A trailblazer for civil rights and a pioneering figure for Black women and the LGBTQ community, Reverend Dr. Pauli Murray is now emblazoned on the latest quarter.
The 2024 coin, the 11th in the American Women Quarters Program, as noted by the United States Mint, features the activist’s face on the reverse side engraved within the word “HOPE.” The coin bears a symbolic representation of Murray’s visage, framed by her iconic eyeglasses.
The design encapsulates the priest’s unwavering
conviction that profound societal transformations could be achieved when anchored in the power of hope. Encircling her likeness is an inscription drawn from her poetic work, “Dark Testament,” characterizing hope as “A SONG IN A WEARY THROAT,” a poignant metaphor that resonates with her indomitable spirit and resilience in the face of adversity.“It was amazing. It was truly like an out-of-body experience,” Rosita Stevens-Holsey, Pauli’s oldest living niece, told ABC 11.
“She created space where there was
none, and Pauli saw the deficits in society; she saw that there was not space for Black people to live liberated lives, there was not quite space for women to live full lives,” said Angela Mason, executive of the Pauli Murray Center situated in West Durham, North Carolina.Born on November 20, 1910, in Baltimore, Murray spent her childhood in Durham, North Carolina. According to The Pauli Murray Center, she moved to New York after high school and graduated with a B.A. in English Literature from Hunter College in 1933.
The scholar received national publicity after she was denied acceptance to the all-white University of North Carolina in 1938, a case that connected her to Eleanor Roosevelt. An arrest during a sit-in inspired Murray to pursue a career as a civil rights lawyer. After becoming the sole woman in her law class at Howard University, Murray’s legal acumen proved influential, impacteing luminaries like Thurgood Marshall and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She co-founded the National Organization for Women and became the first Black woman ordained as an Episcopal priest. She died in 1985.
The 2024 quarter featuring Murray is currently in circulation. The Pauli Murray Center’s renovations should be completed in the fall, ABC 11 noted.