Pauli Murray, Priest, 1985

Anna Pauli Murrayli” Murray (1910–1985) was an American civil rights activist who became a lawyer, a women’s rights activist, Episcopal priest, and author. Drawn to the ministry, in 1977 Murray was the first African-American woman to be ordained as an Episcopal priest, the first year that any women were ordained by The Episcopal Church. Some of her words reverberate these days: “As an American, I inherit the magnificent tradition of an endless march toward freedom and toward the dignity of all mankind.”