Paul Murray: A Conversation about Social Justice, Civil Rights and Peace

The North Chatham Free Library presents a conversation with Paul Murray that will focus on issues of social justice, civil rights, and peace. Paul Murray’s book, Seeing Jesus in the Eyes of the Oppressed, tells the story of eight Franciscans and their communities who, following World War II, struggled to create a more just and equitable society. While many Americans enjoyed unprecedented prosperity in that era, these U.S. Franciscans focused on the forgotten members of society. As activists, they moved beyond traditional forms of charity and worked to establish racial and economic justice and promote peace and nonviolence.

Paul Murray is Professor Emeritus of Sociology at Siena College and a veteran of the Civil Rights Movement. During the summer of 1966 he volunteered in Madison County, Mississippi for a work camp sponsored by the American Friends Service Committee. In the ’70s, he returned to Mississippi to teach Sociology at Millsaps College and served as an expert witness in voting rights cases for the Lawyer’s Constitutional Defense Committee. He has published numerous articles about Catholic activists in the movement. His writing has won awards from the American Catholic Historical Association, the Mississippi Historical Association, and the Catholic Press Association.

This event will take place, in person, at the library, 4287 Rte. 203, North Chatham, NY. Reservation not needed.

Funding has been provided by the Hudson Bank and Trust Foundation.