Albert Murray, an excellent student, was awarded a scholarship to Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University), where he developed an interest in jazz music and in literature and writing. Also at Tuskegee, he became aware of Ralph Ellison, who was an upperclassman during Murray's freshman year and who was to achieve fame as the author of the timeless American classic Invisible Man. Later, in New York, the two writers would form a lasting friendship.
Murray graduated from Tuskegee Institute in 1939 and attended graduate school at Northwestern University and the University of Michigan. He then taught English and American literature and directed theater at Tuskegee. Murray earned a master's degree in literature from New York University in 1948 and spent summers studying in Paris at the Sorbonne.
Source: encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1867
Above: Albert Murray received his Master of Arts from New York University in 1948
Above: Tuskegee University presents Albert Murray with Doctor of Letters, March 28, 1999.
Albert Murray served in the U.S. Army Air Corps (USAAC) from 1943 to 1946, then transferred to the U.S. Air Force Reserve (USAFRES). In 1951, Murray returned to active service in the U.S. Air Force. He spent four years as the head of the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program at Tuskegee, then was stationed in Morocco, California, and Massachusetts. He retired from the Air Force with the rank of major in 1962.
Sources:
alabamaliterarymap.lib.ua.edu/author?AuthorID=58
encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1867
Above: Capt Murray took leave in Morocco, Germany, France, Holland, England, and Belgium in 1957
Above: Capt Albert Murray's travel orders to Germany, France, Holland, England, and Belgium in 1958
Above: Major Albert Lee Murray, United States Air Force Certificate of Retirement, June 29, 1962.