IMPORTANT NEWS
Pamela Chatterton-Purdy and Rev. Dr. David A. Purdy's new book, titled Adoption in Black & White, is an illuminating story of cross-cultural adoption, a celebration of diversity, and a testament to the power of love. It is a timely book for America as it grapples with new insights into White privilege, socioeconomic disparities and inequities, atrocities within the criminal justice system, and the importance of the Black Lives Matter movement—even as our country simultaneously sees the rise of White Supremacy.
We are currently seeking a publisher who shares the Purdys' sense of mission and who has the commitment and ability to bring their work to a national audience.
Pamela Chatterton-Purdy and Rev. Dr. David Purdy have been steeped in matters of social justice for their entire adult lives. Beyond raising their multiracial family, they have worked for decades on matters of civil rights and social justice, and the integration of Black history into the broader story of America.
Through their magnificent exhibition titled Icons of the Civil Rights Movement, the Purdys have documented, in both artistic and scholarly fashion, a major portion of the entire movement for civil rights and equal justice in the United States. To date, there are 46 works in total. With icons honoring Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Medgar Evers, Ralph Abernathy, and others, the height of the movement in the mid-20th Century is covered in detail. Key earlier leaders are also depicted, including Abraham Lincoln, William Lloyd Garrison, and W.E.B. DuBois. The project is ongoing. Additional information about this landmark series can be found on Pamela Chatterton-Purdy's website.
More about Pamela and David Purdy
Pamela and David were married shortly after their respective graduations in June 1963. Pamela received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of New Hampshire and, subsequently, a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Massachusetts. David was awarded a Master’s degree from Yale Divinity School and a Doctorate from Andover Newton Theological School. David’s undergraduate degree is from Amherst College.
The couple’s shared journey began in Chicago, where David joined The Ecumenical Institute. Pamela was hired as an Art Editor—and one of only two White people among 150 employees—at Ebony Magazine. Nearly a century after the Civil War, America was only beginning to emerge from the cruel injustices of Jim Crow. The Purdys grew increasingly aware of their own White privilege and committed themselves to making a difference.
Today, having been engaged in matters of race for the past five decades, the Purdys are well known and highly respected by civi rights leaders and the general public. Over 8,000 of their self-published books on civil rights heroes have been sold to date. Their art exhibition Icons of the Civil Rights Movement features visually magnificent artworks by Pamela accompanied by short histories researched and written by David. The show has traveled to universities, churches, museums, and other venues throughout the Northeast. Their work—which celebrates heroes of all races and faiths, known and unknown—has been the subject of many interviews and articles, as well as two documentaries.
Over the years, the Purdys’ work has received widespread recognition in the form of awards and commissions. In 2020, Dr. William "Smitty" Smith, Founding Director of the National Race Amity Institute, commissioned Pamela Chatterton-Purdy to create nine Race Amity icons to be unveiled in January 2022 at the opening of the National Race Amity Institute in Atlanta, GA. On September 18, 2019, the Purdys unveiled an icon of Frederick Douglass commissioned by The New Bedford Historical Society. In 2017, the National Race Amity Institute, granted the Purdys a prestigious Race Amity Award. Pamela Chatterton-Purdy’s 1987 book Beyond the Babylift received a Horace Mann grant and was incorporated into the fifth- and eighth-grade Social Studies Programs at the Runkle School, Brookline, MA, where Pamela was an art teacher.
Pamela and David are active board members at Zion Union Heritage Museum, one of New England’s leading institutions presenting the history and culture of people of color and the home base of the Icons exhibition.
The Purdys raised their multiracial family in post-Civil Rights Era suburbia and told their fascinating story in a successful book titled Beyond the Babylift, published by Abington Press in 1987. Over the past several years, they have revisited and updated the story in light of their children's subsequent lives, more recent developments in the public square, and their own evolving consciousness concerning race.