PAULI MURRAY'S REVOLUTIONARY LIFE

A debut biography focuses on a civil rights activist, lawyer, and Episcopal priest.

In this book, Kuznick tells the story of Pauli Murray (1910-1985), a Black trailblazer who graduated first in her class from Howard University Law School, helped found the National Organization for Women, and became an Episcopal priest as soon as the church approved the ordination of women. The work opens with Murray’s childhood, spent largely in the care of her aunts after her mother’s death, and explores how her family’s Black, White, and Native American roots and their experiences of slavery and freedom shaped her world. The author follows Murray as she traveled to New York City to finish high school and attend college, toured the country to find work and organize for civil rights, and distinguished herself in legal circles despite the constant opposition she faced as a Black woman. The book does an excellent job of presenting Murray’s story in rich detail, and it is both entertaining and informative. It is clear that Kuznick has done substantial research for the biography, but there are no citations or sources listed, making it difficult to determine how much of the volume’s dialogue (“ ‘Do you have bullets for that gun, Grandmother?’ young Pauli asked warily”) is drawn from primary sources and how much is invented. With its close narration of the events of Murray’s life, the volume is more focused on telling her tale than on analyzing her work and placing it in historical and sociological contexts. For instance, Kuznick writes about Murray’s relationships with women and her struggle to understand her gender identity but does not go into what it meant to be a lesbian or gender-nonconforming in the mid-20th century. Readers interested in researching Murray’s life and career may want to inspect the several scholarly books about her published in recent years. But those looking for an introduction to Murray that is well written and touches on the many intersecting aspects of her activism and identity will find Kuznick’s work a satisfying read.

A compelling life story told in an engaging style.