Copyright 2003 The Baltimore Sun Company
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The Baltimore Sun

June 2, 2003 Monday FINAL Edition

SECTION: LOCAL, Pg. 3B

LENGTH: 597 words

HEADLINE: Judge, civil rights leader is remembered;
Friends, family gather to celebrate the life of William H. Murphy Sr.

BYLINE: Athima Chansanchai

SOURCE: SUN STAFF

BODY:
The life and inspiration of Judge William H. Murphy Sr. - as father, mentor and civil rights leader to generations of Baltimoreans - was celebrated yesterday at Morgan State University, 10 days after his death from a cerebral hemorrhage at age 86.

"Judge Murphy believed that the court system should be reflective of the society it's serving," said Maryland's Chief Judge Robert M. Bell, of the Court of Appeals. "Bill built many, many bridges. He instilled in all of us the need to build our bridges, not for ourselves but for those who come after us."

More than 300 friends, judges, lawyers and elected officials joined the Murphy family for a program of remembrance to the judge, who heard cases for more than three decades in Baltimore courts. They filed into Morgan's Carl J. Murphy Fine Arts Center, named for an uncle who ran the Afro-American newspaper.

They even heard Judge Murphy speak - in an interview included in a 15-minute video presentation, along with photos of him on various occasions with his wife, five children, grandchildren and many friends.

There was considerable humor in anecdotes, but remembrances by family and friends also showed the seriousness with which Murphy took his mission in life.

"My father's most defining characteristic was courage," said William H. Murphy Jr., the judge's eldest child, who followed in his father's footsteps as a lawyer, then on the bench as a Circuit Court judge. "He used to say there are no such things as principles without the courage to live them and to encourage others to live them as well."

Daughter Laura W. Murphy, director of the Washington national office of the American Civil Liberties Union, told of her father's constant engagement of his children in intellectually robust conversations about civic activism, politics and social issues. She said her father also embedded in his children a sense of respect for others, regardless of their class background.

Everyone mentioned the dynamic partnership between the elder Murphy and his wife, Madeline Wheeler Murphy - the one person with whom he said he never won an argument.

"They were thoroughly committed to champion the cause of equality and justice," said former Baltimore Mayor Thomas J. D'Alesandro III, who talked about how integral Murphy's advice was to passing civil rights legislation in the 1960s.

"He believed blacks should help blacks," said Eddie Brown, president of Brown Capital Management, who credited the elder Murphy with jump-starting his financial career in Baltimore.

"He was a self-possessed man," said the Rev. Vernon Dobson, pastor of Union Baptist Church, which has long been at the heart of civil rights activism in Baltimore. "He didn't allow anyone to define him. He knew who he was." He talked about how the elder Murphy confronted racism at the courthouse head-on - challenging police officers and other judges alike. "He was a person who had a passion for justice."

The elder Murphy was born into a family who gave black Baltimoreans a voice in the press. His grandfather, John H. Murphy, was a former slave who founded the Afro-American newspaper in the last decade of the 19th century. That same newspaper lauded the elder Murphy as an inductee into the National Bar Association's Hall of Fame in 1995, almost 50 years after he had been admitted to the Maryland bar.

In 1970, he became the second black judge elected to a Baltimore court, from which he mentored dozens of young black lawyers. Though he retired in 1982, Murphy continued to hear cases on special assignments until late last year.

GRAPHIC: Photo(s), William H. Murphy Jr. gets a hug from Kendel Ehrlich, wife of Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., after the program for Murphy's father.; KARL MERTON FERRON : SUN STAFF