Pauli Murray

The Pauli Murray Center lifts up the life and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray, a twentieth-century human rights activist, legal scholar, feminist, author, poet, Episcopal priest, labor organizer, and multiracial Black, LGBTQ+ community member. Center programming in history, education, arts, and activism seeks to advance justice and equity. The Pauli Murray Center welcomes everyone. Exhibits, community dialogues, visual and performing arts, activism, and workshops at the Center connect history to contemporary human rights issues. Pauli Murray’s childhood home, built in 1898 by their Fitzgerald grandparents, anchors our historic site and was designated a National Treasure in 2015 and a National Historic Landmark in 2016. Civil rights, feminism, religion, literature, law, sexuality – no matter what the subject, there is Pauli Murray.” Pauli Murray lived one of the most remarkable lives of the twentieth century. S/he was the first Black person to earn a JSD (Doctor of the Science of Law) degree from Yale Law School, a founder of the National Organization for Women and the first Black person perceived as a woman to be ordained an Episcopal priest. Pauli Murray’s legal arguments and interpretation of the U.S. Constitution were winning strategies for public school desegregation, women’s rights in the workplace, and an extension of rights to LGBTQ+ people based on Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Pauli Murray crafted a broad vision of justice, equity, and human rights using words as her primary tool in the fight for liberation. Their vision for a just and equitable world is a beacon of hope during troubled times. Their social justice tactics, legal strategies, speeches, letters, books, sermons, and poetry are models for our ongoing activism aimed at dismantling the oppression s/he faced and we continue to face because of white supremacy. Join the effort to establish an impactful and welcoming Pauli Murray Center for History and Social Justice that will activate visitors of all ages to be inspired by Pauli's legacy and stand up and speak out for peace, equity, and justice. The Pauli Murray Center for History and Social Justice is located at 906 Carroll Street, Durham, NC 27701 . We are open on Saturdays and Wednesdays for public tours. Please see our calendar for weekly hours and events, including tours, programs, and community gatherings. Private tours and space rentals can be requested on any day of the week.