Madalyn Murray O'Hair | |
|---|---|
 O'Hair in 1983 | |
| President of American Atheists | |
| In office 1963–1986 | |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Jon Garth Murray |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Madalyn Mays April 13, 1919 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | September 29, 1995 (aged 76) San Antonio, Texas, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Murder |
| Spouses | John Roths
(m. 1941; div. 1946)Richard O'Hair
(m. 1965; died 1978) |
| Domestic partner(s) | William Murray Michael Fiorillo |
| Children | William (with Murray) Jon (with Fiorillo) |
| Education | Ashland University (BA) South Texas College of Law (LLB) |
Madalyn Murray O'Hair (née Mays; April 13, 1919 – September 29, 1995)[1] was an American activist supporting atheism and separation of church and state. In 1963, she founded American Atheists and served as its president until 1986, after which her son Jon Garth Murray succeeded her. She created the first issues of American Atheist Magazine and identified as a militant feminist.
O'Hair is best known for the Murray v. Curlett lawsuit, which challenged the policy of mandatory prayers and Bible reading in Baltimore public schools, in which she named her first son William J. Murray as plaintiff. Consolidated with Abington School District v. Schempp (1963), it was heard by the United States Supreme Court, which ruled that officially sanctioned mandatory Bible-reading in American public schools was unconstitutional. The Supreme Court had prohibited officially sponsored prayer in schools in Engel v. Vitale (1962) on similar grounds. After she founded the American Atheists and won Murray v. Curlett, she achieved attention to the extent that in 1964, Life magazine referred to her as "the most hated woman in America".[2][3] Through American Atheists, O'Hair filed numerous other suits on issues of separation of church and state.
In 1995, O'Hair, her son Garth, and her granddaughter Robin disappeared from Austin, Texas. Initial speculation suggested the trio had absconded with hundreds of thousands of dollars from American Atheists coffers; in fact, the trio had been murdered by their former associates, and the bodies were not found until 2001.[4]
- ^ "United States Social Security Death Index: Madalyn M Ohair". FamilySearch.org. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved June 18, 2013.
- ^ Goeringer, Conrad F. (2006). "About American Atheists". atheists.org. American Atheists. Retrieved December 1, 2007.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
timewas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Ross E. Milloy, "Bodies Identified as Those of Missing Atheist and Kin", New York Times, 16 March 2001; accessed 12 August 2024