John Henry Brown
Encyclopedia
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
, journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
, author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
, military
Military
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
leader, and a politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
who served as a state legislator
Legislator
A legislator is a person who writes and passes laws, especially someone who is a member of a legislature. Legislators are usually politicians and are often elected by the people...
and as mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of both Dallas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
and Galveston, Texas
Galveston, Texas
Galveston is a coastal city located on Galveston Island in the U.S. state of Texas. , the city had a total population of 47,743 within an area of...
. Brown was among the first to publish scholarly histories of the state of Texas and the city of Dallas. In recent decades, Brown has been the subject of significant criticism as researchers and the media have revealed a strong and consistent theme in his writing and speeches of rhetoric bigoted against African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
s and those who advocated their rights.
Life and career
John Henry Brown was born in Pike CountyPike County, Missouri
As of the census of 2010, there were 18,516 people, 6,451 households, and 4,476 families residing in the county. The population density was 27 people per square mile . There were 7,493 housing units at an average density of 11 per square mile...
, Missouri Territory, the son of Henry S. Brown and Margaret Jones Brown. He received little formal schooling but apprenticed as a youth in a printer's office and various newspapers in Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
. At age 17, Brown moved to the Republic of Texas
Republic of Texas
The Republic of Texas was an independent nation in North America, bordering the United States and Mexico, that existed from 1836 to 1846.Formed as a break-away republic from Mexico by the Texas Revolution, the state claimed borders that encompassed an area that included all of the present U.S...
and soon thereafter worked for a newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
in Austin
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
. His military career began in 1840 in skirmishes with Indians
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
, and by 1841 he had attained the rank of first sergeant. He was involved in several battles in the succeeding two years.
In April 1843 Brown returned to Missouri, where in July of that year he married Marion F. Mitchel, with whom he would eventually have five children. In 1845 the couple came to Texas to live. In 1846, Brown was given the rank of major
Major (United States)
In the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, major is a field grade military officer rank just above the rank of captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel...
in the militia
Militia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
of Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, which had joined the union as a state in December 1845. He resumed his newspaper career the same year.
In 1848, the Brown family moved to Indianola, Texas
Indianola, Texas
Indianola is a ghost town located on Matagorda Bay in Calhoun County, Texas, United States. The community, once the county seat of Calhoun County, is a part of the Victoria, Texas, Metropolitan Statistical Area. In 1875, the city had a population of 5,000, but on September 15 of that year, a...
. There Brown founded a newspaper and published a number of documents on the history of Texas and the Southwest
Southwestern United States
The Southwestern United States is a region defined in different ways by different sources. Broad definitions include nearly a quarter of the United States, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah...
.
Brown became the associate editor of a newspaper in Galveston in 1854. He was elected that year to the Texas legislature, and in 1856 he became mayor of Galveston. He returned to the state legislature in 1857, following which he moved to Belton, Texas
Belton, Texas
Belton is a city in Bell County, Texas, United States. The population was 14,623 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Bell County.Belton is part of the Killeen – Temple – Fort Hood metropolitan area.-Geography:...
, and continued activities in both journalism and the military.
As the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
approached, Brown was selected in 1861 to chair the committee that prepared Texas's articles of secession
Secession
Secession is the act of withdrawing from an organization, union, or especially a political entity. Threats of secession also can be a strategy for achieving more limited goals.-Secession theory:...
. Beginning service in the Confederate States Army
Confederate States Army
The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...
as a private, he rose to the rank of major, serving on the staff of Brig. Gen. Benjamin McCulloch
Benjamin McCulloch
Benjamin McCulloch was a soldier in the Texas Revolution, a Texas Ranger, a U.S. marshal, and a brigadier general in the army of the Confederate States during the American Civil War.-Early life:...
, then as assistant adjutant general on Gen.
General (United States)
In the United States Army, United States Air Force, and United States Marine Corps, general is a four-star general officer rank, with the pay grade of O-10. General ranks above lieutenant general and below General of the Army or General of the Air Force; the Marine Corps does not have an...
Henry E. McCulloch
Henry Eustace McCulloch
Henry Eustace McCulloch was a soldier in the Texas Revolution, a Texas Ranger, and a brigadier general in the army of the Confederate States during the American Civil War.-Early life:...
's staff. Because of health issues, Brown returned to Texas in 1863 and served the remainder of the war in the Texas militia.
Brown was displeased with the outcome of the war and moved with his family to Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
in June 1865, where they remained until 1871, at which time they returned to the U.S. and settled in Dallas. In 1872 Brown returned to the Texas state legislature. He held numerous state and local appointments and offices for the remainder of his life, most notably serving as Dallas's mayor from 1885 to 1887.
From 1880 until his death in 1895 Brown wrote and edited several books on the history of the region, including The History of Dallas County, 1837-1887, The Life and Times of Henry Smith, Indian Wars and Pioneers of Texas, and The History of Texas from 1685 to 1892.
Brown died in Dallas at the age of 74.
Legacy
A newspaper report of John Henry Brown's funeral recorded that the procession "was one of the longest ever seen in Dallas"; another one four years later said Brown "had a state-wide reputation and probably knew more persons in Texas than any other one man." Brown's papers are preserved in the Texas Hall of StateHall of State
The Hall of State is a building in Dallas's Fair Park that commemorates the history of the U.S. state of Texas and is considered one of the best examples of Art Deco architecture in the state.-History:...
in Dallas's Fair Park
Fair Park
Dallas Fair Park is a recreational and educational complex located in Dallas, Texas . The complex is registered as a Dallas Landmark, National Historic Landmark and is home to nine museums, six performance facilities, a lagoon, and the largest Ferris wheel in North America...
. Brown Street, in Dallas's Oak Lawn neighborhood, was named for him, as was a public school: in 1912, the Dallas Independent School District
Dallas Independent School District
The Dallas Independent School District is a school district based in Dallas, Texas . Dallas ISD, which operates schools in much of Dallas County, is the second largest school district in Texas and the twelfth largest in the United States.In 2009, the school district was rated "academically...
opened John Henry Brown School, an elementary school
Elementary school
An elementary school or primary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as elementary or primary education. Elementary school is the preferred term in some countries, particularly those in North America, where the terms grade school and grammar...
, in South Dallas
South Dallas
South Dallas is an area in Dallas, Texas, . It is usually either defined in one of two ways: As the area south of the Trinity River and south of Interstate 30, which consist mostly of Oak Cliff and Pleasant Grove, or to the area bounded by I-30 and Downtown Dallas to the north, the Trinity River to...
. During the 1950s the demographics of the neighborhood in which the school was located shifted significantly from exclusively Anglo (and largely Jewish) to primarily African-American. In 1955, Brown Elementary School was the focus of Dallas's first desegregation
Desegregation
Desegregation is the process of ending the separation of two groups usually referring to races. This is most commonly used in reference to the United States. Desegregation was long a focus of the American Civil Rights Movement, both before and after the United States Supreme Court's decision in...
-related legal action, as an African-American family sued
Lawsuit
A lawsuit or "suit in law" is a civil action brought in a court of law in which a plaintiff, a party who claims to have incurred loss as a result of a defendant's actions, demands a legal or equitable remedy. The defendant is required to respond to the plaintiff's complaint...
for the right of their children to attend the segregated
Racial segregation
Racial segregation is the separation of humans into racial groups in daily life. It may apply to activities such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a public toilet, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home...
whites-only school that was half a block from their home; the suit was dismissed. In succeeding decades, desegregation did occur and was in fact made mandatory under court orders in the 1970s. Meanwhile, community resentment grew as local residents were made aware of the racist
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
nature of much of John Henry Brown's rhetoric, as illustrated in these excerpts from Phillips, 2006:
- "'[A]malgamation of the white with the black race, inevitably leads to disease, decline and death,' Galveston State Representative and later Dallas mayor John Henry Brown warned in 1857."
- "In December 1857 Brown proposed a joint resolution calling for resumption of the African slave trade that had been prohibited by the U.S. Constitution since 1808. Brown argued that the Negro was 'indisputably adapted by nature, to the condition of servitude' and, rescued from the savagery and disease of Africa by the white man, enjoyed 'a degree of health unequalled' by slaves anywhere else in the world."
- "'[A] free negro population is a curse to any people,' John Henry Brown warned in a state House committee hearing in 1857. Free blacks and mixed-blood persons had been allowed to remain in Texas, Brown said, due to white 'humanity and generosity.'"
- "Brown advised slaveowners to 'whip no abolitionist, drive off no abolitionist—hang them, or let them alone.'"
In 1999, the Dallas school board
Board of education
A board of education or a school board or school committee is the title of the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or higher administrative level....
responded to the community, authorizing the changing of the name of John Henry Brown Elementary School to Billy E. Dade Elementary School (Dade was an African-American public-school educator in Dallas). As of 2006, the Dade school became the Billy E. Dade Middle Learning Center.