Mary Catherine Murphy (October 25, 1939 – December 25, 2024) was an American politician who served in the

Minnesota House of Representatives The Minnesota House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the U.S. state of Minnesota's Minnesota Legislature, legislature. It operates in conjunction with the Minnesota Senate, the state's upper chamber, to write and pass legislation, whic ...

. From 1964 to 1997 she was a history and social studies teacher at Duluth Central High School in

Duluth Duluth ( ) is a Port, port city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of St. Louis County, Minnesota, St. Louis County. Located on Lake Superior in Minnesota's Arrowhead Region, the city is a hub for cargo shipping. The population ...

. Murphy was active in

historical preservation Historic preservation (US), built heritage preservation or built heritage conservation (UK) is an endeavor that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance. It is a philos ...

and worked as a grounds manager. Murphy was first elected in 1976, and was reelected every two years until 2020. Before the 1982 legislative

redistricting Redistricting in the United States is the process of drawing electoral district boundaries. For the United States House of Representatives, and state legislatures, redistricting occurs after each ten-year census. The U.S. Constitution in Art ...

, she represented District 14B, and before the 2002 redistricting, she represented District 8A. She was chair of the Ethics Committee during the 2007–08 and 2009–10 biennia. Murphy chaired the House Labor-Management Relations Subcommittee for Negotiation, General Labor and Legislation from 1979 to 1982, the Commerce and Economic Development Subcommittee for Commerce and Job Creation during the 1983–84 biennium, the Labor-Management Relations Subcommittee for the Unemployment Insurance and Workers Compensation Division during the 1987–88 biennium, the Economic Development Subcommittee for the Rural Resource Development Division during the 1989–90 biennium, the Energy Committee during the 1991–92 biennium, the Judiciary Subcommittee for the Judiciary Finance Division from 1993 to 1998, and the Finance Subcommittee for the Education Finance and Economic Competitiveness Finance Division during the 2007–08 biennium. She was an assistant minority leader during the 2001–02 biennium. Murphy graduated from Hermantown High School in

Hermantown Hermantown is a city in Saint Louis County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 10,221 at the 2020 census. A suburb of Duluth, it was at one point the county's only city to grow in population, as much of the area's residential and ...

, then in 1961 the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, with a

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

in history. She later attended graduate school at

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

Macalester College Macalester College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. Founded in 1874, Macalester is exclusively an undergraduate institution with an enrollment of 2,142 students in the fall of 2023. The college ha ...

American University The American University (AU or American) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Its main campus spans 90-acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, in the Spri ...

, the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

Superior Superior may refer to: *Superior (hierarchy), something which is higher in a hierarchical structure of any kind Places * Superior (proposed U.S. state), an unsuccessful proposal for the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to form a separate state *Lak ...

, and the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

in Duluth. She is a former member of the Minnesota delegation to the

Great Lakes Commission The Great Lakes Commission is a United States interstate agency established in 1955 through the Great Lakes Basin Compact, in order to "promote the orderly, integrated and comprehensive development, use and conservation of the water resources of ...

and served on the Minnesota Statehood Sesquicentennial Commission from 2006 to 2008. Murphy's key legislative concerns included labor and union advocacy, women’s economic issues, education, consumer protection, health care, criminal justice, jobs, and capitol projects. Murphy was defeated for reelection in 2022. Murphy died from complications of a stroke on December 25, 2024, at the age of 85.

References

External links

Rep. Murphy web page

Minnesota Public Radio Votetracker: Rep. Mary Murphy

Project Votesmart - Rep. Mary Murphy profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy, Mary 1939 births 2024 deaths People from Hermantown, Minnesota Politicians from Duluth, Minnesota Democratic Party members of the Minnesota House of Representatives Women state legislators in Minnesota College of St. Scholastica alumni 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century members of the Minnesota Legislature 20th-century American women politicians 20th-century members of the Minnesota Legislature