About Judge Murrah

From Rail to Robe: Alfred P. Murrah

Once asked what advice he gives young people, Judge Murrah replied, “Get a good education. Decide what you want to do. Whatever you like to do best is exactly the thing you are fitted for . . . be diligent and decent . . . don’t begrudge the fact that you have to work for what you get. The greatest rewards in living come from living outside and beyond one’s self . . . the greatest qualities a man can have are simplicity and humility.”

In 1977, the new federal building in Oklahoma City was named in honor of the late Judge Alfred P. Murrah. He rose to prominence despite humble beginnings. Murrah was orphaned as a young boy, and by age 13 was stowing away on trains traveling across the country. A railroad policeman discovered young Murrah and booted him from the train in Oklahoma.

Murrah found work milking cows and doing chores on a farm near Tuttle, Oklahoma. In exchange, he received room and board. For spending money, he took a second job at the town drugstore, and then convinced the school principal to let him join classes with the other 13-year-old students – despite his having attended only through fourth grade at the time.

Working two jobs and studying in between, Murrah graduated with honors from Tuttle High School. He enrolled at the University of Oklahoma and graduated with honors, and a law degree, in 1927. Murrah hung his shingle in Seminole, then an oil boomtown, prospered and moved his practice to Oklahoma City.

In 1936, at age 32, Murrah became the youngest man in history to be appointed U.S. District Judge. In 1940, he was elevated to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. He became that court’s Chief Judge in 1959 and served in that capacity until 1970.

Judge Murrah died in 1975, at age 71.