Honoring Pauli Murray ‘ 76
A legal scholar, intersectional feminist, author, Episcopal saint and priest, labor organizer, and LGBTQ+ advocate, The Reverend Doctor Pauli Murray was a trailblazer in the defining movements for human rights throughout the 20th century.
Murray’s path to ordination - and time at GTS - encountered the same challenges faced in other male-dominated institutions. Murray’s thesis "Black Theology and Feminist Theology: A Comparative View" reflects a theology of liberalism and commitment to political and social change that pushed the boundaries of a seminary and a church not quite ready to grapple with the “interstructuring” of racism, sexism, and economic exploitation. Murray graduated in 1976, and was made a local saint of this institution in Winter 2022.
An Icon to Pauli Murray, written by New York based iconographer Zachary J. Roesemann, was consecrated in the Chapel of the Good Shepherd.
The Pauli Murray Collective was formed in the last two years to support women and non-binary students at General Theological Seminary.
Pauli Murray '76, front row, center-left, was a legal champion for the 20th century's key efforts for civil rights. S/he was the first Black person to earn a JSD (Doctor of the Science of Law) degree from Yale Law School, a founder of the National Organization for Women, and the first Black person perceived as a woman to be ordained an Episcopal priest.