Dr. Pauli Murray's childhood home opens as center to honor activist, inspire social justice work

DURHAM, N.C. (WTVD) -- After 15 years of renovation, the Pauli Murray Center for History and Social Justice opened their doors to the public Saturday, in Murray's childhood home.

"Pauli was a role model in what it means to be true to yourself and stand up for a world of liberation," Sarah Scriven told ABC11.

Scriven used to work near Murray's childhood home in Durham but has since moved. Scriven traveled from Maryland to attend the grand opening.

"Being inside of the home and getting to hear Pauli Murray's voice, getting to see photos that they took throughout their life, it's all really awesome," said Scriven.

Dr. Murray had many identities, but their legacy continues to touch the lives of so many, nearly 40 years after the Durham native passed away at age 75. Dr. Murray was an activist, an attorney, a creative, a poet, and a pioneer in the LGBTQ community. Their work influenced the civil rights movement and expanded legal protection for gender equality.

Given that conversations around pronouns and gender expression were different during Dr. Murray's lifetime, it's unclear which pronouns they may have chosen to use. In correspondence with family members, Dr. Murray described themselves as having a "he/she personality". The Center explains that the decision around Dr. Murray's pronouns remains fluid.

"This is an ongoing discussion among the Pauli Murray Center. Currently, the Pauli Murray Center chooses to use he/him and they/them pronouns when discussing Pauli Murray's early life and she/her/hers when discussing Dr. Murray's later years. When discussing Pauli Murray in general, we interchangeably use she/her/hers, he/him/his, and they/them/theirs pronouns, or we refer to Pauli Murray by their name and title(s). We hope this strategy will encourage readers to embrace the individual and fluid nature of gender," the Center's website states.

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The Center's Executive Director, Angela Thorpe Mason, believes that a closer look at the life and work of Dr. Murray will help keep their work in motion even decades after they've passed away.

"Pauli Murray was an architect. Pauli Murray left us breadcrumbs and blueprints, and so people will go into this space to learn about Pauli Murray, but also hopefully to gain tools about how to move contemporary social justice work forward," Thorpe Mason said. "When I'm feeling tense, when I'm feeling like I'm running out of time to make an impact on the world, Pauli Murray whispers to me there is still time yet."

Durham native Alycia Mercena also attended the grand opening, an alumna of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated, something she's proud to have in common with Dr. Murray.

"Deltas just do it like that, we're always on the front lines fighting. In fact, we fought for women's suffrage before we could even vote, that was our first act of public service," Mercena said, adding that she was also working to help people register to vote at the grand opening event.

Though this opening is a big step toward awareness about the life and work of Dr. Murray, Thorpe Mason said the work is not done.

"There are still people far and wide even people in our community who've never heard Pauli's name or who do not know about Pauli's impact," Thorpe Mason said.

To learn more about the center, click here.

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