Banneker: Black Narratives

Daniel Alexander Payne Murray (1852-1925) was an author, politician and historian who was one of the first Black men to work for the Library of Congress. Born to formerly enslaved parents, Murray got his start at nine years old working with his brother in the U.S. Senate Restaurant. Catching the attention of Senator Timothy Howe and the Librarian of Congress Ainsworth Rand Spofford, Murray began working part-time at the Library of Congress in 1871. Within ten years he rose to assistant librarian and over the course of his forty-one year career at the library, Murray began to compile books and pamphlets by Black authors, growing to what is now known as the "Daniel A. P. Murray Pamphlet Collection." Seen as an authority on African American concern, Daniel Alexander Payne Murray was an important contributor and collector of Black history.