Edward Francis Murphy, SSJ (July 21, 1892 – August 2, 1967) was an American playwright, novelist, educator, and

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

priest known for creating the "first Catholic best-seller", the novel '' The Scarlet Lily''. He was also a close friend of

Sinclair Lewis Harry Sinclair Lewis (February 7, 1885 – January 10, 1951) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and playwright. In 1930 Nobel Prize in Literature, 1930, he became the first author from the United States (and the first from the America ...

and introduced him to the Black community, inspiring his novel '' Kingsblood Royal''. He was a member of the Josephites.

Biography

Murphy was born July 2, 1892 in Salem, Massachusetts. His family was Irish Catholic, he grew up on Derby Street, and attended St Mary's parish and school. As a teenager, he was mentored by the philanthropist

Caroline Emmerton Caroline Osgood Emmerton (1866–1942) was a wealthy philanthropist from Salem, Massachusetts, USA, who established The House of the Seven Gables as a house museum also known as the Turner-Ingersoll mansion in 1908. With a fortune inherited from h ...

, who had founded

The House of the Seven Gables ''The House of the Seven Gables: A Romance'' is a Gothic fiction, Gothic novel written beginning in mid-1850 by American author Nathaniel Hawthorne and published in April 1851 by Ticknor and Fields of Boston. The novel follows a New England fam ...

Settlement Association and sought to bring Murphy under her artistic patronage.

Priesthood

Instead, Murphy followed his brother Will's footsteps to become a Catholic priest, enrolling at

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

Epiphany Apostolic College Epiphany Apostolic College, formerly known as the Josephite Collegiate Seminary, was a Catholic minor seminary founded in Baltimore, Maryland in 1889. History The seminary was founded in 1889 by Fr John R. Slattery of the Mill Hill Missionari ...

, the

minor seminary A minor seminary or high school seminary is a secondary day or boarding school created for the specific purpose of enrolling teenage boys who have expressed interest in becoming Priesthood (Catholic Church), Catholic priests. They are generally ...

of the Society of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart (aka the Josephites). The society, founded in 1893, dedicates itself to serving

African Americans African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa ...

. Murphy was ordained in 1918, and celebrated his first Mass at Immaculate conception Catholic Church in his hometown of Salem, before returning to the DC metro to attend

Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Catholic research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is one of two pontifical universities of the Catholic Church in the United States – the only one that is not primarily a ...

, where he attained a doctorate in philosophy. After ordination, Murphy served near

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, where he ran into a childhood friend who had by then become known as

Eddie Dowling Eddie Dowling (born Joseph Nelson Goucher; December 11, 1889Date and year of birth as per baptismal records of Precious Blood church, Woonsocket, Rhode Island, where Dowling was christened — February 18, 1976) was an American actor, director, ...

. They would maintain their friendship thereafter. In 1932, Murphy was reassigned to

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, where he served at a Josephite parish and also as dean of religion and philosophy at

Xavier University of Louisiana Xavier University of Louisiana (XULA) is a Private university, private Historically black colleges and universities, historically black Roman Catholic, Catholic university in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the only Catholic Historically black c ...

, an

HBCU Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of serving African Americans. Most are in the Southern U ...

founded by

Katharine Drexel Katharine Drexel, SBS (born Catherine Mary Drexel; November 26, 1858 – March 3, 1955) was an American Catholic religious sister, and educator. In 1891, she founded the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, a religious congregation serving Black ...

less than a decade before.

Theater

During his time at the school, Murphy continued to cultivate his artistic ventures via the students, helping them to stage plays and other works to raise the profile of the university. The

Black Press Black Press Group Ltd. (BPG) is a Canadian commercial printer and newspaper publisher founded in 1975 by David Holmes Black. Based in Surrey, British Columbia, it was previously owned by the publisher of ''Toronto Star'' ( Torstar, 19.35%) and B ...

took interest in their work, and prominent African Americans in the city also supported, helping them to gain more prominent venues for their productions. Murphy also kept busy with personal projects, including a play based on the life of

Mary Magdalene Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to crucifixion of Jesus, his cr ...

, understood to be a converted prostitute who was mentioned in the gospel narratives. During his XULA tenure, Murphy received from Dowling the rights to the latter's hit 1938 play '' Shadow and Substance'', free of charge, which Murphy eventually passed on to a local company in the Crescent City. They would stage an adaptation starring

as a priest himself, who became a lifelong friend to Murphy (and received inroads from him to the Black community, inspiring his novel '' Kingsblood Royal''). Murphy adapted his Mary Magdalene play into a 1944 novel '' The Scarlet Lily''. Hollywood filmmaker

David Selznick David O. Selznick (born David Selznick; May 10, 1902June 22, 1965) was an American film producer, screenwriter and film studio executive who produced ''Gone with the Wind'' (1939) and ''Rebecca'' (1940), both of which earned him an Academy Award ...

obtained the right to adapt the novel for the screen after it became known as "the first Catholic best-seller". Selznick planned to have

Ingrid Bergman Ingrid Bergman (29 August 191529 August 1982) was a Swedish actress.Obituary ''Variety Obituaries, Variety'', 1 September 1982. With a career spanning five decades, Bergman is often regarded as one of the most influential screen figures in cin ...

star as the Magdalene, but the project eventually fell through.

Death

Murphy died August 2, 1967.

Works

* The Tenth Man (1937) * The Scarlet Lily (1944) * Mademoiselle Lavalliere (1948) * Yankee Priest (1952)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy, Edward African-American Roman Catholicism Josephite Fathers Xavier University of Louisiana Catholic University of America alumni 1892 births 1975 deaths Epiphany Apostolic College St. Joseph's Seminary (Washington, DC)