DURHAM -- About 30 volunteers gathered in the West End on Saturday hoping to put a new shine on a fading landmark, the childhood home of one of the city's most notable residents.
Layers of debris left from homeless squatters covered the dirty carpets in Pauli Murray's former home at 906 Carroll St. About 9 a.m., local residents, college students, and other volunteers started peeling off the boards on the windows, bagging the mess strewn across the floors, and stripping layers of carpet that covered old hardwood stairs Murray mentioned in her book "Proud Shoes: The story of an American Family."
"We have been working together since 2001 to tell the stories of these communities, and this is really one of the biggest stories we want to tell," said Barbara Lau, director of Duke University's Human Rights Center Pauli Murray Project. "We want more people to know about her. We want this place to become a place where people can learn about her work, her activism for fighting for human rights for everyone."
For years, Murray's life and work appeared to be overlooked, like those of other African-American women, Lau said.
But as the nation expanded its list of historical characters, attention has turned to Murray's story. It included being denied admission in the 1930s to graduate school at UNC-Chapel Hill because of her race and to Harvard University because of her sex. She went on to become a civil rights lawyer, an author and storyteller, a poet, and the first African-American woman ordained in the Episcopal Church.
"She was ahead of her time," said Lau, who pointed out that Murray attempted to get into UNC-Chapel Hill 20 years before an African-American was admitted. "We are finally catching up to her."
The cleanup Saturday is part of a broader community revitalization effort. About eight years ago, residents in six neighborhoods started working to reverse the urban decay of their Southwest Central Durham community and to promote and preserve its history, which included Pauli Murray.
Partnership evolves
The neighborhood partnership eventually collaborated with Duke University Documentary Studies to explore local stories. That effort, which resulted in various Murray murals across town, evolved into the Pauli Murray Project, Lau said, which aims to educate the community about her work and fight for human rights. It also tries to further her goal of creating a diverse but cohesive community.
This month, The Pauli Murray Project kicked off a yearlong celebration of her birth 100 years ago. On Nov. 21, Murray's birthday will be celebrated with cake, poetry, and presentations by N.C. State University architectural students who are imagining possible uses for Murray's childhood home.
Self Help Credit Union, which is working with the neighborhood project, has negotiated an option to purchase the former Murray house. The Pauli Murray Project, neighborhood groups and others are working to raise money to acquire and renovate it, said Dan Levine, a project manager for the credit union.
A first step
The cleanup was one step among many in preparing the home for renovation. Mayme Webb-Bledsoe, who grew up in the area and represents Duke in the neighborhood partnership, said the day marks a culmination of efforts to preserve the home and enhance the community that inspired and educated Murray.
By 3 p.m., a large bin next to the house was spilling over with debris. The doors and windows were once again boarded up to protect the clean and now bare home.
Angela Williams spent her day dragging junk out of the home in the cold, wet weather to pocket some sweat equity hours to obtain a Habitat for Humanity home. She said she didn't know much about Murray when she came, but she left a fan.
"I am definitely going out and find that book," she said of Murray's "Proud Shoes."
