Carl J Murphy (1889 - 1967)

Born 17 Jan 1889 in Baltimore, Maryland, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Lula Vashti (Turley) Murphy — married 1913 (to 1960) in District of Columbia, United States

Descendants

Died 25 Feb 1967 at age 78 in Baltimore, Maryland, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: US Black Heritage Project WikiTree [send private message]

Carl Murphy is a part of US Black history. Join: US Black Heritage Project Discuss: black_heritage

Biography

Carl Murphy is Notable.

Carl Murphy was a Marylander.

Carl Murphy was a part of the Civil Rights Movement.

Carl Murphy was awarded the Spingarn Medal for outstanding achievement by an African American.

Carl was born in 1889. He passed away in 1967. He is the son of John Murphy, Sr and Martha Howard.

Carl was an editor, journalist, publisher, civil rights activist, and educator in Baltimore, Maryland. His family owned the Afro-American newspapers.

His parents were strong advocates for African-Americans to be heavily educated. His mother felt that Carl was her most scholarly child (out of 10 children). He graduated Howard University, with honors, in 1911. In 1913, he received his MA from Harvard University. He became head of his family newspaper business in 1922. He had a 49 year tenure as editor and head of the Afro-American Company.

The newspaper developed it into one of the largest circulated black newspapers in the nation. Carl was groundbreaking in using "colored reporters, journalists and photographers" to report on WWII, including his daughter, Elizabeth.

He married Lulu "Vashti" Turley in 1916 in Washington, DC. They met while she was a student and he was her German teacher at Howard University, Washington, DC. They had five daughters:

1. Martha "Bettye" Elizabeth (Murphy) Moss (1917-1998), a journalist, war correspondent, and editor (1917-1998)
2. Ida Ann (Murphy) Peters (1918-1996)
3. Carlita (Murphy) Jones (1921-2006), twin with Vashti (1921- )
4. Vashti, twin with Carlita (1921-1981), a member of the 6888th Battalion in WWII
5. Frances (Murphy) Campbell

Civil Rights

In 1935, Carl is credited with forming the Baltimore Branch of the NAACP. Members included Thurgood Marshall and Lillie Jackson.

From 1935 to 1966, Carl was the Head of the Baltimore Branch of the NAACP, Legal Redress Committee.

From 1942-1949, serves as a member of the Maryland Council of Defense.

Thurgood Marshall credits Carl for major civil rights victories, "if it were not for Carl Murphy, there would not have been any money to file court cases such as those for equal salaries for Baltimore teachers, integration of the fire and police department, and challenges against the University of Maryland's Law School admission policies."

Awards

• Spingarn Medal, 1955, the 40th recipient of the award for the highest achievement of an American of African descent
• Chuck Stone Lifetime Achievement Award, 1979 from the Natl. Assn. of Black Journalists
• MDDC Hall of Fame Class of 2015: The AFRO-American Newspaper's Carl J Murphy

Links

• Afro-American company. This Is Our War: Selected Stories of Six War Correspondents Who Were Sent Overseas by the Afro-American Newpapers: Baltimore, Washington, Philadelphia, Richmond And Newark. [Baltimore]: The Afro-American company, 1945.
• MDDC Press Assn: Hall of Fame 2015: Carl J Murphy

Sources

• Encyclopedia.com: Carl J Murphy 1889-1967

• "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M2NH-V9J : accessed 3 February 2021), Carl J Murphy in household of John H Murphy, Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 293, sheet 11A, family , NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 558; FHL microfilm 1,374,571.

• "United States Passport Applications, 1795-1925," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV5B-LBCD : 16 March 2018), Carl J Murphy, 1914; citing Passport Application, Pennsylvania, United States, source certificate #35776, Passport Applications, January 2, 1906 - March 31, 1925, 217, NARA microfilm publications M1490 and M1372 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

• "District of Columbia Marriages, 1830-1921", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F71P-J9M : 11 January 2020), Carl James Murphy, 1916.

• "United States World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F38B-JX3 : 13 March 2020), Carl Murphy, 1942; citing NARA microfilm publication M1936, M1937, M1939, M1951, M1962, M1964, M1986, M2090, and M2097 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

• "News Publisher Extraordinaire, Carl Murphy", The African American Registry, (2005) Retrieved on April 24, 2007 - African Americans/Voices of Triumph by Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr. Copyright 1993, TimeLife Inc.

See Also:

• Wikipedia: Carl J. Murphy
• Wikidata: Item Q5040363, en:Wikipedia ,
• Family Search: PID #: LK4S-DWY
• Find A Grave: Memorial #222219555