Vashti Turley Murphy
Vashti Turley Murphy | |
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Born | Lula Vashti Turley February 1884 |
Died | March 17, 1960 |
Nationality | American |
Occupation | Educator |
Known for | One of the founders of Delta Sigma Theta |
Spouse | Carl J. Murphy |
Children | 5, including Elizabeth Murphy Moss |
Relatives | Vashti Murphy McKenzie (granddaughter) |
Lula Vashti Turley Murphy (February 1884 – March 17, 1960) was an American educator and community leader, one of the founding members of Delta Sigma Theta, the historically black sorority.
Early life and education
[edit]![](http://up.wiki.x.io/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ea/Deltasigmathetafounders.jpg/220px-Deltasigmathetafounders.jpg)
Lula Vashti Turley was born in 1884, in Washington, D.C., the daughter of Hamilcar Turley and Ida H. Francis Turley.[1] Her father was a clerk in the Pension Bureau, and a church choirmaster.[2] Both of her parents died when she was a girl, and her older siblings both died while she was in high school.[3]
Turley graduated from the M Street School in Washington, D.C., and trained as a teacher at the Miner Normal School (now the University of the District of Columbia).[3] In 1913, while she was a student at Howard University, Turley was one of the founders of Delta Sigma Theta.[4][5] At Howard, she graduated in the class of 1914.[6]
Delta Sigma Theta and other activities
[edit]Vashti Turley Murphy taught school as a young woman,[3] and traveled.[7] She was founder of the Baltimore alumnae chapter of Delta Sigma Theta.[8] In 1932 she and Vivian Johnson Cook co-founded the Philomathean Club, a black women's study group.[9][10] In the 1950s, she encouraged all Delta alumnae to vote, and to join the NAACP.[8] In 1957, she was honored as Mother of the Year by the Baltimore alumnae chapter of Delta Sigma Theta.[11]
Murphy was a member of the board of directors of the Baltimore YWCA, president of the St. James Episcopal Church Women's Auxiliary, a member of the wives' club of Alpha Phi Alpha (her husband's fraternity), and active at Morgan State College (where her husband was on the board of trustees).[2] She was the first president of the Women's Auxiliary of Crownsville State Hospital.[1] She was also president of the parent-teacher association at Public School No. 103 in Baltimore.[12][13]
Personal life and legacy
[edit]In 1916, Vashti Turley married her Howard University German instructor Carl J. Murphy.[14] He was later best known as a publisher of the AFRO-American newspaper.[15][16] They had five daughters: Martha Elizabeth (1917–1998), Ida Ann (1918-1996), twins Carlita (1921 - 2006) [17] and Vashti Murphy-Matthews (1921 - 1981),[18][19] and Frances (1922–2007).[20][21] Her eldest daughter Elizabeth Murphy Moss was a journalist, war correspondent, columnist, and editor.[22] Vashti Murphy-Matthews, a photo engraver, was a member of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion. Upon returning from her military service, she joined the newspaper as a researcher and archivist.[18] Turley's granddaughter and namesake Vashti Murphy McKenzie[23] is a bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal Church.[24][25]
Vashti Turley Murphy died in 1960, aged 76 years, in Baltimore, after a long illness and a leg amputation.[1][26] Thurgood Marshall was one of the many honorary pallbearers at her funeral.[2][16] The Baltimore chapter of Delta Sigma Theta created a Vashti Turley Murphy Award for meritorious service,[27] and a scholarship fund in her name.[2] The community center at the Crownsville State Hospital was named for Vashti Murphy.[28]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c "Murphy Funeral to be Monday". The Evening Sun. 1960-03-19. p. 3. Retrieved 2020-06-03 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c d "Mass Said for Mrs. Murphy (continued from page 1)". Baltimore Afro American. March 22, 1960. p. 21. Retrieved June 3, 2020 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
- ^ a b c Moss, Elizabeth Murphy (May 18, 1957). "If You Ask Me". Baltimore Afro American. p. 4. Retrieved June 3, 2020 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
- ^ Moss, Elizabeth Murphy (1981). Be Strong!: The Life of Vashti Turley Murphy, Co-founder Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., and Her Impact on the Lives of Others. E.M. Moss and A. Paul Moss.
- ^ "Founders". Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Retrieved 2020-06-03.
- ^ Howard University (1919). Alumni directory, 1870-1919. The Library of Congress. Washington, D.C., Howard university.
- ^ "The Week in Society". The Washington Bee. 1911-09-16. p. 5. Retrieved 2020-06-03 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b Phillips-Cooke, Marie (November 18, 1978). "Delta's Heritage Day". Baltimore Afro American. p. 18. Retrieved June 3, 2020 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
- ^ Ida E. Jones and Edith Murungi (May 2016). Finding aid for the Philomathians papers, Beulah M. Davis Special Collections, Morgan State University.
- ^ "A Beautiful Lady: Vivian Cook". Baltimore Afro American. August 6, 1977. p. 9. Retrieved June 3, 2020 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
- ^ "'This is Your Life', Soror Vashti Murphy". Baltimore Afro American. May 18, 1957. p. 9. Retrieved June 3, 2020 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
- ^ "Mothers' Night Meet Held at School No. 103". The Evening Sun. 1925-03-20. p. 34. Retrieved 2020-06-03 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Parent-Teachers Form Program for Term". The Evening Sun. 1925-01-14. p. 13. Retrieved 2020-06-03 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Draper, Frances Murphy (2016). No Ordinary Hook Up: The Courtship of Vashti Turley and Carl Murphy, 1915-1916. CreateSpace. ISBN 978-1537047669.
- ^ "Stroke Kills Carl Murphy". The Baltimore Sun. 1967-02-26. p. 11. Retrieved 2020-06-03 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "2,100 Pay Respects to Mrs. Carl Murphy". Baltimore Afro American. March 22, 1960. p. 1. Retrieved June 4, 2020 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
- ^ "Carlita Murphy Jones". Uncrowned Community Builders. Retrieved 2020-06-03.
- ^ a b Flash, Oprah; Johnston, Amy (2023-07-05). "Six Triple Eight: The battalion of black women erased from history". BBC News Online. Retrieved 2023-07-06.
- ^ Gray, Mark F. (December 20, 2018). "AFRO's Murphy-Matthews Among Those Honored For WWII Service | Afro". Retrieved 2020-06-03.
- ^ Who's who in Colored America. Who's Who in Colored America Corporation. 1942. p. 379.
- ^ Wright, James (November 20, 2007). "Pioneering African American Journalist Francis Murphy Dies". The Skanner News. Retrieved 2020-06-03.
- ^ O'Brien, Dennis (1998-04-08). "Elizabeth Murphy Moss, 81, Afro reporter and editor". The Baltimore Sun. p. 35. Retrieved 2020-06-03 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ McKenzie, Vashti Murphy (2001-06-01). Strength in the Struggle. The Pilgrim Press. ISBN 978-0-8298-2079-9.
- ^ "Delta Sigma Theta to host Founders Day program". The Journal. March 8, 2019. Retrieved 2020-06-03.
- ^ Dykes, De Witt S. (2005). "McKenzie, Vashti". Oxford African American Studies Center. doi:10.1093/acref/9780195301731.013.44284. ISBN 9780195301731. Retrieved 2020-06-03.
- ^ "Last Rites for Delta Founder Vashti Murphy". The Pittsburgh Courier. 1960-03-26. p. 17. Retrieved 2020-06-03 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Childress, Richard (1984-02-05). "Sorority Marks 71st Birthday". The Baltimore Sun. p. 58. Retrieved 2020-06-03 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Guests at Crownsville Vashti Murphy Center". Baltimore Afro American. November 29, 1960. p. 6. Retrieved June 3, 2020 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
External links
[edit]- Toya G. Corbett, "Family, Faith And Feminism: The Murphy Women, 1896-2000" (PhD dissertation, Morgan State University 2014). A doctoral dissertation about Vashti Turley Murphy, her inlaws, her children, and her grandchildren.
- Sean Yoes, "The Murphy Women: Matriarchs of a Media Dynasty" AFRO (March 19, 2020).
- American activist stubs
- American educator stubs
- 1884 births
- 1960 deaths
- 20th-century African-American educators
- 20th-century American educators
- Delta Sigma Theta founders
- Murphy family
- Educators from Baltimore
- Dunbar High School (Washington, D.C.) alumni
- University of the District of Columbia alumni
- YWCA
- Schoolteachers from Washington, D.C.
- Morgan State University people
- Educators from Maryland
- NAACP