Pauli Murray (1910–1985)

Born on November 20, 1910, in Baltimore, Anna Pauline Murray was a civil rights activist, women’s rights activist, author, Episcopal priest, and lawyer. She was the first African American woman ordained as an Episcopal priest. Murray holds several degrees, including from Howard University, where she graduated top of the class. Shea was also the first African American to earn a doctorate of judicial science degree from Yale Law School. In 1965, Murray began serving on the board of directors of the national ACLU and played a key role in turning the organization’s attention to gender inequality and made it a priority, coining the term “Jane Crow” to describe the the sometimes invisibly discriminatory laws as well as societal norms. She served on the Presidential Commission on the Status of Women, coauthored a brief with Ruth Bader Ginsburg for the Reed v. Reed case, and wrote the book, States’ Laws on Race and Color, which was called the “bible” of the Civil Rights Movement by Thurgood Marshall.

It is important to note that Murray did not conform to society’s gender norms and is highly regarded among LGBTQ+ people. Murray was devoted to feminism and the rights of women even as, it turned out, she privately battled lifelong gender identity issues. She should be a household name on par with Gloria Steinem or Ruth Bader Ginsburg, both of whom cited her work often. Instead Murray is an insider’s civil rights icon.