Murray, Genevieve Allen, 1894-1983.

Genevieve Allen Murray was born in Milan, Illinois on October 5, 1894 to Andrew Allen, who worked for the Great Northern Railroad, and Elizabeth Penman Allen, a nurse. The Allen family moved as homesteaders to Williston, North Dakota where Genevieve finished high school. She began teaching in North Dakota and Montana schools in 1913, alternating teaching and attending Montana State (now University of Montana), where she received a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in Journalism in 1928 and 1929 respectively. She married Frank Murray, who was the superintendent of the Fairview, Montana school system in which she taught, on August 14, 1919. They moved to Massachusetts in 1929, where Frank received his law degree, then to Lexington, Kentucky in 1930 when Frank accepted a position as a law professor at the University of Kentucky, a position he held until his death in Chico, Montana while on vacation, August 28, 1951.

Genevieve gave up teaching when she moved from Montana, but remained very active in the community in Lexington. She was a courthouse beat reporter for the Lexington Herald for three months in 1941 and served in local, regional and national Girl Scout organizations, taking a troop to England in 1947 to participate in an international folk festival. She also served on the Public Health Center board (1933-1944), Community Chest board (1940-1945) and was the community training chair for Civil Defense (1940-1943).

After her husband's death, Genevieve seems to have thrown herself into a variety of projects and interests. In 1953 she took an extensive tour of Europe, extending her trip for an additional month to do genealogical research in Ireland. She was active in several organizations, including AAUW (American Association of University Women), Theta Sigma Phi (an honorary journalism society), National League of Pen Women and the National Association of Social Workers. She also opened her home to several students from Turkey and other areas of the U.S.

Genevieve often found herself the subject of awards and publicity, including a named fellowship from AAUW (1968), the Sullivan medallion (1975) and an outstanding honor from Theta Sigma Phi (1976). She was also featured in several articles on aging in America, a topic that received a lot of press in the aftermath of the 1958 White House Conference on Aging (WHCOA) act and subsequent WHCOA in 1961.

A dedicated writer since her college days, she published small works of non-fiction, fiction and poetry throughout her life. Late in life, her interest in writing was renewed, and she became a participant in the Donavan scholar program during its second semester of existence at UK (the Donavan scholar program was begun in 1964 to allow those over 65 to enroll in college courses free of charge). Genevieve took creative writing, journalism and photography courses.

In 1967, Genevieve presented a proposal to the Council of Aging for a writing workshop for older persons. This became the "Writers Workshop for People Over 57" which Genevieve coordinated. The workshop was very popular and attracted participants from around the world to learn from writers including Harriette Arnow, James McConkey, Jessamyn West and Hollis Summers. It was conducted annually for over 35 years.

In addition to community organizations, Genevieve was a proponent of historical architecture and farm preservation in Lexington and wrote impassioned pleas against development in letters and articles during the late 1960s and 1970s.

Genevieve Murray remained an active voice in the Lexington community until her death on December 17, 1983.

From the description of Genevieve Allen Murray papers, circa 1863-1991. (University of Kentucky Libraries). WorldCat record id: 240638279