Cornelia Valentine Murphy

Cornelia Murphy, former political campaign director for Oregon Council 75 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), died May 13, 2006 in San Jose, Calif., of ovarian cancer. She was 40 years old. Friends and colleagues remember Murphy as an incredibly hard worker who lived life with gusto and was intensely proud to be part of the labor movement. Funny, irreverent and headstrong, Murphy had a talent for inspiring volunteers to get involved and making them feel rewarded.

Murphy was born June 29, 1965. She grew up in Washington, D.C., and Rhode Island. She is the daughter of Muriel Valentine and Cornelius Murphy.

After earning a bachelor's degree in political science and public law from California State University Northridge in 1992, she went on to work in Washington, D.C., for several Democratic members of Congress -- Jack Brooks, Ron Coleman and Max Sandlin from Texas, and Leonard Boswell from Iowa.

Later, working at the Iowa Department of Agriculture in 1999, she became active in AFSCME, and as a volunteer coordinator helped defeat two state constitutional amendments that would have required legislative supermajorities to raise any tax.

In 2000 she went to work for AFSCME's national office, mobilizing union members to support Al Gore for president in Iowa, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, California and Oregon. With the victor uncertain, Murphy was one of a crew of AFSCME staffers sent to Florida to watch the recount.

After the election, she was assigned to help statewide AFSCME Council 75 in Oregon.

She helped elect Randy Leonard to the Portland City Council and Ted Kulongoski as Oregon governor. She also worked to defeat several measures that would have restricted unions' ability to take part in politics. She helped pass Multnomah County's temporary income tax surcharge for schools and a property tax levy to support libraries.

Pollster Lisa Grove said Murphy's efforts probably made the difference in close races, like Kulongoski's or the Multnomah County I-tax.

"She was an unstoppable force of nature," Grove recalled, "Cornelia stood out quickly to me because she was a doer. She wanted to win. 

"She never focused on what she'd done, but was always talking about other people's commitments even though you knew she'd done twice as much," said AFSCME organizer Debra Kidney.

Her impact is clear, however: Over the last several months, as word spread of her illness, hundreds of people wrote in from around the country on a webpage her brother Paul set up for her at carepages.com. 

Murphy had left AFSCME in February 2006 and moved to San Jose to be closer to her brother after the death of their mother. There she took a position with Kenyon Black, a public relations and political consulting firm, but discovered her illness before that job got underway.

She is survived by her father; two brothers, Jeremiah of Rhode Island, and Paul of San Jose, Calif.; and nephews Harry and Gus.

"There probably isn't a labor person in this state who hasn't benefited tremendously from Cornelia's work," said AFSCME staff rep James Hester. "She was totally committed to AFSCME and the movement. I think she'd want us to keep on fighting."

Cornelia taught people that their voice mattered and more importantly, she taught them how they could engage in the political process. With so many people disenfranchised with politics as usual, it is a rare being who can instill hope and respect for the process.

(Text taken from articles in the Northwest Labor Press and on the Blue Oregon website)

Locate on Walk:

• Naming Wall (Right Wall), 1-5