Pauli Murray. PROUD SHOES: THE STORY OF AN AMERICAN FAMILY. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1956. Stated first edition; first printing (with Harper code "I-F" indicating September 1956 printing). Hardcover. Quarter red cloth over grey paper-covered boards, white lettering on spine. 8vo; [10], 276, [1 colophon]pp. Name of previous owner, Dr. Patsy Perry, former English professor at North Carolina Central University in Durham, on front and rear paste-downs.

8 1/2 x 6 in.

Pauli Murray (1910-1985) was an activist, author, lawyer, and Episcopal priest who grew up in Durham, NC. Murray had an important influence on the civil rights movement, especially through their essays, poems, and legal writing. The Pauli Murray Center in Durham describes Proud Shoes, Murray's first autobiography and second publication, as "a biography of how white supremacy and anti-Blackness oppressed their grandparents and their efforts of racial uplift, and a poignant portrayal of their hometown of Durham" (https://www.paulimurraycenter.com/who-is-pauli). The first edition of Proud Shoes is scarce; this is its second known appearance at auction and the first in nearly three decades.

Boards with edgewear, corners bumped and rubbed, small stain to upper board and small areas of damage on lower board; spine sunned and slightly cocked, with fraying at ends and separation from text block; interior with offsetting due to newspaper clippings laid in loose, light toning, several pages with a closed tear, occasional very small stain or spot of foxing, otherwise pages clean and unmarked. A good or better copy/lacking jacket.