Elizabeth B. Murphy Moss (1917–1998) was an American journalist. She was the first black woman to be certified as an overseas war correspondent in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Life

Elizabeth Murphy came from a

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

newspaper family: her grandfather

John H. Murphy, Sr. John Henry Murphy Sr. (25 December 1840 – 5 April 1922) was an African-American newspaper publisher based in Baltimore, Maryland. Born into slavery, he is best known as the founder of the ''Baltimore Afro-American'' (also known colloquially/for ...

had founded the ''

Baltimore Afro-American The ''Baltimore Afro-American'', commonly known as ''The Afro'' or ''Afro News'', is a weekly African-American newspaper published in Baltimore, Maryland. It is the flagship newspaper of the ''AFRO-American'' chain and the longest-running Africa ...

'', and her father

Carl J. Murphy Carl Murphy (January 17, 1889 – February 25, 1967) was an African-American journalist, publisher, civil rights leader, and educator. He was publisher of the ''Afro-American'' newspaper chain of Baltimore, Maryland, expanding its coverage with re ...

edited the newspaper from 1922 until his death in 1967. Her mother Vashti Turley Murphy was a co-founder of

Delta Sigma Theta Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. () is a historically African American sorority. The organization was founded by college-educated women dedicated to public service with an emphasis on programs that assist the African American community. Delta ...

sorority.Dennis O'Brien
Elizabeth Murphy Moss, 81, Afro reporter and editor
, April 8, 1998. The eldest of five daughters, Elizabeth studied at Frederick Douglass High School and the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

, where she gained a bachelor's degree in

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (profes ...

. She spent most of her life working for the ''Afro-American''. According to some relatives, she started working at the age of 10 as a newspaper delivery girl. She worked as a reporter, editor and columnist as a journalist. By 1942 she was the city editor for the newspaper's Baltimore section. She published a book titled "Be Strong The Life of Vashti Turley Murphy in 1980. She mentored many Afro American journalists who went on to work with The Sun, The Washington Post and The New York Times. She became the first black woman to be accredited as a war correspondent in 1944. Though she traveled to London, intending to travel further into Europe, she was unfortunately taken ill and forced to return home. In 1949 she began a column 'If You Ask Me' which continued in the newspaper for the next 48 years. She was awarded honorary doctorate of humane letters by

Morgan State University Morgan State University (Morgan State or MSU) is a public historically black research university in Baltimore, Maryland. It is the largest of Maryland's historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). In 1867, the university, then known ...

in 1976 She married her first husband Frank W. Phillips Jr who died in 1962. In 1963, she married Alonzo Paul Moss. She is survived by her husband, two sons and two daughters. She died April 7, 1998, at the Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore at the age of 81.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moss, Elizabeth B. Murphy 1917 births 1998 deaths American war correspondents of World War II African-American women journalists African-American journalists Women war correspondents Journalists from Baltimore 20th-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people 20th-century American people Murphy family