Elizabeth Dowling Taylor - The Original Black Elite: Daniel Murray and the Story of a Forgotten Era

Now and always, we expect to insist upon it that we are Americans, that America is our native land; that this is our home; that we are American citizens... and that it is the duty of the American people so to recognize us.

FREDERICK DOUGLASS

A T THE CRACK OF DAY DANIEL MURRAY, IN A SILK TOP HAT, moved along the city streets with purpose. He walked at a steady clip given the chilled air this second morning of October 1899. Though the temperature had dropped to freezing overnight, the forecast promised a warm-up for the special occasion ahead. The nations capital was to receive the famed seaman Admiral George Dewey, who the year before had led the navy so fearlessly, so decisively at Manila Bay, routing the Spanish fleet and claiming the Philippines as war booty. President William McKinley was to present the hero with a $10,000 sword crafted of steel, gold, and diamonds by Tiffany & Company, a symbol of the countrys gratitude. Prominent citizens were awarded the great honor of traveling to New Jersey in a specially outfitted train to escort the admiral back to Washington. The Washington Post reported that the roster of the select might be announced on the evening of September 30, but not until the next day, Sunday, would the names of the escort committeeDaniel Murrays among thembe released.

It was nearly 7 a.m. when Murray reached the train station near Pennsylvania Avenue and 6th Street. His three-story brick home was in a fashionable block of 12th Street NW, and no doubt he was excited when he checked, then clicked shut his gold pocket watch and bid his wife, Anna, good-bye. He was the proud father of five sons, his eldest a premier violinist in New York City, his second soon to be a Harvard freshman, the three youngest still at home. Any normal Monday, Murray would be taking the streetcar to the Library of Congress, where he was an assistant librarian. But now he joined the group of gentlemen gathered on the train platform who were dressed just as he was: striped trousers, Prince Albert coat, patent -leather shoes, silk hat, and gray gloves. A good number of them, like Murray (and the gallant Admiral Dewey himself), sported full mustaches that encroached more than a little over the upper lip. More than half the escort committee members had made the Elite List, a compilation of those in the District with assured social position. There is no reason to think that Murray was uncomfortable: he knew many of the men from his full slate of business and civic activities. The flag-festooned train that hissed in waiting alongside the forty-some distinguished escorts was furnished by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. Equipped with every modern convenience, the polished nickel-plated train was one of the finest that ever ran on American tracks. And the fastest, up to ninety miles per hour.

Boarding for the 7:30 a.m. departure, Murray showed his ticket with pleasure: parlor car A, seat 21. He was ensconced in a plush upholstered easy chair when the train jolted out of the station. The ride smoothed out, and the men chatted about the two days of festivities in the nations capital that would be let loose upon their return with the hero of Manila. From time to time some took advantage of the smoking car with its leather chairs, well-selected library, and fully supplied writing tables. Adjoining it was a completely outfitted barbershop. In the dining car a dozen tables were covered with fine linen and set with sparkling glass and silver. Waiters served broiled bluefish, sirloin steak, and mutton chops. Porters and waiters, in spotless white, were the only black people aboard the train. Except for Daniel Murray.

The recognition bestowed on Murray by Washingtons leading citizens with his inclusion on the famous committee was the kind for which he had worked assiduously, traveling far from a humble start in life. Yes, he knew he was what later would be referred to as the token black. No, he did not crave the company of white people. His lifelong objective was assimilation into mainstream culture and equal political footing and opportunity. The pronouncement We are Americans in every fibre of our being, and we have the aspirations common to the citizens of this Republic had issued from a political meeting of race activists that he had presided over earlier in 1899.

Daniel Murray was a race man to the core. If he took any pride in being the first black man to join this organization or the only one to be invited to that social occasion, his greater goal, his long-range vision, was to be in the vanguard of merit-based recognition for every American of color. The rise of those in Murrays black elite circle was realized rather than potential. Its members had attained high levels of education, achievement, culture, and economic security and thus negated from the start a false line of reasoning that white supremacists gave against racial equality. They were living proof that African Americans did not lack the ability to become useful contributors to mainstream society. Though their race consciousness and identification were strong, they were ready to think of themselves as American citizens first, poised for assimilation into society at large. Though believing that they had earned the right to be evaluated as individuals rather than prejudged, much less dismissed, on account of color, many, including Murray and his wife, energetically took on the role of leaders of the race. They worked for the advancement of all people of color in the spirit of noblesse oblige, yes, but for other reasons, too. Though they identified with all blacks according to race, there was another consciousness of kind operating, and that was class. So long as others lumped all African Americans together, those in the upper class were embarrassed by some of their unschooled, low-class counterparts, and that generated some of the energy they put into uplift activities.

Prospects rose for all African Americans following Emancipation, and progress was substantial through the Reconstruction period. But a backward slide commenced with the governments refusal to honor the US Constitutions Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments, granting all rights of citizenship to people of every color. In the name of reconciliation with the South, the new citizens were abandoned to renewed oppression by white supremacists. Not only did they lose ground in political influence, economic prospects, and access to public services; the government failed to protect them against lawlessness as extreme as murder. Jim Crow tacticssegregation, discrimination, intimidation, humiliation confronted all black people. The elite, despite their achievements and gentility, were not excluded. Indeed, when the rug was pulled out from under African Americans following their governments betrayal, the elite had only further to fall. In the end not only would the example and activism of the upper class fail to lift the race as a whole in the eyes of most whites, but not even the select set would be allowed to assimilate as exceptional. The rude awakening that they were to be segregated and stigmatized with the rest of the race became increasingly clear through the 1890s, a period of reckoning and disillusionment for Washingtons black elite.