Priest. Pastor. Prophet.
Pauli Murray (1910-1985) was a pastor and civil rights attorney who advocated for racial, gender, and economic justice.
Murray was a brilliant legal scholar who helped lay the groundwork for Brown v. Board of Education, a faithful pastor who broke barriers of gender and race in the church, and, in her* own words, “one of nature’s experiments: a girl who should have been a boy.” Murray’s meaningful romantic relationships were with women, and she spent much of her life trying to make sense of her gender and sexuality. She considered herself a fusion of male and female characteristics, and is celebrated as the first African-American woman ordained in the Episcopal Church.
Few people have had such a profound impact on so many areas of American life. In Notable American Women, editor Susan Ware writes: “Civil rights, feminism, religion, literature, law, sexuality – no matter what the subject, there is Pauli Murray.” In recognition of her countless contributions to the church and the world, the Murray Fellows program is named in her honor.
*There is much debate about the pronouns Pauli Murray would choose to use if she were alive today, and scholars variously refer to Murray using he/him, they/them, and she/her. The Murray Fellows program acknowledges the appropriateness of all of these, while employing the pronouns that Murray used to refer to herself during her years as a priest. Learn more.