Draft:Ric Murphy

Ric Murphy is a historian, author and filmmaker. His most recent work is the Arrival of the First Africans in English America, which received the 2020 Phyllis Wheatley Award and became an award-winning documentary. He is the founder and President General of the ociety of the First African Families of English America (SOFAFEA) and the former National Vice President for History, for the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society (AAHGS). Murphy is a scholar on the history and relationships of Americans of African, European, and Indigenous descent during America's colonial and antebellum periods. Through his works he has contributed immensely to the research, documentation, and preservation of African American history and culture from the arrival of the first documented Africans in English America in 1619 through the colonial period to the American Revolutionary War, and beyond.

His family lineage dates to the earliest colonial periods of Jamestown, Virginia and of Plymouth, Massachusetts, and has been evaluated and accepted by several heredity societies, including but not limited to the General Society Sons of the Revolution; the Daughters of the American Revolution (through his mother); the National Society of the Sons of Colonial New England; the Sons of the American Revolution; the Sons of the Union Veterans of the Civil War; the Sons and Daughters of the United States Middle Passage; and the Society of the First African Families of English America.

Government Service and Public Service Appointments

 * Appointed Director, Department of Administrative Services (Mayoral Appointment, Sharon Pratt Kelly, confirmed by District of Columbia Council), Washington, District of Columbia.
 * Member (appointed by Mayor Pratt-Kelly, Presidential Approval), Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corporation, United States Government, Washington, DC.
 * Chairman (appointed by Mayor Dinkins – 1 term, reappointed Mayor Giuliani 2 terms), City of New York Procurement Advisory Board, New York City.
 * Appointed Commissioner, Department of Procurement and General Services (Gubernatorial Appointment, Governor Michael S. Dukakis), Boston, Massachusetts.
 * Appointed State Purchasing Agent, Department of Administration and Finance, Purchasing Agent's Division (Gubernatorial Appointment, Governor Michael S. Dukakis), Boston, Massachusetts.
 * Governor's Commission, 350th Anniversary Arrival of African Americans in Massachusetts, Boston, Massachusetts.
 * Appointed Director, State Office of Affirmative Action (Gubernatorial Appointment, Governor Michael S. Dukakis), Boston, Massachusetts.
 * Greater Boston Labor Council (elected citywide), Boston, Massachusetts.
 * Committee for the City of Boston's School Superintendent (appointed by Boston School Committee), Boston, Massachusetts.
 * Commonwealth of Massachusetts' State Democratic Committee Member (elected district wide five terms), Boston, Massachusetts.

Publications
Books


 * 2020: Murphy, Ric, Arrival of The First Africans in Virginia, History Press, Charleston, South Carolina. Ric Murphy, C-Span 1619-First Africasn in Virginia
 * 2019: Murphy, Ric, and Stephens, Timothy, Section 27 and Freedman's Village in Arlington National Cemetery: The African American History of America's Most Hallowed Ground, McFarland Publishers, Jefferson, North Carolina.
 * 2018: Murphy, Ric, Rear Admiral Larry Chambers, USN: First African American to Command an Aircraft Carrier, McFarland Publishers, Jefferson, North Carolina.
 * 2014: Murphy, Ric, Freedom Road: An American Family Saga from Jamestown to World War, Franklin Pearson Publishing, (first published in 2014).

Selected Scholarly Articles


 * 2022: Murphy, Ric, Our National Cemetery and Its Honored Dead: The African American History of Arlington, The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, V. 62 The Honored Dead: African American Cemeteries, Graveyards and Burial Grounds.
 * 2022: Murphy, Ric, New Evidence in the Proof Argument: John Gowen through his son Mihil Gowen were the progenitors of Henry Gowen of Granville County, North Carolina, Journal of the Society of the First African Families of English America, V.1

Selected Affiliations

 * President General, Society of the First African Families of English America
 * National Vice President for History, Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society
 * First Registrar General, Board Member, Sons and Daughters of the United States Passage
 * Chairman, African American Adoptions
 * Chairman, Spectrum Airlines (second Black owned air carrier in the U.S.).
 * Life Member, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
 * Member, Greater Boston Civil Rights Coalition
 * Registrar, Sons and Daughters of the United States Middle Passage

Selected Honors

 * (2021) Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society James Dent Award
 * (2020) National Genealogical Society's Presidential Citation
 * (2020) Sons and Daughters of the Middle Passage Frederick Douglass Service Award
 * (2018) Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society's Prince George's County Chapter Distinguished Service Award
 * (2018) Sons and Daughters of the Middle Passage William Wells Brown Service Award
 * (2017) Sons and Daughters of the Middle Passage Elijah Able Service Award
 * (2016) Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society Elizabeth Clark-Lewis Award
 * Black Educators Alliance of Massachusetts, for Community Leadership
 * Cited as an "Ambassador for Boston", by the Boston Private Industry Council
 * City of Boston, Office of the Mayor, Official Citation, in Recognition of Outstanding Leadership, by Raymond L. Flynn, Mayor of Boston, Massachusetts
 * Commonwealth of Massachusetts, State Senate, Official Citation, in Recognition of Outstanding Community Service, by William M. Bulger, President of the Senate
 * Commonwealth of Massachusetts, House of Representatives, In Recognition of Dedicated Service to State Government and the Employment of African Americans, by Charles Flaherty, Speaker of the House
 * Commonwealth of Massachusetts, House of Representatives, Official Citation, in Recognition of Outstanding Leadership, by Thomas W. McGee, Speaker of the House
 * Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Legislative Black Caucus, in Recognition of Outstanding Leadership, by Gloria L. Fox, Chair
 * Community District Advisory Council, for Outstanding Service
 * Museum of Afro-American History, 350th Years of Black Presence Award
 * National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, for Outstanding Leadership
 * National Conference of Christians and Jews, for Community Service
 * National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, Certificate of Appreciation
 * National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, George Mason Chapter, for Outstanding Leadership
 * Purchasing Managers Association of Boston, for Dedicated Service
 * Listed in 1983 Outstanding Young Men of America

Filmography and Accolades
Murphy was the executive producer and director on the Arrival of the First Documented Africans in English America, a 2023 American documentary film about the men, women and children of Angola who were the first documented Africans to arrive on the shores of English America in 1619. The film premiered at the American Theater in Hampton, Virigina in August 2023. Murphy was nominated by the Portugal Indie Film Festival as the Best First Time Film Director of a Documentary (2023).

Murphy's work has been recognized by numerous International Film Festivals for the following works:

Domestic


 * 2024: Selected – Best Documentary, Virginia Black Film Festival for the Documentary: Arrival of the First Documented Africans in English America.
 * 2023: Winner - Best of Festival, Juneteenth Florida Arts and Film Festival, for the Documentary: Arrival of the First Documented Africans in English America.
 * 2023: Winner - Best Documentary, Juneteenth Florida Arts and Film Festival, for the Documentary: Arrival of the First Documented Africans in English America.

International
 * 2023: Semi-Finalist - Best Documentary, Cannes World Film Festival for the Documentary: Arrival of the First Documented Africans in English America.
 * 2023: Winner - Best Documentary, Golden Lion International Film Festival, for the Documentary: Arrival of the First Documented Africans in English America.
 * 2023: Winner – Best Documentary, Portugal Indie Film Festival, for the Documentary: Arrival of the First Documented Africans in English America.
 * 2023: Portugal Indie Film Festival (2023): Best First Time Film Director Winner, for the Documentary: Arrival of the First Documented Africans in English America.
 * 2023: Symbiotic Film Festival (2023): Best Documentary Official Selection, for the Documentary: Arrival of the First Documented Africans in English America.