Donald Gaines Murray

Donald Gaines Murray (May 24, 1914 – April 7, 1986, in Baltimore, Maryland) was an American attorney, the first African-American to enter the University of Maryland School of Law since 1890 as a result of winning the landmark civil rights case Murray v. Pearson in 1935.

Early life and education Murray was born on May 24, 1914, in Philadelphia, the son of George Lee Murray and Cecilia Lillian Gaines Murray. He graduated from Frederick Douglass High School in 1929. Murray then earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Amherst College in 1934.

Murray v. Pearson Murray sought admission to the University of Maryland School of Law on January 24, 1935, but his application was rejected on account of his race and his appeal to the Board of Regents of the university was unsuccessful. The case Murray v. Pearson was initiated by Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity as part of its widening social program; however, Murray was not a member of the fraternity. The fraternity hired Belford Lawson, but by the time the case reached court, Murray was represented by Charles Hamilton Houston and Thurgood Marshall of the Baltimore National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Marshall argued the organization's policy of racial segregation was unconstitutional and argued in principle that "since the State of Maryland had not provided a comparable law school for blacks that Murray should be allowed to attend the white university." and stated

The Judge issued a writ of mandamus ordering Raymond A. Pearson, president of the university, to admit Murray to the University of Maryland Law School. He retired around 1971 and died at the age of 72 while in Baltimore's Lutheran Hospital after a lengthy illness.