>> all right. if we could invite those to be seated for those that have a seat. we are thrilled to be here and recognize we have a large audience. thank you for your presence and grateful for you being here. is this seat available for someone to take? >> good afternoon, i am pam jackson from the library of congress. we are part of the national, international outreach unit and are pleased to be with you for this afternoon's talk. it is an exciting topic with a great group of people and a great author. i should mention that today's talk is brought to you in part by the daniel ap murray african-american cultural association from employees at the library of congress and they will have a special part in the program that will be introduced shortly. i should mention here, you know, for your external audience for the most part, to remind us the library of congress it is our focus, mission and desire to be recognized and reminded that we are america's first cultural institution and it is our mission to provide an original source of knowledge. we care about inspiring creativity and intellectual endeavors of people everywhere. today's topic is designed to further the mission in that way. the center for the bock includes the young leader center and poetry and literature center. it is our mission to promote books and reading and libraries and literature for the purpose of having informed and engaged societies. we know that now more than every literacy is critical to upholding defending, protecting and preserving vibrant and robust democracies. for 2017, we have titled ourselves as defenders of democracy. we thank you for being part of that. our talks are designed in part to promote and extend a commitment to a culture of reading and to make sure that the library of congress' mission is focusing on one anchor of it is that we are creating sustaining culture that values literacy and literature. we do that with today's talk as well. the center for the book administers the library of congress awards and we are currently soliciting applications for prize money from the promotional organizations. so visit us at read.gov/literaryawards to learn more about the program. as we get started, i want to ask you to reach down and check your device and make sure they are on silent or vibrate. we are recording and have the honor of c-span being here. as you participate and ask questions at that point in the program, please know you will be recorded and a part of our web cast and we can mention you can visit us at read.gov to see more than 250 of our author talks and web casts we have available from the center for the book and talks we have had over the years. i will mention, if you have not already, the book for today's talk is for sale out there the hall and we encourage you to obtain your own copy and she will be available for book signing after today's talk. finally, the chief criteria for deciding the brooks to feature in our series has to do with the connection to the library of congress and certainly today's book is connected in a variety of ways. celebrating, honoring, acknowledging an ex extraordinary figure in our book as cultural lives as americans. also, because the research was done here. that is an important part of what the librer -- library likes to promote and am courage. we have a vast set of collections that matter to people. we can only share them if people inv invest in them, write about them, publish and talk about them. to further our program and talk about it, i am going to introduce the library of congress historian, john kohl. john is a special figure because he is the founding director for the center for the book and was part of the initiative that led to the legislation that created us four years ago. we are celebrating our 40th anniversary this year. i would like to acknowledge and appreciate john who has a special relationship with today's author and the subject of the book, mr. daniel murray, who will introduce our author and a couple other key components of today's program. thank you so much for your attention. enjoy the talk. [applause] >> as pam mentioned, i am john kohl and here to not only celebrate daniel murray and the book series for the center has underway but to acknowledge very special guests we have today. we have members from the daniel murray family, the descendants of herald murray who herald was one of daniel murray's seven children. do i have that right? and most of them have made the trip from mexico to be with us today. and i would like them to stand and be acknowledged in a special welcome from the library of congress. [applause] we have live precipatory history going on. part of the remarks are aimed at the family and other special guests. we also, through the murray family have a special daniel murray project i would like you to learn about. those that don't know the full story of daniel murray, i get emersed in elizabeth's wonderful talk and book. i am hoping darren jones is right here and will tell you a little bit about the daniel murray association and the special project, the bench by the road. let's gave daniel and the association a hand. >> good afternoon. my name is darren jones. i am the program director for the african-american cultural association. on behalf of the association and our president, and board members, raise your hands board members, i want to thank you for being here. we have about 150 members of the daniel murray association. let pea see the hands of the members in the ramsey -- room so everybody can see you. we have a special honor coming up for mr. murray on april the 28th. the tony morrison society is placing 20 benches around the world at hysterical markers for african-americans and culture. the daniel murray society has been chosen as one of the places that will get a marker. it was a long process. two years ago, we had to go to the congress to get the congress to come to the library of congress and the architect of the capitol was be were told they don't place benches in someone's name on capitol hill. we had to go through congress to get the library and the architect to agree we can place a bench at the library of congress in honor of daniel murray. [applause] that project is almost complete. we are still raising money. we had to pay $5,000 for the bench and are going to have a celebration so it is raising money for the celebration and i am being told something else bui don't remember what that is. we are going to have the presentation on the 28th which is a friday. the last friday in april. we hope you can join us at that time. we will celebrate the life of daniel payne murray. thank you for letting me get up here. >> we are squeezing a few more members of the family in but wie are doing it. i first learned about daniel murray back when i was a young librarian before even the center for the book was created which was 39 years ago. i learned that i was in a collection library and i was assigned to work on a collection called the colored author collection that had many labels called colored author across the front of them. but the library of congress had decided to do things about this collection that were all good. part of it was to put them into the general collection, part was to sort out the valuable pa pamphlets. and i had a partner, dorthy pointer, the director of the howard library, and she helped me and we sorted and many of the duplicates and special books from the daniel murray collection that was left to the library after mr. murray died were that way made part of the library's permanent collection. i wrote an article about it. it waz one of the first articles i wrote. it was in 1978. and guess what? 37 years later i found myself writing another article about daniel murray. i have learned so much about him and much of what i have learned really comes from this wonderful book. i must say i have never forgotten what struck me about mr. murray and his passion for literature and the african-americans could tell their story in a permanent fashion. this was one of the several projects he was involved in. it was his passion and the books and love of literature he left behind is now a part of his legacy were the library of congress not just through the collections i worked on and many others worked on but through the work of the murray association which is carrying this tradition. i first met our author, elizabeth dolling taylor, beth taylor, a couple decades ago when she was the director of interpretation at thomas jefferson's monticelo. beth has spent more than 20 years in in library research and museum experience. her museum experience and writing skills led to a career as an independent scholar who is turning out wonderful books on important subjects. her first book, "a slave in the white house; paul jennings and the madison's" was a new york time best seller and a national bock award nominee. it brought her to the library of congress for the first talk about her book and at the same time it brought her to the library of congress national bock festival to talk about the book. .... >> >> today the library of congress's pleas to help peru launched this important history about daniel murray and his remarkable family the also as she herself describes it is the book about half the regional black elite this l.a. forgotten era in american history thanks for reintroducing this era now in another period of our history into another generation who has so much to learn from the history of use so skillfully tel. [applause] >> good afternoon thanks to pam and john and the center for the book gives every association i hope you'll make me and i remember. [laughter] and general there are many staff members at the library of congress to whom i owe a debt for their help with my research here indeed when was researching my first book on paul jennings then stumble across did you marry. won his first contributions to library of congress as an assistant librarian of congress at a time when such professional appointments for black men were rare. he started by putting together a list of 270 titles by african-american authors one was an mri of paul jennings of the warehouse historical association considers to be the first memoir of life behind the scenes in the white house. precious few copies have been made i would maintain if not for the save by daniel murray not the only important memoir or other notable works when have been lost to obscurity altogether my book is a biography again every pioneer in the black history movement model civic citizen in prominent member of washington d.c. blackie the to. -- black eat but this eight narrative of the of rise and decline of african-american prospects over the span of race lifetime through 1925 the rise of prospects for african-americans after emancipation brought to a glorious harvest of clippings and in particular 14th and 15th amendments to united states constitution which granted americans of every color albright's -- albright's including the right to vote later the federal government in the name of reconciliation with the former confederate states, brought about early abandonment of reconstruction and ushered in a denial of the rights of african-americans and bedded in the very constitution. there was renewal in the south of discrimination discrimination, segregation and intimidation and terror. i have long been a student of slavery given my work at monticello and want to year. -- want to leave your by was of little slower to understand period between imitation in the modern civil rights era is just a central. sometimes you mention the word reconstruction they're not sure that was a good thing or bad thing i will show you an anecdote about my own ignorance prior to my intense study of this era. i had a picture in my head of the african-american legislators in the halls of congress looking like rubes with hayseeds in their teeth. as part of research for this current but as difficult as it was watch the birth of the nation this second time i was watching it i recall when i was watching in the humanities class the point was to discuss the film techniques for of with this time there is a particular screen shot shabbily dressed african-americans in the legislative 18 --- chamber bare feet up on the desk in the background was his colleague chewing on a chicken leg and that was the picture in my head and it shows how strong popular tel culture can be especially especially visual image jurors images in this captivated the american public that was not countered by schooling because of the inaccuracy of this grueling some of '02 major there were 23 african-american gentleman who's served in the halls of congress and in the senate and they did so with distinction. yes reconstruction was good ended too early but then what followed was jim crow era and they were abandoned by the federal government and allowed to virtually re-read enslaved by white supremacist. we have to recognize all of our history including the chapters we are ashamed of and only then can we do a better job to consider the solutions to the legacy's of the shameful chapters if we have the full picture said to tell my story of rising and reversal of one-two personalize i chose daniel murray because i admire him as it turned out because his ark fit the overall art of the narrative almost perfectly also chose to focus on the black elite to underscore in the african-american experience homogeneity and we care common reference the black community as a 42 million americans form the indistinguishable block. african-americans are not a monolithic group today but even before the civil war the second reason i focus on the black eat -- black elite with the absurdity of the notion of ways supremacy they were not works of progress but high-level of education accomplishment, a gentility, prosperous doctors lawyers and entrepreneurs district or federal office clerks so black americans were incapable of contributing to mainstream society daniel murray was born in baltimore and came here in age 18 after the civil war one of his half siblings was a caterer and that the time the proprietor of one of the two restaurants in the united states capitol building. the was the restaurant on the congressional side and on the senate side. on the main floor of the capital was the library of congress that is where it got started in remained through 1887 when it moved over to the new structure that we now know as the jefferson building. working as the waiter for his brother to run shoulders with the high and mighty but even though library of congress he thought highly of murray to taken under his wing he started there 1871 for the first time i figured out today and did the math he was an employee at the library of congress 52 years and spent 26 in the capitol building and 26 in the jefferson building equally quite a career. and he was trained in the library and strayed including how to make research inquiries they were very close he got the title of assistant library of congress and indeed a personal assistant. but murray never relied on him is library of congress salary alone in many in the black elite had this second stream of income and danbury's casey was a real-estate and building on to procure and also very active person ex-wife. the first african-american to beat a elected to the board of trade he also married well. black elite was a very exclusive group to have a certain package of qualities to be admitted. most relates cantor had many or to be combined was enough. who are your people? a you already related to establish members of the black elite? day you hail from a family line of notable civil war heroes? she did and in abundance from the abolitionist ellen from ohio and to attended overmanned college before her family moved to washington d.c.. to a for relatives who sacrifice their lives were at harpers ferry another was the first black citizen to serve in year house of congress. daniel and anniversary were married 1789 -- [inaudible] >> thank you for your listening. 1879. and bought in opulent house especially in terms of interior design in northwest washington. murray was the first african-american to live in the block and integrated the block with other black families bohol there was the time for african-americans at large the period from 186-53-1875 any number of civil rights measures culminating of the civil rights act of 1875 which granted access to all public facilities. announcing it went away altogether but there was a definite trend to the point that the incidence of discrimination would be called out they were primed to think of themselves as americans first, a color second. no apology for color was the logical next debt to assimilate into society at large. nobody knew the civil-rights active 1875 would be the last civil-rights bill pass past by congress for the next 80 years. the slave wintry stood for a brief moment in the sun then turned back towards slavery. at the end of reconstruction was the election of 1876. rutherford b. hayes could assume the presidency the next year as a contested election by democrats conceded the electoral votes if he is promised to remove the last of the federal troops in the south that were forcing reconstruction commitments. that was the beginning of the end but sure enough changes came swiftly for changes in the south before murray and others it was a slower progress it took until the decade of the 1890's to face the fact there was a backward slide that was real and they're not exception the regardless of the accomplishments and refinements. when the rug was pulled out under the black elite had further to fall the only thing important was the one drop of african blood. in washington with more segregation and discrimination facing the case of personal reversal i talked about how well his career was going until the change of sentiment as moore's other racist word coming with their brand of racism in the black congressman and senators were being replaced by southern colleagues. murray lost the support and after he was no longer library of congress and he conceived of the old need of a dedicated library building because of books were overflowing in the spaces they had in the capital there had to be great increase the staff and initially murray was chosen to be the chief of new division of periodicals. but after he could not support him the new library of congress enacted an act that demoted him and sent his salary flying backwards not just to what he was making before he got raised but to maybe a decade before and his salary never rose again for his quarter century service to the library of congress. what was the problem to be head of the periodicals division? three white men had to report to marie and they would not do that. i am happy to insert murray would be thrilled to know that the library of congress is an african-american to whom all 3,000 employees report to. [applause] he may question in that it was a woman but it is an african-american. [laughter] woodrow wilson that was their idea for the first time the federal offices should be segregated according to color those that were worked in the screened off areas, a colorado meat toilets, of lunchroom this extended to library of congress than there is a separate cloakroom for black men only in the lunchroom a sequestered area in the public cafeteria not public after all neither visitors or employees of color are welcome to e in the public cafeteria. what people in the black elite found out they were to be segregated the rest of the race but they would not take these changes laying down. they got organized and in 1898 the first truly national civil-rights organization was formed national afro-american council and daniel murray served as the first executive committee and was the chief of legal and legislative bureau and they worked very hard on a host of issues anti-lynching, anti-jim-crow in the first organization to challenge in the core system that the southern states had done to get around the right to vote every american was guaranteed in the united states constitution. you're probably not familiar with this. but as the historian has pointed out the national afro-american council has not been getting the credit it deserves as the precursor of these other organizations. much greater elastic much longer and to fight it out in the courts but there was an even stronger political stance that he took with the belief that scholarship could be put to the cause of the negro contest. he said prejudiced is the handmaiden of ignorance and started out with a list of 270 works but that was the beginning. he became obsessive to carry out this work he could work on it the most and that he did with his own time but it mushroomed and he moved on to biography then on to europe africans as well. and then the colored race throughout the world with mountains of sketches. and the goal was to produce what he called the historical and biographical encyclopedia of the colored race throughout the world his grand vision but sad to say he never did get to see a published. nobody was willing to underwrite the endeavor like that. carter tried. did you e.b. day employees and not until last the last year of the 20th-century encyclopedia for ghana despite that little dig about women and men at the time were los to give women the intellectual credit that they'd wanted themselves but anna murray was a race activist herself and he was very supportive of her. they were a very powerful couple. anna wanted early childhood in the event the -- intervention. the true test of progress is to be found in their literature. but a.m. -- anna maintained it was in the home but her idea was if you cannot have proper upbringing in the home and that cannot always be the case next best thing is kindergarten. for white and black people's. interest of kindergarten became part of the cause and identified early childhood intervention as one of the solutions to the race problem to be very well received and that is striking appearance because there was a strong genetic condition in the evans family to have premature white hairs that very young age still in her 20s and had a beautiful white hair and was tall and slender berry descriptions are available of her because she had such a striking appearance. so through all this action there was no real progress that is why i admire them for their race issues because it is frustrating. they would fight decade after decade. their jobs were lost or stalled in comes word decimated denied access to public facilities and they lost the prize they lost the vote. turning to the next generation the children died in was buried in a park like setting in washington but later it was deemed the cemetery was a health hazard and murray had to exhume the bodies of the little children and could find no other interracial cemetery that would accept them and ended up having to go to a new cemetery that was a potter's field and enjoy all the of murray family movies were buried i am referring to woodlawn cemetery. but the little girl had died of diphtheria saw her body had to be drenched in a solution before it could be re-entered. there were five remaining sons we think of them of the american team won once to see their children do better than themselves. if that's true then every generation had much to be disillusioned this sense went to top colleges and all five have college degrees. harvard, cornell, at the schools discrimination was showing its ugly head but the generation before an african-american could go to the schools without discussion about separate dormitories. but now the schools would say in deference to those from the solve all the sudden there was. moreover if you got through the experience that one of his sons was one of the six african-americans at cornell that founded the first black college fraternity and that was a way to get around the isolation to bond n support one another. when they finished with their college education they found job pickings in spent their lives referring to the colored school system and was part excellence there were so many over educated black men and women who had such career opportunities so limited in range and a parking in the public-school system there was great success but he had to go to another country to find it. mexico. and to face the same type of prospects to have more career opportunity with daylight call to sing with the metropolitan opera company but because of her college -- color that was never allowed. to harold had 10 children. you should not be too surprised all of the murray descendants today are of harold. we're all honored your ancestors would be thrilled to know you made the great effort here today to honor their memory as well. it is say cautionary tel -- tale most americans cherish our founding ideals religious liberty and we like to think these ideals had shameful chapters in our past the only way to redeem ourselves as a nation is honor those ideals and the future even during fere. -- fear. we like to believe there is an american master narrative of increasing freedoms overtime american master narrative in the reverse direction again anytime. harry is a case speaking loud and clear but faking -- thinking of irrigation first and foremost a country of laws would not only the southern governments but the united states government to turn their backs on crime as serious as arson and lynching. is a cautionary tale today we struggle with the elements of wanting our individual rights but worry about increased security. we have to be how much we're willing to give up and read to worry about the ideas that are floating out there. some americans there more real americans than others. the very concept of religious liberty the fed doesn't exist for everybody it does not exist at all. and profiling whether muslims or arab looking people it is an just describing it as politically correct it is just correct. so i wonder if we'll move from the state of caution to a state of action. we must guard our rights. for self-government to succeed it takes the free press and vigilant and informed citizenry. or else they will need to be right one again as a slow and tortuous climb back up for african-americans. i told you there is no happy ending to this story but maybe i would close by echoing the words of john lewis. get in the way. get in trouble. good trouble. thinking so much. [applause] >> we are squeezed for time issue answer to questions. >> expand upon daniel murray business career. >> he was well-to-do one of the of most well-to-do black americans in washington for sure. he never relied on library of congress salary but instead he was savvy to acquire real-estate these were people that were here leave fifth fifth that included the opportunity to buy land he had those early pickings right after the war and invested in stocks and bonds with numerous houses he hired 50 black men with will over 100 structures sometimes they were spec houses and once he had built his house he rented all three of those. minister kim well. >> give us more of the insight into the of murray's political activism that african-americans are there it is focused on to talk about the courts and the efforts to make change and one dimension first the association with the board of trade with the never kept pace with the overall increase of numbers on the board of trade. until he died in 1925 may have only been the only african-american on the board of trade. to be compassionate and tattoos see ultimately -- got to see the manual trade high-school or education because murray was very sure this was not trading for the trade and to manufacture something he and the other members of the board of trade for white pupils them black people's and to was to abolition washington a free public library open to all library of congress' books don't circulate the air and to have extended hours. the was initially called the carnegie library led to the martin luther king, jr. library. there were so many others like the national afro-american council merely the instigator along with bishop alexander walters and he is not a lawyer but was chosen to legislative bureau part of the reason for that was over his time in congress had not only a thorough grounding in lobbying to much experience and that legislation was written by daniel murray that all tax plan for washington d.c.. that was another to fight against jim crow coming into the city. so another active participant introduce the first and time lynching legislation and none of them never got through. that was of way to suppress the black vote. if anyone was a descendant of a man who could vote in 1865 then they were exempt and grandfather out. obviously that is such an easy way to get around the content and all the other officers took this on and it was the first time the national civil rights organization they did not get as far as the supreme court with a technicality but played the groundwork in the future. >> with a deeper appreciation. >> then to make it come alive and now feel personally mentored even more so from the words of the page so if you have not bought this. it is outside in she will stay with us for a little while for the signing. on behalf of the center of a book thanks for being with us that has a special gift for the family with a black americans of congress but for a copy of each member of the family that is with us today. [applause] we would like to celebrate you your honor its heritage and the gift of daniel murray that we can all take away from this talk. but we take away a very special incentive have a great afternoon. [applause] [inaudible conversations]