

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I am writing to request that the state provide a historical marker for Pauli Murray.  She was an incredible woman who lived an extraordinary life, and this marker will be one small way of pointing to a life well lived.

I live in the neighborhood where she was raised and her positive impact is still being felt, even though it has now be several years since she passed.

Todd Maberry
Kent Street
Durham, NC

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I believe that a marker constructed in recognition of Paula Murray would be very fitting.

Carrie McNair
Durham, NC

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Please go forward with the marker to recognize Pauli Murray who grew up here in Durham. In fact, she grew up just two blocks from where I live! I'm impressed by the folks coming out to celebrate her life and plan for great uses of her childhood home. She is a great inspiration to anyone who has been exposed to her work/writings, but especially here in Durham where we realize any of us can strive to influence social change!

Sandy Demeree
President, West End Neighborhood Association

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The Lyon Park Neighborhood Association is proud and excited to support the erection of a Pauli Murray State Historic Highway Marker.

Dr. Murray spent most of her early childhood in Durham, North Carolina and attended school in the West End/Lyon Park Community. As a woman of color and for her time, she overcame significant obstacles to become a poet, lawyer, writer, teacher, civil rights activist, women right's activist, and priest. The City of Durham, North Carolina and the community that she grew up in would appreciate and support a historic marker that would commemorate her human rights activism and her life. Her story is a testimony to what one person can do to make the world a better place in which to live.

Victoria Joyner Phillips & Hazeline Umstead
Lyon Park Neighborhood Association

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The board of the Old West Durham Neighborhood Association has voted unanimously to support a state marker recognizing the significant accomplishments of Pauli Murray.

We join others in saying, "the time is now; the place is here."

John Schelp
President, Old West Durham Neighborhood Association

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Pauli Murray has emerged as a true Durham hero shaped and formed by this community. To honor her is to honor not only our history but a future full of promise.

Sam Miglarese
Director of Community Engagement, Duke University

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I am writing to support the great idea of dedicating a state historical marker to recognize and celebrate one of North Carolina's great citizens, Pauli Murray. As writer, civil rights advocate, and pioneer religious leader, Ms. Murray represents all that's best in our history and society and very much merits this recognition.

Steven Channing
Durham, NC

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I am delighted to send a letter of support encouraging the State of North Carolina to recognize the work of Pauli Murray by erecting a state marker in her honor.

Pauli Murray, who grew up in Durham, was a powerful woman who stood as a champion for civil and human rights. She touched many lives through her writing, her teachings and her sermons. She has gained national recognition (she was an advisor to Eleanor Roosevelt and appointed by John F. Kennedy to the President’s Commission on the Status of Women, Committee on civil and Political Rights,) and it is only fitting that the State of North Carolina also honor her work.

Shelly Green
President & CEO
Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau

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I am a Black Feminist Scholar and Educator... who is thrilled to live blocks away from the home where Pauli Murray, Black Feminist Scholar, Educator, Civil Rights Lawyer, Pathmaker, Boundary Breaker, Spiritual Leader and Beacon of Bravery for marginalized folks of all kinds -- including and especially LGBTQ people -- I deeply support, encourage, and celebrate in advance the erection of an official marker letting all who pass through our neighborhood, and who live here know about the great legacy of brilliance we walk with!   

I am especially excited about the marker as a visible educational tool. I can't wait to talk about Pauli Murray with the children in our neighborhood who should be able to proudly remember that this is a place where genius finds it's name!

In anticipation of your recognition,

Dr. Alexis Pauline Gumbs
Durham, NC

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I support the Pauli Murray Project in their efforts to have a state marker erected in commemoration of civil rights activist Pauli Murray. Please do everything in your power to facilitate the creation of a state marker recognizing Pauli Murray. Thank you.

Karen Glynn
Alabama Avenue
Durham, NC

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I'm writing to urge you to approve a state marker in the Durham community to honor Pauli Murray, a great civil rights & women's rights champion.  Pauli Murray initiated many 'firsts' in our state & community, including the first female African-American priest in the Episcopal Church in the United States, after which she performed her first Eucharist at the Chapel of the Cross Episcopal Church in Chapel Hill.

However, she also has missed some 'firsts' by virtue of the formal & informal Jim Crow laws that denied her entry to UNC law school, as well as the  UNC School of Social Work.  As she became the first African American person to receive a J.S.D. from Yale Law School (& many other positions of honor), this shameful denied entry underscores the loss to our community & state experienced by denial of African American leaders to positions of influence, to education that would help get them there.
     
In some small degree, a marker in her honor can effect a restoration of respect to a woman who did not become bitter from these rejections  - rather she championed a country that would have "...no north or south, no black or white, no male or female—only the spirit of
love and reconciliation drawing us all toward the goal of human wholeness.”

Len C. Stanley
North Mangum Street
Durham, NC

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I am writing in support of a historical marker honoring a great leader and resident of Durham, Pauli Murray.

I heard about her within months of arriving in Durham in 1994 and immediately found a copy of her autobiography. What an amazing life lived surfing the waves of modern transforming history. Civil rights, reclaiming proud African-American history and preserving slave memories, women's rights - all key moments where Ms. Murray was at the front lines. (Sometimes creating the front lines.) As a member of NOW in 1972, I am sad that I did not know then how much I owed Pauli Murray for helping create a group that has changed so much of our U.S. landscape and my life.

Then I read Proud Shoes and was thrilled with the artistic writing style and the collected history of Durham so well preserved. I was inspired to go on a quest to find her family home near the cemetery, since I happened to be reading the 1987 published version. I've driven by her home many times since then with carloads of visitors hearing her story told by me. More recently, my tours include all the wonderful murals in her honor - which take my visitors all over SW central Durham. We read Proud Shoes in my book group and it inspired a lively discussion about women's lives, Durham history, and the inter-weaving of many families.

Now, with the Pauli Murray project introducing new information and creating new venues for conversation and growth, Murray's life inspires us all to talk together about race and gender in the 21st century and then walk the talk.

Susan Sewell
Legion Ave
Durham, NC

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The State marker for Pauli Murray shares the celebration of a champion for civil and human rights, who grew up in Durham in our neighborhood. We want to share this history with the city of Durham, neighbors and our children. This state marker brings forth history which should not be hidden.

Deborah Jolly
West End
Durham, NC

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I am writing to solicit your favorable support of the marker placement in honor of Pauli Murray. This historical factor would add a significant cultural and legendary element to the prosperity of Durham and its past. This marker would represent the chronicled life of Pauli Murray, and serve as a positive influence for the future of our city and community.

Rose
Durham, NC

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I definitely support having a marker for Pauli Murray. After moving to Durham, I was pleased to discover "Proud Shoes," in which the Rev. Murray writes about her childhood in a home not far from my own, but in a very different time. Her account of her grandparents' lives is a wonderful and informative account of the generation that saw the Civil War, the end of slavery, and the rise of  a free people in the post-war South. And, of course, she was also a ground-breaking civil rights advocate, whose writing was important in making the case for desegregation in "Brown V. Board of Education."

Recently, I attended a meeting near my home of local people working to restore Pauli Murray's childhood home. I'm hopeful this will occur. Certainly, the least we can do to honor this daughter of Durham is a historic marker.

Ken Macdonald
Cobb Street
Durham, NC

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I am writing to show my support for placing a historical marker for Pauli Murray in the West End area of Durham, NC. She was a wonderful example for us all about living ones life with integrity. She worked for social change in so many arenas; personal, public, political, religious.... you name it. The marker would be something Durham could be proud of and use for the education of all about her life.

BJ Fusaro

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I am writing in support of a state marker for Pauli Murray's life in this community. Her story, her book, her involvement in this town and its people, and her achievements should all be more widely known, both to honor her and to inspire those who live here and who pass this way. There are already a number of local markers paying homage to her zeal, her passion and her words. How nice it would be for the state commission to recognize this homegrown movement to praise her contributions, and to draw attention to it in a way that would make this clear to those beyond Durham.

Wendy
Durham

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I would like to express my support for The Pauli Murray Project’s request to get a state marker celebrating this champion for civil and human rights, who grew up in Durham. Please approve a marker for Pauli Murray.

In my book club, we read her family history called Proud Shoes, and I was impressed with her courage and pioneering efforts in the areas of civil and human rights, as well as her very “American” story. Durham and the state of NC should be proud to claim her as its own.

As a historian, attorney, poet, activist, teacher and Episcopal priest, she worked throughout her life to address injustice, to give voice to the unheard, to educate, and to promote reconciliation between races and economic classes. Her beautifully written memoir, Proud Shoes: The Story of an American Family, was published in 1956. The book chronicles her roots and paints a compelling portrait of Durham during its formative years.

Tania Dautlick
East Forest Hills Blvd
Durham NC

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I would like to support in any way possible the erection of a state historic marker to honor the life of Pauli Murray. She is an important figure both nationally and locally. Her life is an inspiration to all those who value social, economic, and human justice. The fact that she is from Durham makes this marker imperative as one of many steps our community can take to commemorate her life.

Victor Gordon
West Woodridge Drive
Durham, NC

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I fully endorse the idea of a Pauli Murray historical marker. She embodies so many values we should hold up in our community: persistence in the face of race prejudice, high education achievement, breaking not only racial barriers but theological ones, her wisdom. As a member of the queer community, I will feel diminished if the decision is made not to approve such a marker.

Faith S. Holsaert
Sprunt Street
Durham, NC

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A marker for Pauli Murray's home is a great beginning toward recognizing her home appropriately.

Pauli Murray accomplished so much in so many fields that if we were put up a marker for each worthy achievement in each field, the front yard would be more festooned with markers than her back yard, which is saying a lot.

Some would protest recognizing her accomplishments because some of her accomplishments were not only controversial in her own time, but remain controversial. However, even for those who may disagree with aspects of her life, were they to focus on the parts of her life that they agree with, they would see plenty of achievement worth marking.

Philip Azar
Monmouth Ave
Durham, NC

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As co-chair of the Southwest Durham Quality of Life project Steering Committee we were responsible for the Pauli Murray Place project off Jackson Street. We also engaged Brett Cook, an artist, to do the numerous Pauli Murray based murals in Durham. I am not longer with SWCD QOL but as Executive Director of NEEM and invested personally in recognition of Pauli Murray I whole heatedly support and ask that the State move forward with a marker that officially gives her the recognition she deserves in Durham.

Jeffrey Ensminger
Natural Environmental and Ecological Management (NEEM)

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I am a property owner in the west end of Durham. In fact I proudly own one of the buildings in Durham that has a mural of Pauli on it. A marker to honor her many contributions to our society will express this city's awareness of our privilege in being able to claim her as our own! Please support moving forward on this effort.

Hettie Johnson
Durham, NC

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It would be great to have a state marker honoring this incredible lady, Ms Pauli Murray.  Below is only a portion of the many reasons she should be recognized in this way.

Bill Newton
Durham, NC

Born in Baltimore in 1910, Anna Pauline “Pauli” Murray moved to Durham in 1914 to live with her aunt, Pauline Fitzgerald Dame, after the sudden death of her mother. While living in Durham, she resided with her family on Carroll Street and was raised by her aunt and her maternal grandparents, Robert George Fitzgerald and Cornelia Smith Fitzgerald. She graduated from Hillside High School in Durham in 1923 and Hunter College in 1933. Murray had a mixed-race heritage, which included both white slave owners and African American slaves from North Carolina (maternal grandmother) and Irish and free people of color from Pennsylvania (maternal grandfather). She described her experiences growing up in a mixed-race family in Durham in her 1956 book, Proud Shoes: The Story of an American Family

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I would like to add my vote for getting a state marker for Pauli Murray.

Fran Wilson
Durham, NC

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Please support the proposed marker for Pauli Murray. Durham residents need to know the importance of her contribution to American history.

Billy Stevens
President, Lakewood Park Community Association

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As a long time Durham resident and business owner, I urge you to approve a state historic marker honoring Pauli Murray and all she accomplished. This is a wonderful opportunity to recognize the life of a human rights activist whose work still resonates and influences today. She is just one of the many reasons I am proud to call Durham home.

Carol Anderson
Demerius Street
Durham NC

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I am writing to encourage your support for a marker commemorating the life, work, and ideals of Pauli Murray. Pauli Murray was a leader and visionary for all people, and Durham should proudly celebrate her connections to our city. A state marker will serve as a great reminder of her vision and accomplishments, and inspire Durham to live up to her legacy.

Marya McNeish
Durham, NC

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I write in support  of the creation of a marker in honor of Pauli Murray, one of Durham's most significant historical residents. She was a champion for civil and human rights whose accomplishments deserve to be recognized and honored with a state marker.

Retta Walpole
Durham, NC

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Please approve a state marker for Pauli Murray. Thank you!

Susan Graff
Durham, NC

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I am writing in support of the erecting a state marker celebrating Pauli Murray for her contribution to the civil rights movement. Her role has a particular connection to the triangle, both for the early years she spent here, but also for her focus on equality in education -- an industry that plays a critical role in the vibrant history and economy of Durham and Chapel Hill.

Please lend your attention and support to the efforts to honor her.

Harriet Baker
Durham, NC

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I think it would be a wonderful thing to have a historical marker commemorating Pauli Murray in Durham! Heaven knows we have enough signs about former tobacco barons and confederate heroes. She's someone we would do well to remember and emulate.

John Utz
Green Street
Durham, NC

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Our book club read Proud Shoes and enjoyed it. We couldn't figure out exactly where she grew up so a marker would be most appreciated.

Pat Carstensen
Newton Drive
Durham, NC

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This letter is to support a marker for the historically significant life and work of Pauli Murray. Pauli Murray's leadership and vision for all people, including those in Durham should be remembered on a state marker to remind everyone of her accomplishments and inspire everyone to live up to her legacy.

David Watts
Durham, NC

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Please consider a state marker for Pauli Murray.

This community has done a lot to educate Durham on who this person was and what her  works has done for the community and Durham.  Thanks.

Denice M. Johnson
Durham, NC

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I join with all of the Durham residents who are requesting a historical marker in Durham to honor the memory of Durham's Pauli Murray.

Ann McNally Sink
Old Sugar Road
Durham, NC

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Please add my name to the long list of Durham residents who are hoping that the state will approve a marker to honor the life and works of Pauli Murray.

Her life is an inspiration to us all and a marker would show that we, the people of Durham, respect and admire this champion of human and civil rights.

Liz Wildermann
Durham, NC

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I consider Pauli Murray one of my favorite local heroes who fought for the kind of community, and state, and world that I want to live in. I admire her lifelong struggle for human rights and social justice, her life of love and commitment to equality as a member of the LGBTQ community, and her work in religion-at-its-best -- an eye on the sacred allowing us to transform hate and division into love, reconciliation and wholeness.

I urge you to approve the proposed state marker that would help others in our state learn about this wonderful woman who has given us so much. Thank you for your consideration and all you do.

Dani Martinez-Moore
Raleigh, NC

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I am writing to express my support for the creation, as well as the placing, of a marker, recognizing the talent, determination, efforts and accomplishments of longtime Durham Resident, Pauli Murray.

Ms. Murray's life uniquely represents our ever-present efforts to move from under the shadow of slavery, into a free and integrated society.

Whether it be her ability to reconcile the views of the oppressed with the oppressor (having been the creation of intimate relations between a slave owner and that of a slave); challenging the admissions process at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; becoming the first African-American in the United States to earn the designation of Episcopal Priest; or, navigating her way through the difficult task of attaining an Undergraduate Degree, Masters in Law, as well as a Juris Doctor from one of the Country's finest Law Schools (University of California - Berkley), Ms. Murray's life provides an eternal sense of hope;  representing a brightly shining example of housing for the homeless, friendship for the lonely, educational opportunity for the poor, equality for the female, representation for the poor, freedom for the oppressed and lastly, salvation and reconciliation with our lord God, through Jesus Christ.

Clearly her life has touched - and paved the way for - others; to the extent that official recognition is appropriate.

As a Citizen of Durham, NC I can state with the utmost confidence that Ms. Murray's name is regarded in the highest manner, by Durhamites of all form, no matter what type of environment I find myself in at the time; whether it be a Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People meeting, Durham Inter Neighborhood Council Session, a Democratic Party gathering, or a Durham People's Alliance meeting -- the life of Ms. Pauli Murray was such that it has left a mark of distinction on the City.

Such stature deserves nothing less than an official marker, detailing the life, determination, heroism and accomplishment, of Ms. Murray.

Darius Mercedes Little
Durham, NC

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I am writing in strong support of a state marker for Pauli Murray, an incredible champion for civil and human rights who grew up in Durham. As a queer black historian, attorney, poet, activist, teacher and Episcopal priest, she worked throughout her life to address injustice, to give voice to the unheard, to educate, and to promote reconciliation between races and economic classes. Her beautifully written memoir, Proud Shoes: The Story of an American Family, was published in 1956. The book chronicles her roots and paints a compelling portrait of Durham during its formative years.

Thank you very much for ensuring that the legacy of this amazing person is preserved to inspire many more generations of Durham residents.

Tasseli McKay
Bynum, NC

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Please approve a state marker for Pauli Murray.

Pauli Murray was a champion for civil and human rights who grew up in Durham. Her insights and vision continue to resonate powerfully in our times. As a historian, attorney, poet, activist, teacher and Episcopal priest, she worked throughout her life to address injustice, to give voice to the unheard, to educate, and to promote reconciliation between races and economic classes. By being true to herself in expressing her queerness and genderqueerness, she provides a positive role model that is necessary for our youth right now.  Her beautifully written memoir, Proud Shoes: The Story of an American Family, was published in 1956. The book chronicles her roots and paints a compelling portrait of Durham during its formative years.

Beth Bruch
Iredell Street
Durham, NC

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I too would like to encourage your support for a marker commemorating the life, work, and ideals of Pauli Murray. Pauli Murray was a leader and visionary for all people. Her work and accomplishments should make Durham proud. As someone else state earlier "Durham should proudly celebrate her connections to our city. A state marker will serve as a great reminder of her vision and accomplishments, and inspire Durham to live up to her legacy."

Lisa

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Please support the installation of a historical marker recognizing the work of Pauli Murray.

Nancy Rizzo,
Durham, NC

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Pauli Murray was a remarkable leader in the civil rights movement, labor movement, and the women's movement. As a lawyer, teacher, writer, poet, prophet, and priest, she was on the cutting edge of social change movements for four decades in the United States.

Rama Mills

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North Carolina can be very proud of this remarkable woman who grew up in Durham, and a marker will help to educate the public about her. It is particularly appropriate to recognize Pauli Murray with a marker this year,  since we celebrate the 100th anniversary of her birth.

Laura Beach
Durham, NC

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Pauli Murry's pioneering accomplishments definitely deserve formal recognition by the state. Please consider honoring her with a NC historic marker.

Mary M. Wible
Durham, NC

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Please approve installing a state marker in honor of Durham's inspiring native daughter Pauli Murray. Adding a state marker for her would certainly honor an important and underrecognized figure in the history of our city, our state and our nation, and would further a sense of pride in the community that cherishes its connection with her remarkable person and accomplishments. Thank you.

Stacey Craig Riberdy
Durham, NC

"Great art is not a matter of presenting one side or another, but presenting a picture so full of the contradictions, tragedies, and insights of the period that the impact is at once disturbing and satisfying." Pauli Murray

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I am writing to support a state marker celebrating this champion for civil and human rights, who grew up in Durham. Here's why:

Pauli Murray was a champion for civil and human rights who grew up in Durham. Her insights and vision continue to resonate powerfully in our times. As a historian, attorney, poet, activist, teacher and Episcopal priest, she worked throughout her life to address injustice, to give voice to the unheard, to educate, and to promote reconciliation between races and economic classes. Her beautifully written memoir, Proud Shoes: The Story of an American Family, was published in 1956. The book chronicles her roots and paints a compelling portrait of Durham during its formative years.

More Background: Born in Baltimore in 1910, Anna Pauline "Pauli" Murray moved to Durham in 1914 to live with her aunt, Pauline Fitzgerald Dame, after the sudden death of her mother. While living in Durham, she resided with her family on Carroll Street and was raised by her aunt and her maternal grandparents, Robert George Fitzgerald and Cornelia Smith Fitzgerald. She graduated from Hillside High School in Durham in 1923 and Hunter College in 1933. Murray had a mixed-race heritage, which included both white slave owners and African American slaves from North Carolina (maternal grandmother) and Irish and free people of color from Pennsylvania (maternal grandfather). She described her experiences growing up in a mixed-race family in Durham in her 1956 book, Proud Shoes: The Story of an American Family.

She went on to graduate at the top of her class from Howard Law School, receive her master's in law from the University of California - Berkeley's Boalt Hall Law School and then to be the first African American person to receive a J.S.D. from Yale Law School. She was a civil and human rights activist, a founder of the National Organization for Women and the first African American woman to be ordained an Episcopal priest. She published many articles, essays, books, poems and sermons. She was an advisor to Eleanor Roosevelt and was appointed by President John F. Kennedy in 1961 to the President's Commission on the Status of Women, Committee on Civil and Political Rights.

Although she lived much of her adult life outside of North Carolina, there are two aspects of her life that are particularly significant to North Carolina, particularly as they relate to African-American history and the civil rights movement: her campaign for admission to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and her ordination as the first female African-American priest in the Episcopal Church in the United States, after which she performed her first Eucharist at the Chapel of the Cross Episcopal Church in Chapel Hill.

The Campaign for UNC: In 1938, Murray applied to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for admission to the university's graduate program in applied social work. Under the leadership of UNC President Frank Porter Graham, the university's applied social work department was a national leader in the study of race relations in the late 1930s. However, the department had no black students or faculty at the time Murray applied, and her application was rejected pursuant to a North Carolina law that denied black students admission to the University. Murray led a campaign with the support of Lewis Alston, editor of the Carolina Times and other activists to challenge the decision of the University. While she received public support, the NAACP chose not to take her case and UNC did not admit African Americans to its graduate programs until 1951. Murray's early campaign was widely credited by civil rights leaders in the state as paving the way for the
desegregation of higher education in North Carolina.

Ordination as the First African-American Woman Episcopal Priest: Pauli Murray was one of the first women and the first African-American woman to be ordained in the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States. Raised in the Episcopal faith, Murray entered seminary in 1973 and was ordained four years later. After her ordination at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC, she presided over her first Eucharist at the Chapel of the Cross Episcopal in Chapel Hill, where her slave grandmother had been baptized in 1854. She described the historical significance of this event in her autobiography, Songs in a Weary Throat, describing herself at that moment as a "Descendant of slave and of slave owner . . . now I was empowered to minister the sacrament of One in whom there is no north or south, no black or white, no male or female-only the spirit of love and reconciliation drawing us all toward the goal of human wholeness."

In 2008, the first woman Bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States, Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schiori, recognized the historical nature of Murray's ordination while visiting the Chapel of the Cross. In 2009, the North Carolina's Episcopal Diocese Convention passed a resolution asking that the Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray be added to the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church in recognition of the her significance and the impact she has had across the nation and around the world. Murray died in Pittsburgh on July 1, 1985 after battling cancer.

Tema Okun
Durham, NC

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