Laurel in Jones County, Mississippi — The American South (East South Central)

Benjamin Murph

— Mississippi Freedom Trail —

Photographed by Mark Hilton, September 26, 2026

1. Benjamin Murph Marker

Inscription.
Benjamin Ellery Murph, a dentist and civil rights leader, was the charter vice president of the Laurel-Jones County NAACP in 1947 before becoming president four years later. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Murph expanded youth councils throughout Jones County, held voter registration drives, and traveled the country spreading the message of the NAACP. In 1965, as a result of his civil rights activity, the Ku Klux Klan shot into his home on two occasions. Murph served as advocate for racial reform until his death in 1972.

Benjamin E. Murph was born in Greensboro, North Carolina, on July 7, 1908. In 1935 he moved to Laurel and established his dental office in the burgeoning Black business district in downtown Laurel. During the late 1940s, Murph emerged as a local civil rights leader. In 1947, he became the vice president of the newly founded Laurel-Jones County NAACP under the leadership of the Reverend R. T. Thomas. By 1951, Murph had succeeded Thomas as the president, a position he chaired productively for two decades.

Murph served as a statewide civil rights leader throughout the late 1950s and 1960s.

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He became the second vice president of the state NAACP and the youth advisor for the NAACP Youth Council. The Laurel-Jones County branch of the NAACP boasted a membership of 332 by the end of the 1950s and organized a youth council with 85 members, the largest in southeast Mississippi.

By 1962, SNCC activists began to arrive in Laurel to establish a local base. Murph, with SNCC workers Lester McKinnie and Diane Nash, established the Laurel Nonviolent Coordinating Committee as an affiliate of SNCC. In addition, NAACP Field Secretary Medgar Evers and Murph held intensive drives in Laurel to get Blacks to pay poll taxes as a prerequisite for voting under Operation Mississippi. As a result, in less than a year the number of Black registered voters in Laurel more than doubled "to slightly over the 2,000 figure."

During Freedom Summer of 1964, four NAACP board members and nine White activists started a Mississippi Tour to test the state's compliance with Title II of the Civil Rights Act. Murph called the local Holiday Inn and reserved a table. Upon arrival, they were offered a banquet room in the back of the restaurant, but they declined.

Photographed by Mark Hilton, September 26, 2026

2. Benjamin Murph Marker

Instead, they broke up into smaller groups to be able to dine among other guests. With that meal, they accomplished the first successful restaurant integration in the city. On June 6, 1965, the Ku Klux Klan shot into his home. They returned on September 16, firing into Murph's home again. As with the first attack, he and his wife escaped injury. Later that day, Murph was notified that his insurance company canceled his homeowner's policy, and he could not secure insurance from any other company.

Murph became ill during the late 1960s. His last mission was to fight for school integration. He became the chairman of the Laurel School Board's Bi-Racial Committee, which become a liaison between the White and Black communities. After the U.S. Supreme Court ordered integration for Mississippi public schools in late 1969, Murph, with other community leaders, ensured that the transition was smooth. Benjamin Murph died on September 24, 1972, leaving a legacy of activism and service to his community.

Erected 2024 by the Murph family & the Mississippi Department of Archives & History Sovereignty Commission. (Marker Number 41.)

Topics and series.

Photographed by Mark Hilton, September 26, 2026

3. Benjamin Murph Marker

Closeup of photos & captions.

This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Civil Rights. In addition, it is included in the Mississippi Freedom Trail series list. A significant historical date for this entry is June 6, 1965.

Location. 31° 40.397′ N, 89° 8.463′ W. Marker is in Laurel, Mississippi, in Jones County. It is on Oak Park Boulevard west of Queensburg Avenue, on the right when traveling west. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 118 Oak Park Blvd, Laurel MS 39440, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in the Pine Belt.

It is also in the American South,

specifically in the Deep South,

and in the Piney Woods.

Globally, it is in North America,

a Gulf of Mexico state,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 2 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Oak Park School (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Ralph Boston

Benjamin Murph home & marker. image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Mark Hilton, September 26, 2026

4. Benjamin Murph home & marker.

(approx. 0.6 miles away); Beacon Homes (approx. 0.7 miles away); Masonite Corporation (approx. 0.7 miles away); Dr. King Visits Laurel (approx. one mile away); Triangle Homes (approx. 1.2 miles away); F.W. Woolworth Building (approx. 1½ miles away); Jones County Blues (approx. 1½ miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Laurel.

Also see . . . Benjamin Ellery Murph (1908-1972). (Submitted on September 28, 2026, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama.)

Benjamin Murph (1908-1972) image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Fair Use - Crisis Magazine (March 1968)

5. Benjamin Murph (1908-1972)

Credits. This page was last revised on September 28, 2026. It was originally submitted on September 28, 2026, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama. This page has been viewed 4 times since then. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on September 28, 2026, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama.