Lula Vashti Turley Murphy (February 1884 – March 17, 1960) was an American educator and community leader, one of the founding members of Delta Sigma Theta, the historically black sorority.
Early life and education
The Founders of Delta Sigma Theta, in 1913. Vashti Turley Murphy: third from right, front row.
Lula Vashti Turley was born in 1884, in Washington, D.C., the daughter of Hamilcar Turley and Ida H. Francis Turley.[1] Her father was a clerk in the Pension Bureau, and a church choirmaster.[2] Both of her parents died when she was a girl, and her older siblings both died while she was in high school.[3]
Vashti Turley Murphy taught school as a young woman,[3] and traveled.[7] She was founder of the Baltimore alumnae chapter of Delta Sigma Theta.[8] In 1932 she and Vivian Johnson Cook co-founded the Philomathean Club, a black women's study group.[9][10] In the 1950s, she encouraged all Delta alumnae to vote, and to join the NAACP.[8] In 1957, she was honored as Mother of the Year by the Baltimore alumnae chapter of Delta Sigma Theta.[11]
In 1916, Vashti Turley married her Howard University German instructor Carl J. Murphy.[14] He was later best known as a publisher of the AFRO-American newspaper.[15][16] They had five daughters: Martha Elizabeth (1917–1998), Ida Ann (1918-1996), twins Carlita (1921 - 2006) [17] and Vashti Murphy-Matthews (1921 - 1981),[18][19] and Frances (1922–2007).[20][21] Her eldest daughter Elizabeth Murphy Moss was a journalist, war correspondent, columnist, and editor.[22] Vashti Murphy-Matthews, a photo engraver, was a member of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion. Upon returning from her military service, she joined the newspaper as a researcher and archivist.[18] Turley's granddaughter and namesake Vashti Murphy McKenzie[23] is a bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal Church.[24][25]
Vashti Turley Murphy died in 1960, aged 76 years, in Baltimore, after a long illness and a leg amputation.[1][26]Thurgood Marshall was one of the many honorary pallbearers at her funeral.[2][16] The Baltimore chapter of Delta Sigma Theta created a Vashti Turley Murphy Award for meritorious service,[27] and a scholarship fund in her name.[2] The community center at the Crownsville State Hospital was named for Vashti Murphy.[28]
