National Landmark Status Just Next Step in Growing Recognition of Pauli Murray's Legacy

“All roads lead to Pauli Murray,” Barbara Lau says.

As director of the Pauli Murray Project and board member of the Pauli Murray Center, Lau has spent more than a decade researching and drawing attention to the life of the Durham native, who was an activist, poet, teacher, attorney, historian, and Episcopal priest.

Lau and her team have been working since 2009 to get Murray’s Durham childhood home recognized as a piece of essential national history. After navigating the minefield of forms and funding for several years, Lau learned in December that the U.S. Department of the Interior/National Park Service officially signed off on the home’s status as a National Historic Landmark.

“It is the first National Historic Landmark focused on woman’s history in North Carolina and we believe it is the first in the nation focused on an African American woman that was LGBTQ,” said Lau.

“She is the mother of feminist legal strategy. She was the first African American woman Episcopal priest and Episcopal saint,” Lau said. “Pauli was always putting things together that others weren’t comfortable with. Through Pauli, we learn how to put things together differently, how to carve a new path.”

The Pauli Murray House, before and after restoration. Courtsey the Pauli Murray Project.

The impact of Pauli Murray is far-reaching. As Lau and her team continue to shine the spotlight on Murray, her story becomes more available and more influential.

In April, the Pauli Murray Project will host a celebration of Murray’s house’s status as a National Historic Landmark. They will compile exhibits based on Murray and briefly showcase the renovations Lau’s team has been working on.

 “Built in 1898, this is a house that never had running water,” Lau said. “The roof was caving in. The foundation had come unsettled.”

The house at 906 Carroll Street is expected to be open regularly to the public by 2020.