James Graham Brown (August 18, 1881 — March 20, 1969) was an American businessman and real estate developer best known as the builder of the Brown Hotel in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

and for his philanthropy.

Early life

Born in

Madison, Indiana Madison is a city in and the county seat of Jefferson County, Indiana, United States, along the Ohio River. As of the 2010 United States Census its population was 11,967. Over 55,000 people live within of downtown Madison. Madison is the larges ...

, he moved to Louisville in 1903 and founded, with his brother and father, the W.P. Brown and Sons Lumber Company. Brown also began developing commercial buildings, concentrated around

Downtown Louisville Downtown Louisville is the largest central business district in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the urban hub of the Louisville, Kentucky Metropolitan Area. Its boundaries are the Ohio River to the north, Hancock Street to the east, York and Jaco ...

, including the Brown Hotel, Brown Theater, Brown Garage, the Commonwealth Building (originally the Martin Brown Building), and

Kentucky Towers Kentucky Towers is an historic apartment building located in Downtown Louisville, Kentucky, USA, at 430 W Muhammad Ali Blvd. History The building was first built in 1925 on the corner of Fifth and Walnut streets as the Kentucky Hotel. It was the ...

. From 1944 until 1947, Brown owned the Newell B. McClaskey House and

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

in Bloomfield,

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

. (with )

Later career

Brown was still involved with downtown hotel development in the 1960s, as well as suburban developments like the Brown Suburban Hotel, and a development on the site of his east end farm which eventually became Baptist Hospital East and the surrounding business and retail center called Breckenridge Square. He served on the board of directors of Churchill Downs for 32 years. Brown was an opponent of organized labor, once threatening to sell his hotels to the highest bidder if employees organized. Brown would not desegregate his hotel and theater until public accommodation laws forced change. When "Porgy and Bess," which had an all black cast, was playing at the Brown Theatre, local blacks were barred from attending. During the early 1960s, civil rights sit-ins were held in front of the Brown Theatre.

Philanthropic work

Later in his life he became active in philanthropy, pledging $1.5 million in 1962 to fund the establishment of the

Louisville Zoo The Louisville Zoological Gardens, commonly known as the Louisville Zoo, is a zoo in Louisville, Kentucky, situated in the city's Poplar Level neighborhood. Founded in 1969, the "State Zoo of Kentucky" currently exhibits over 1,700 animals in n ...

. He donated a similar amount to build a student center at his Alma mater,

Hanover College Hanover College is a private college in Hanover, Indiana, affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA). Founded in 1827 by Reverend John Finley Crowe, it is Indiana's oldest private college. The Hanover athletic teams participate in the H ...

. He also donated heavily to the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one o ...

and to various other schools and hospitals. He was also a lifelong supporter of the

Boy Scouts of America The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded ...

. Many of these donations were anonymous. He lived in a small suite at his hotel for much of his life. At the time of his death, Brown had no heirs, and his estate was estimated to be worth $100 million, making him the wealthiest man in Kentucky at the time. The bulk of the estate was given to a charitable foundation that bore his name. The foundation, which he had created in 1943, has donated to local and state causes over the years, and remains active . The current active President and CEO of the foundation is local Louisville resident, Mason Bennett Rummel.Who We Are
James Graham Brown Foundation. Retrieved 6 September 2020. The foundation claims $462,816,066 in donations through 2,700 grants so far. Projects the foundation has made key donations to include

Louisville Waterfront Park Louisville Waterfront Park is both a non-profit organization and an public park adjacent to the downtown area of Louisville, Kentucky and the Ohio River. Specifically, it is adjacent to Louisville's wharf and Riverfront Plaza/Belvedere, which ar ...

and the University of Louisville's James Graham Brown Cancer Center. An early donation allowed the

Kentucky Derby Museum The Kentucky Derby Museum is an American Thoroughbred horse racing museum located on the grounds of Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. Dedicated to preserving the history of the Kentucky Derby, it first opened its doors to the public in the ...

to be created.

Death and burial

Brown died of congestive heart failure and was buried in

Cave Hill Cemetery Cave Hill Cemetery is a Victorian era National Cemetery and arboretum located at Louisville, Kentucky. Its main entrance is on Baxter Avenue and there is a secondary one on Grinstead Drive. It is the largest cemetery by area and number of buri ...

Notes

External links