This self-guided tour in Southwest Central Durham will lead you to locations in Pauli Murray’s life in the neighborhood while visiting Murals of her. You can follow it on foot, by bike, or by car.
Murray was a lawyer, a writer, an educator, a civil and women’s rights activist, and the first African-American woman to be ordained as an Episcopal priest. Her inspiring personality was formed in Durham’s West End neighborhood.
Among the landmarks you will find on the map are her childhood home, which is now becoming the Pauli Murray Center for History and Social Justice, the church where Pauli’s parents got married, the Fitzgerald Family Cemetery, and murals of her.
The murals were an effort of a community art project – Face Up: Telling Stories of Community Life. More than 1500 people from the community were involved in the creation of the murals between 2007-2009. Each painting exhibits Murray at different times in her life with a quote of her. The project was led by Barbara Lau, the Executive Director of Pauli Murray Center for History and Social Justice Courtney Reid-Eaton, director of exhibitions at the Center for Documentary Studies, and the artist Brett Cook.
Face Up: Telling Stories of Community LIfe
Face Up: Telling Stories of Community Life is a documentary/public art project that grows out of local conversations about neighborhood goals in Southwest Central Durham, North Carolina. The project blends the Lehman Brady Joint Chair Professorship in Documentary Studies and American Studies at Duke University and the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill with collaborative documentary exploration and art-making in community settings across Durham. The project's open approach to building a loving community encourages diverse participation in the enhancement of the aesthetic environment, as large public art installations expand awareness of historic and contemporary persons and places in Southwest Central Durham.
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Departure Point
Face Up: Telling Stories of Community LIfe
Face Up: Telling Stories of Community Life is a documentary/public art project that grows out of local conversations about neighborhood goals in Southwest Central Durham, North Carolina. The project blends the Lehman Brady Joint Chair Professorship in Documentary Studies and American Studies at Duke University and the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill with collaborative documentary exploration and art-making in community settings across Durham. The project's open approach to building a loving community encourages diverse participation in the enhancement of the aesthetic environment, as large public art installations expand awareness of historic and contemporary persons and places in Southwest Central Durham.This post is also available in:
Español