Pauli Murray (1910–1985)

A groundbreaking work not only of African American history, but of American history, by a pioneer of the civil rights movement.

Murray's prose is compulsively readable; she writes with sensitivity and insight about her maternal grandparents' (incredibly dramatic!) early lives, their mixed-race family origins in antebellum Pennsylvania and North Carolina, and her own vivid memories of growing up in Durham, NC during the Jim Crow era.

I'm looking forward to reading more by Murray and to visiting the museum that's slated to be opened in her Durham family home in the next few years.… (more)

Amazing -- The structure of the book, where you first meet the author's grandparents through her memories as a young girl, and then she pulls the layers back; the strength of the writing and descriptions; but most of all, the stories of her grandparents and great-grandparents and the context of the world within which they were thwarted and yet thrived -- great grandfather Thomas, born a slave, a successful farmer in a state where, if he left for over two months, as a black man he wouldn't be allowed to return -- grandfather Robert, who served the Union in the civil war in three services (Quartermaster, Navy, Army), was blinded by his service, devoted his life to educating the freedman -- great grandmother Harriett, enslaved by great aunt Mary, raped by great grandfather Sydney -- mother Cornelia, enslaved, yet raised as a pseudo-daughter in her father's house -- the stories of fugitive slaves on the underground railroad hiding on great-grandfather Thomas's farm on their way North -- the kidnappings of free slaves in free states, and how they were sent south into slavery -- the experiences of black men serving with the Union in the Civil War, and the context of the battles in which they fought -- the KKK terrorizing teachers of freedmen --

When Thomas was freed, How hazardous was the journey from the state of a freedman to that of a free man! Great-Grandfather Thomas could now come and go at will; he could marry and have legitimate children; he could receive the wages of his own labor and buy and sell property. But Delaware law left him like a man on the edge of quicksand; a misstep and he would be sucked back into servitude. The law declared that free Negroes and mulattoes "are idle and slothful, and often prove burdensome to the neighborhood wherein they live, and are of evil example to slaves." It excluded him and his children from state-supported education and denied him the right to vote. In fact, if he were caught within a half mile of a polling place on election day without an acceptable excuse that some unforeseen emergency had brought him there, he would be thrown in jail for twenty-four hours. The one thing he must not do was run afoul of the law in any way. He could not testify in court on any matter unless no competent white witness could be found. A staggering fine would be imposed upon him for a minor offense and if he could not pay his fine he would be sold at public auction back into slavery for periods up to seven years. If he left his native state for more than two months the law declared him a nonresident and he could not re-enter it to live, since Delaware barred free Negroes from coming into the state.… (more)

As the tags I added to this review show, Pauli Murray was deeply involved in making history throughout much of the twentieth century. In addition to her accomplishments as activist, attorney, academic and priest, she was a graceful, honest writer with a passion for getting the detail straight and a reliable sense of when to put herself front and center and when to step aside in telling of her life. This is one of the most fascinating autobiographies I have ever read and deserves to be an American classic.… (more)