The Firebrand and the First Lady: Portrait of a Friendship: Pauli Murray, Eleanor Roosevelt, and the Struggle for Social Justice (78 page)

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Authors: Patricia Bell-Scott

Tags: #Political, #Lgbt, #Biography & Autobiography, #History, #United States, #20th Century

BOOK: The Firebrand and the First Lady: Portrait of a Friendship: Pauli Murray, Eleanor Roosevelt, and the Struggle for Social Justice
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“prime movers”
: PM,
Song
, 48.

“a child of destiny”
: Ibid., 70.

“prophetic”
: Ibid.

“The missing element”
: PM to Family and Friends, [20 December 1973?], PMP.

Murray was fully aware
: PM,
Song
, 369–73, 417–19.

On January 10
: Ibid., 373–75, 419–25.

“uncontrollable sobs”
: Ibid., 423.

“talking to Renee”
: PM, “To Those Who Loved Irene Barlow,” March 7, 1973–March 13, 1973, PMP.

“kissed her goodbye”
: Ibid.

“flanked on each end”
: Ibid.

The public memorial
: Ibid.

“the closest person”
: Ibid.

Pauli’s efforts
: PM
, Song
, 425, and PM, journal, August 8, 1973, and June 9, 1974, PMP.

“together to comfort”
: PM, journal, July 8, 1973, PMP.

However, the call
: PM,
Song
, 426.

Renee had designated Pauli
: PM, journal, August 9, 1973, PMP.

Murray was the oldest
: PM,
Song
, 427–32.

“in limbo”
: Ibid., 427.

“With the prayer”
: PM to Bishop Paul Moore, inscription in PM,
Dark Testament
, Christmas 1973, Keller Library Archives, General Theological Seminary.

“abrasive”
: PM,
Song
, 428.

However, Murray’s calls
: Ibid., 430, and Earnest E. Pollock to PM, March 19, 1974, PMP.

“If you have to”
: PM to Ernie [Earnest E. Pollock], March 21, 1974, PMP.

“If I can’t take”
: Ibid.

“Church politics”
: PM to Pat[ricia Roberts Harris] and Bill [William Beasley Harris], December 25, 1976, Patricia Roberts Harris Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress.

“the most rigorous”
: PM,
Song
, 427.

“were happy about”
: PM, journal, July 8, 1973, PMP.

“some information”
: Ibid.

Her master’s thesis
: For a published version, see PM, “Black Theology and Feminist Theology: A Comparative View,”
Anglican Theological Review
60 (1978): 3–23.

On January 8, 1977
: Marjorie Hyer, “Episcopal Priests Ordained,”
WP
, January 9, 1977, and PM,
Song
, 434–35.

“the end of a long”
: Betty Anne Williams, Associated Press, January 8, 1977, a.m. cycle.

“priestesses”
: Hyer, “Episcopal Priests Ordained,”
WP
.

“the sun broke through”
: PM,
Song
, 435.

The Coalition
: James C. Wattley to Mr. Secretary, January 13, 1977, PMP.

“What do you really”
: PM to Johnny Walker, March 14, 1977, PMP.

She increasingly mentioned
: See Pinn, ed.,
Pauli Murray: Selected Sermons and Writings
, 33, 82, 158, 191.

“We bring our total”
: PM to Jim and Mary, February 4, 1971, PMP.

“Dear Sisters”
: PM to Dear Sisters [Gloria T. Hull, Patricia Bell-Scott, and Barbara Smith], November 25, 1983, in author’s possession. For the reflections of two scholars who interviewed Murray in 1983, see Leila J. Rupp and Verta Taylor, “Pauli Murray: The Unasked Question,”
Journal of Women’s History
14, no. 2 (Summer 2002): 83–87.

“My ordination”
: PM to Family and Friends, December 21, 1976, Special Collections, William R. Perkins Library, Duke University.

Barbara Harris
: Michael Paulson, “Episcopal Pioneer Reflects on Debate,”
Boston.com
, November 1, 2003, accessed August 3, 2013,
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles//11/01/episcopal_pioneer_reflects_on_debate
, and Mark Memmott, “First Gay Episcopal Bishop Says Death Threats ‘Strengthened My Faith,’ ” November 10, 2010, All Things Considered, National Public Radio, accessed August 3, 2013,
http://www.wgbhnews.org/post/first-gay-episcopal-bishop-says-death-threats-strengthened-my-faith
.

The consecration
: CNN Wire Staff, “Archbishop of Canterbury Slaps Episcopal Church for Openly Gay Bishop,” CNN World, May 28, 2010, accessed August 3, 2013,
http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2010/05/28/archbishop-of-canterbury-punishing-episcopal-church
.

By naming Murray
: Dawn Baumgartner Vaughn, “Episcopalians Celebrate Saint Pauli Murray: She Worked for Justice for All,”
Herald-Sun
, July 3, 1913.

64. “GOD’S PRESENCE IS AS CLOSE AS THE TOUCH OF A LOVED ONE’S HAND”

On February 13
: PM,
Song
, 435; the sermon she gave appears as PM, “Healing and Reconciliation,” in Pinn, ed.,
Pauli Murray: Selected Sermons and Writing
, 81–87.

“five servant children”
: PM,
Song
, 435.

“That the first woman”
: Ibid.

“historic moment”
: Charles Kuralt,
On the Road with Charles Kuralt
(New York: Putnam, 1985), 30.

“race, color, religion”
: PM, “Healing and Reconciliation,” in Pinn, ed.,
Pauli Murray: Selected Sermons and Writing
, 82.

“reaching out”
: Kuralt,
On the Road with Charles Kuralt
, 30.

She wore pants
: PM to Bill [William Beasley Harris] and Pat [Patricia Roberts Harris], October 20, 1982, Patricia Roberts Harris Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress.

She was among
: “Alice Paul, Advocate of Votes for Women, ERA, Eulogized,”
WP
, July 21, 1977; and “Celebrating Women’s History Month: Five Notable Women at the ACLU,” American Civil Liberties Union, August 9, 2013,
http://www.aclu.org/FilesPDFs/five%20notable%20women%20of%20the%20aclu.doc
.

Murray’s sermons
: For a cross section of Murray’s sermons, see Pinn, ed.,
Pauli Murray: Selected Sermons and Writing
, and Bettye Collier-Thomas, ed.,
Daughters of Thunder: Black Women Preachers and Their Sermons, 1850–1979
(San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1998), 221–76.

“God’s presence”
: PM, “The Gift of the Holy Spirit,” in Pinn, ed.,
Pauli Murray: Selected Sermons and Writing
, 23.

“a friend of the heart”
: PM, journals, December 28, 1974; December 31, 1974; and April 2, 1976; and PM to Louise Jefferson, February 27, 1984, PMP.

“a library with a”
: Michele Burgen, “Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray: Scholar, Activist, First Black Female Episcopal Priest, She’s Now Satisfied to Live Day to Day,”
Ebony
, September 1979, 112.

Murray’s loving embrace
: On the dog Roy, see PM to Aileen Hernandez and Wilma Heide, July 20, 1970, PMP. Roy is also mentioned and appears in a full-page photo with Murray in Harriet Jackson Scarupa, “The Extraordinary Faith of Pauli Murray,”
Essence
91 (December 1977): 107–10.

65. “HOPEFULLY, WE HAVE PICKED UP THE CANDLE”

“a creditable piece”
: PM, journal, December 23, 1968, PMP.

Among the stories
: Stella K. Hershan
, A Woman of Quality
(New York: Crown, 1970), 158–59.

“choked up”
: PM to Stella Hershan, October 25, 1968, PMP.

Both knew the heartache
: Hershan to PM, October 20, 1968, PMP.

In
Eleanor and Franklin
: Joseph P. Lash,
Eleanor and Franklin: The Study of Their Relationship Based on Eleanor Roosevelt’s Private Papers
(New York: Norton, 1971), 523–34; 675.

“Joe,” she began
: PM to Joseph P. Lash, October 5, 1971, PMP.

“a miser”
: Ibid.

“cherished Mrs. Roosevelt’s”
: PM to FDR Library, November 5, 1971, PMP.

“On the other hand”
: Joseph P. Lash to PM, October 17, 1971, PMP.

“Joe,” Murray replied
: PM to Joseph P. Lash, October 21, 1971, PMP.

While he mentioned
: Lash,
A World of Love
, 266, 493.

In July 1982
: PM to Family and Friends, August 11, 1982, Patricia Roberts Harris Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress.

This crisis
: Caroline F. Ware, epilogue to PM,
Song
.

Even so, the outline
: On the project in question, see Joan Hoff-Wilson and Marjorie Lightman,
Without Precedent: The Life and Career of Eleanor Roosevelt
(Bloomington: University of Indiana Press, 1984).

“the absence”
: PM to Majorie Lightman, December 15, 1983, PMP.

On December 4, 1982
: Judy Klemesrud, “The 42 First Ladies: Their Place in History,”
NYT
, December 6, 1982.

“youthful challenger”
: For a published version of the presentation Murray made at the Hunter College Conference on First Ladies, see PM, “Challenging Mrs. R.,”
Hunter Magazine
, September 1983, 21–23.

“For me”
: Ibid., 22.

66. “ELEANOR ROOSEVELT WAS THE MOST VISIBLE SYMBOL OF AUTONOMY”

“a joint venture”
: PM, Greetings [to Family and Friends], December 1984, in author’s possession. Maida Springer had married James Horace Kemp in 1965. He died in December 1983.

“twin apartments”
: Ibid.

By the year’s end
: Ibid.

“joyful reunion”
: Ibid.

“gorged”
: Ibid.

“high point”
: Ibid.

Among the presenters
: For the program, see “The Vision of Eleanor Roosevelt: Past, Present, Future,” October 12–16, 1984, Conference Program, Vassar College Archives, Poughkeepsie, NY.

Murray regaled
: PM, “Remembrance of Eleanor Roosevelt” (unpublished manuscript, September 1984), PMP.

Some conferees claimed
: Judy Klemesrud, “Mrs. Roosevelt Never Considered Herself a Feminist,”
Anchorage Daily News
, November 8, 1984, 26.

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