For Immediate Release
Now at St. Pauls’ Chapel:
Imp, Crusader, Dude, Priest Explores the Life of Pauli Murray,
Social Justice Pioneer, Attorney and First African-American Female Episcopal Priest
(New York, February 27, 2018) -Fifteen years before Rosa Parks refused to stand, Pauli Murray, a great-granddaughter of an enslaved woman and the family that owned her, refused to sit in the back of a bus in Virginia.While a law student at Howard University, 20 years before the Greensboro sit-ins, she organized restaurant sit-downs in Washington, D.C.
Murray was a remarkably accomplished African American woman, a barrier-breaking member of the LGBTQ communitywho dedicated her life to fighting social injustice through her work and through her faith. A co-founder of the National Organization for Women, she was the first African-American awarded a doctorate of law from Yale University, and at age 66, the first African-American womanto be ordained as an Episcopal priest. She was also a civil rights lawyer, poet and historian. Murray, who died in 1985 at the age of 74, was named a saint by the Episcopal Church in 2012.
The exhibit Pauli Murray:Imp, Crusader, Dude, Priestat St. Paul’s Chapel (Broadway and Fulton Street)celebrates her life and legacy. It showcasesMurray’s multifaceted identities and her aspiration to integrate them all into a single life of purpose and transformation.
The exhibit beginswith a series of ”early selfies” that she created and named while in her 20s. They reflect the different aspects of her personality including The Imp, The Crusader, The Dude and The Priest. She included the images in an amazing photo album “The Life and Times of an American Called Pauli Murray.”
Visitors to St. Paul’s will have the opportunity to take a photo in front of the selfie wall and write their own lines of poetry. Additionally, 30 students from nearby Leadership and Public Service High School will exhibit triptychs that explore how others see them, how they see themselves, and how they want the world to see them.
The installation, presented in collaboration with the Pauli Murray Center for History and Social Justice and the Pauli Murray Project at the Duke Human Rights Center/FHI runs untilMarch 21, 2018. The opening reception is March 1at 6 PMat St. Paul’s Chapel, RSVP requested.
St. Paul’s Chapel is open daily from 10 AM – 6PM. On Sundays, the exhibit can be viewed after 11 AM.
A play about Pauli Murray’s life, To Buy the Sun, will be presented at St. Paul’s Chapel on April 5, 6, and 7 at 7 PM and on April 7 at 2 PM. Performances are free and open to the public. Tickets will be available beginning on March 1.
For more information on Pauli Murray: Imp, Crusader, Dude, Priestvisit
ABOUT TRINITY CHURCH WALL STREET
Trinity Church Wall Street is a growing and inclusive Episcopal parish that seeks to serve and heal the world by building neighborhoods that live Gospel truths, generations of faithful leaders, and sustainable communities. The parish is guided by its core values: faith, integrity, inclusiveness, compassion, social justice, and stewardship. Members come from the five boroughs of New York City and surrounding areas to form a racially, ethnically, and economically diverse congregation. More than 20 worship services are offered every week at its historic sanctuaries, Trinity Church and St. Paul’s Chapel, the cornerstones of the parish’s community life, worship, and mission, and online at trinitywallstreet.org. The parish welcomes approximately 2.5 million visitors per year.
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CONTACT:
Lynn Goswick: / 212-602-9635 / 917-224-9299
Ilyse Fink: / 212-575-4545 / 917-455-5974
Barbara Dimajo, / 212-575-4545 / 954-865-7549
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