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Furman's Legacy of Slavery: A Digital Exhibition: Modern Legacies - Clark Murphy Housing Complex

 
Lakeside Housing Area Renamed The Clark Murphy Housing Complex

Guided by scholarship and research activities, the Task Force found it appropriate to rename the Lakeside Housing area, one that represents the Greenville Women's College, the Clark Murphy Housing Complex. As the first campus building to be named after a Black person, the renaming process of this site honors those who labored under unjustly conditions to build Furman.

The following photographs of the newly renamed Clark Murphy Housing Complex are part of the many actions Furman is taking to advance intergenerational justice in the campus landscape through the honoring of Clark Murphy, a beloved figure at the Greenville Women's College.

The seal mounted on the building's facade comes from the Greenville Women's College. The motto inscribed on the seal, which is older than any Furman motto, reads "Non Sine Pulvere," which translates to "Not Without Dirt." Not only does this motto speak for the women at GWC who found new ways to exert their freedom and agency, but also recognizes Murphy, for his critical role in the operations of the Greenville Woman's College.

 

To further reflect on the figure of Clark Murphy, check out the Seeking Abraham Walking Tour.

A portrait of Clark Murphy

Portrait of Clark Murphy, 1911.



Clark Murphy Housing Complex

The newly renamed Clark Murphy Housing Complex

Clark Murphy Housing Complex

The newly renamed Clark Murphy Housing Complex.

Clark Murphy Housing Complex

Plaque of the Clark Murphy Housing Complex

GWC Seal

GWC Seal on the upper facade of the Clark Murphy Housing Complex

Thank you for exploring our exhibition!

Please take the initiative to come back to this space to further explore and discover different understandings of our enslaving past, examine and decide new paths of inquiry, connect this legacy of slavery to modern racial and economic inequalities, synthesize the content presented here, and reflect on what our ancestors had to go through, so that we don't have to.