Clark Murphy, an enslaved man, was leased to the Greenville Baptist Female Academy in the years before the Civil War and, as a free man, was then employed by the school for the next five decades as a caretaker and groundskeeper. Murphy performed janitorial work, building repairs, and provided counseling, medical, and health support for students.

After 1870, Murphy and his family lived on the campus in the former wooden classroom building. He is here pictured in the first college yearbook from 1901. The yearbook was published in 1902 and 1903, but did not include mention of him, and then ceased publication until 1911, when it was renamed the Entre Nous. Only in the 1911 volume was Clark Murphy’s full name and biographical details included

Let's acknowledge the physical, mental, and emotional labor of Clark Murphy, and of those at Furman who engaged in "behind the scenes" arduous labor.