William Cowper Brann
Encyclopedia
William Cowper Brann was an American journalist
known as Brann the Iconoclast.
, Brann was a journalist known for the articulate savagery of his writing. At the time of his death, Brann owned and edited the Iconoclast newspaper in Waco, Texas
.
He was particularly noted for his writings attacking Baptists
, Episcopalians
, the British, and Black people
. "I have nothing against the Baptists. I just believe they were not held under long enough" (Conger, 1964, Baptism by Immersion). He devoted many paragraphs to his hatred of the wealthy eastern social elites
, such as the Vanderbilt family
, and deplored their marriages to titled Europeans. He characterized such marriages as diluting the elites' already-debased American stock with worthless foreign blood. He was equally critical of the New York social scene: "Mrs. Bradley-Martin's sartorial kings and pseudo-queens have strutted their brief hour on the stage, disappearing at daybreak like foul night-birds or an unclean dream—have come and gone like the rank eructation of some crapulous Sodom... a breath blown from the festering lips of half-forgotten harlots..." (Brann, 1897).
One of his targets was Baylor University
, the prominent Baptist institution in Waco. Brann revealed that Baylor officials had been importing South American children recruited by missionaries and making house-servants out of them. He also stated that a male family member of Baylor President Judge Burleson had impregnated a student from Brazil (ibid, Conger). He alleged that male faculty members were having sexual relations with female students and any father sending his daughter to Baylor would be risking her rape. In Brann's view Baylor was, as he published, "A factory for the manufacture of ministers and magdalenes." (ibid, Conger)
Brann was shot in the back by Tom Davis, a Baylor supporter who resented the reference to "magdalenes" (meaning 'prostitute' in this context) because his daughter was a student at the University. After being shot, Brann turned, drew his pistol, and fired multiple shots at Davis, who fell, mortally wounded, in the doorway of the Jake French Cigar Store. Brann was shot through the left lung with the bullet exiting his chest. He was forced to walk to the city jail but later escorted home by friends (Waco Daily Telephone, 1898.) Brann died the morning after he was shot. Engraved on Brann's monument is the word TRUTH, and beneath it is a profile of Brann with a bullet hole in it.
In the early 1890s, Brann, who had only three years of formal education, owned and published an Austin, Texas newspaper. He eventually sold the Austin Iconoclast to William Sydney Porter
, better known as O. Henry. He repurchased it from Porter to operate it out of Waco, Texas until the time of his assassination. Following the assassination, Brann's wife moved the publication to Chicago, but still covered Texas issues.
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...
known as Brann the Iconoclast.
Biography
Born in Humboldt, IllinoisHumboldt, Illinois
Humboldt is an incorporated town in Coles County, Illinois, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the town population was 437. It is part of the Charleston–Mattoon Micropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
, Brann was a journalist known for the articulate savagery of his writing. At the time of his death, Brann owned and edited the Iconoclast newspaper in Waco, Texas
Waco, Texas
Waco is a city in and the county seat of McLennan County, Texas. Situated along the Brazos River and on the I-35 corridor, halfway between Dallas and Austin, it is the economic, cultural, and academic center of the 'Heart of Texas' region....
.
He was particularly noted for his writings attacking Baptists
Southern Baptist Convention
The Southern Baptist Convention is a United States-based Christian denomination. It is the world's largest Baptist denomination and the largest Protestant body in the United States, with over 16 million members...
, Episcopalians
Episcopal Church (United States)
The Episcopal Church is a mainline Anglican Christian church found mainly in the United States , but also in Honduras, Taiwan, Colombia, Ecuador, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, the British Virgin Islands and parts of Europe...
, the British, and Black people
Black people
The term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...
. "I have nothing against the Baptists. I just believe they were not held under long enough" (Conger, 1964, Baptism by Immersion). He devoted many paragraphs to his hatred of the wealthy eastern social elites
White Anglo-Saxon Protestant
White Anglo-Saxon Protestant or WASP is an informal term, often derogatory or disparaging, for a closed group of high-status Americans mostly of British Protestant ancestry. The group supposedly wields disproportionate financial and social power. When it appears in writing, it is usually used to...
, such as the Vanderbilt family
Vanderbilt family
The Vanderbilt family is an American family of Dutch origin prominent during the Gilded Age. It started off with the shipping and railroad empires of Cornelius Vanderbilt, and expanded into various other areas of industry and philanthropy...
, and deplored their marriages to titled Europeans. He characterized such marriages as diluting the elites' already-debased American stock with worthless foreign blood. He was equally critical of the New York social scene: "Mrs. Bradley-Martin's sartorial kings and pseudo-queens have strutted their brief hour on the stage, disappearing at daybreak like foul night-birds or an unclean dream—have come and gone like the rank eructation of some crapulous Sodom... a breath blown from the festering lips of half-forgotten harlots..." (Brann, 1897).
One of his targets was Baylor University
Baylor University
Baylor University is a private, Christian university located in Waco, Texas. Founded in 1845, Baylor is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.-History:...
, the prominent Baptist institution in Waco. Brann revealed that Baylor officials had been importing South American children recruited by missionaries and making house-servants out of them. He also stated that a male family member of Baylor President Judge Burleson had impregnated a student from Brazil (ibid, Conger). He alleged that male faculty members were having sexual relations with female students and any father sending his daughter to Baylor would be risking her rape. In Brann's view Baylor was, as he published, "A factory for the manufacture of ministers and magdalenes." (ibid, Conger)
Brann was shot in the back by Tom Davis, a Baylor supporter who resented the reference to "magdalenes" (meaning 'prostitute' in this context) because his daughter was a student at the University. After being shot, Brann turned, drew his pistol, and fired multiple shots at Davis, who fell, mortally wounded, in the doorway of the Jake French Cigar Store. Brann was shot through the left lung with the bullet exiting his chest. He was forced to walk to the city jail but later escorted home by friends (Waco Daily Telephone, 1898.) Brann died the morning after he was shot. Engraved on Brann's monument is the word TRUTH, and beneath it is a profile of Brann with a bullet hole in it.
In the early 1890s, Brann, who had only three years of formal education, owned and published an Austin, Texas newspaper. He eventually sold the Austin Iconoclast to William Sydney Porter
O. Henry
O. Henry was the pen name of the American writer William Sydney Porter . O. Henry's short stories are well known for their wit, wordplay, warm characterization and clever twist endings.-Early life:...
, better known as O. Henry. He repurchased it from Porter to operate it out of Waco, Texas until the time of his assassination. Following the assassination, Brann's wife moved the publication to Chicago, but still covered Texas issues.
Further reading
- Jerry Flemmons. Oh Dammit!: A Lexicon and Lecture from William Cowper Brann, the Iconoclast (Lubbock: Texas Tech University Press, 1998) [Note: Includes complete script of Flemmons' one-man stageplay of the same name] |ref= CITEREFCarver1957 |bibcode= |laysummary= |laydate= }} |ref= CITEREFBrann1919 |bibcode= |laysummary= |laydate= }}
- Frank Luther Mott. A history of American magazines, 1741-1930 (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press ca.1958-1968). Page 442+ [Note: This book is available online from the History E-Book Project]
External links
- "William Cowper Brann" in the Handbook of Texas Online
- "The Iconoclast's Icon" by Dave Shiflett, October 1, 2004
- William Cowper Brann Collection at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at AustinUniversity of Texas at AustinThe University of Texas at Austin is a state research university located in Austin, Texas, USA, and is the flagship institution of the The University of Texas System. Founded in 1883, its campus is located approximately from the Texas State Capitol in Austin...
- William Cowper Brann at Find A GraveFind A GraveFind a Grave is a commercial website providing free access and input to an online database of cemetery records. It was founded in 1998 as a DBA and incorporated in 2000.-History:...