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John Henry Brown (October 29, 1820 – May 31, 1895) was an American
journalist
A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...
,
military
A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...
leader,
author
An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states:
"''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...
,
politician
A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...
, and
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 stu ...
, who served as a state
legislator
A legislator (also known as a deputy or lawmaker) is a person who writes and passes laws, especially someone who is a member of a legislature. Legislators are often elected by the people of the state. Legislatures may be supra-national (for ex ...
and as
mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...
of both
Galveston
Galveston ( ) is a coastal resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a population of 47,743 in 2010, is the county seat of surrounding Galvesto ...
(1856) and
Dallas
Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
, Texas (1885-1887). Brown was among the first to publish scholarly histories of the state of Texas and the city of Dallas.
Since the late 20th century, Brown has been the subject of significant criticism. His writing and speeches, particularly in the antebellum years, expressed considerable racism and discrimination against
African Americans
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, most of whom in Texas gained freedom only after the Civil War and emancipation. He also opposed
abolitionists
Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people.
The Britis ...
and later whites who were sympathetic to the
freedmen
A freedman or freedwoman is a formerly enslaved person who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, enslaved people were freed by manumission (granted freedom by their captor-owners), abolitionism, emancipation (gra ...
.
Life and career
John Henry Brown was born in 1820 in
Pike County,
Missouri Territory
The Territory of Missouri was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from June 4, 1812, until August 10, 1821. In 1819, the Territory of Arkansas was created from a portion of its southern area. In 1821, a southeas ...
, the son of Henry S. Brown and Margaret Kerr (Jones) Brown. He received little formal schooling but apprenticed as a youth in a printer's office and various newspapers in
Missouri
Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...
. At age 17, Brown moved to the recently established
Republic of Texas
The Republic of Texas ( es, República de Tejas) was a sovereign state in North America that existed from March 2, 1836, to February 19, 1846, that bordered Mexico, the Republic of the Rio Grande in 1840 (another breakaway republic from Mex ...
and soon was working for a
newspaper
A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background.
Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...
in
Austin
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...
.
His military career began in 1840 in skirmishes against
Indians, 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. They eventually had five children together. In 1845 the couple migrated to Texas to live. In 1846, Brown was commissioned as a
major
Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...
in the
militia
A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...
of
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
, 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 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 populati ...
. There Brown founded a newspaper and published a number of documents on the history of Texas and the
Southwest
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...
.
Brown became the associate
editor
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...
of a newspaper in
Galveston
Galveston ( ) is a coastal resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a population of 47,743 in 2010, is the county seat of surrounding Galvesto ...
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. After another term, he moved to
Belton, Texas
Belton is a city in the U.S. state of Texas on the Interstate 35 in Texas, Interstate 35 corridor between Austin, Texas, Austin and Waco, Texas, Waco. Belton is the county seat of Bell County, Texas, Bell County and is the fifth largest city in t ...
, and continued activities in both journalism and the military.
As the
Civil War
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
approached, Brown was selected in 1861 to chair the committee that prepared Texas's articles of
secession
Secession is the withdrawal of a group from a larger entity, especially a political entity, but also from any organization, union or military alliance. Some of the most famous and significant secessions have been: the former Soviet republics le ...
. Beginning service in the
Confederate States Army
The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...
as a
private
Private or privates may refer to:
Music
* " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation''
* Private (band), a Denmark-based band
* "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...
, he rose to the rank of major, serving on the staff of
Brig. Gen.
Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...
Benjamin McCulloch
Brigadier-General Benjamin McCulloch (November 11, 1811 – March 7, 1862) was a soldier in the Texas Revolution, a Texas Ranger, a major-general in the Texas militia and thereafter a major in the United States Army (United States Volunteers) ...
, then as assistant
adjutant general
An adjutant general is a military chief administrative officer.
France
In Revolutionary France, the was a senior staff officer, effectively an assistant to a general officer. It was a special position for lieutenant-colonels and colonels in staf ...
on the staff of
Gen.
The Book of Genesis (from Greek language, Greek ; Hebrew language, Hebrew: בְּרֵאשִׁית ''Bəreʾšīt'', "In hebeginning") is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its i ...
Henry E. McCulloch
Henry Eustace McCulloch (December 6, 1816 – March 12, 1895) 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
McCulloch was born in ...
. Because of health issues, Brown returned to Texas in 1863; he served the remainder of the war in the Texas militia.
Brown was displeased with the Union's victory. Like numerous other Confederates, he moved with his family to
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
in June 1865, where they lived until 1871. They returned to the U.S. and settled in
Dallas
Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
. In 1872 Brown was elected again to the Texas state legislature. He continued to be politically active, holding numerous state and local appointments and offices. Most notably he served 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. He was buried at
Greenwood Cemetery in Dallas.
Legacy
A newspaper report of 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 State
The Hall of State (originally the State of Texas Building) 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. It was desig ...
in Dallas's
Fair Park
Fair Park is a recreational and educational complex in Dallas, Texas, United States, located immediately east of downtown. The area is registered as a Dallas Landmark and National Historic Landmark; many of the buildings were constructed for th ...
.
A number of places or institutions were named for him: Brown Street, in Dallas's
Oak Lawn neighborhood; and John Henry Brown School, an
elementary school
A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...
opened in 1912 in
South Dallas
South Dallas is an area in Dallas, Texas. It is south of Downtown Dallas, bordered by Trinity River on the west, Interstate 30 on the north, and the Great Trinity Forest to the south and east. In recent years the City of Dallas and organizations ...
.
During the 1950s the demographics of the school's neighborhood changed from early generations of European Americans and Jewish immigrants; it became primarily African-American. In 1955, Brown Elementary School was the focus of Dallas's first
desegregation
Desegregation is the process of ending the separation of two groups, usually referring to races. Desegregation is typically measured by the index of dissimilarity, allowing researchers to determine whether desegregation efforts are having impact o ...
-related legal action, as an African-American family
sued
-
A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil acti ...
for the right of their children to attend the
segregated whites-only school that was half a block from their home; the suit was dismissed. In succeeding decades, desegregation did occur and was ordered by federal courts in the 1970s.
Meanwhile, community resentment grew as local residents learned about Brown's racist rhetoric, as illustrated in these excerpts from Michael Phillips, ''
White Metropolis: Race, Ethnicity, and Religion in Dallas, 1841-2001'' (2006):
*"'
algamation 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."
*"'
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.'"
While Brown's racist writing may have been typical of opinions of antebellum white slaveholders, local Dallas residents objected to their children having to attend a school that honored such a man. In 1999, the Dallas
school board
A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution.
The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional are ...
authorized changing the name to Billy E. Dade Elementary School (Dade was an African-American public-school educator in Dallas). As of 2006, the Dade school was renamed for use as the Billy E. Dade Middle Learning Center.
References
*"Are Rushing School Buildings," ''
The Dallas Morning News
''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885 by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ''Galvesto ...
'', May 30, 1912.
*Baker, Erma
Brown, John Henryin ''The
Handbook of Texas
The ''Handbook of Texas'' is a comprehensive encyclopedia of Texas geography, history, and historical persons published by the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA).
History
The original ''Handbook'' was the brainchild of TSHA President Wal ...
Online''. Retrieved August 27, 2007.
*
Benton, Joshuacrabwalk.com(weblog of a ''Dallas Morning News'' staff writer and columnist). Retrieved August 27, 2007.
Billy Earl Dade Middle Learning Center(Dallas Independent School District website). Retrieved August 27, 2007.
*"Brown: Dallas' Mayor Wrote History" by Sam Acheson. ''The Dallas Morning News'', April 21, 1962.
*Cristol, Gerry. ''A Light in the Prairie: Temple Emanu-El of Dallas 1872–1997''. Fort Worth TX: TCU Press, 1998. .
*"John Henry Brown." ''The Dallas Morning News'', June 3, 1895.
*"John Henry Brown's Will." ''The Dallas Morning News'', March 7, 1899.
*
Phillips, Michael. ''
White Metropolis: Race, Ethnicity, and Religion in Dallas, 1841-2001''. Austin:
University of Texas Press
The University of Texas Press (or UT Press) is a university press that is part of the University of Texas at Austin. Established in 1950, the Press publishes scholarly books and journals in several areas, including Latin American studies, Texan ...
, 2006. .
*Rumbley, Rose-Mary. ''A Century of Class: Public Education in Dallas''. Austin TX: Eakin Press, 1984. .
*"Woman's Club Notes." ''The Dallas Morning News'', November 24, 1912.
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, John Henry
1820 births
1895 deaths
Historians of Texas
People from Pike County, Missouri
19th-century American historians
19th-century American male writers
Members of the Texas House of Representatives
Mayors of Dallas
Confederate States Army officers
People of Texas in the American Civil War
19th-century American politicians
American male non-fiction writers
Historians from Texas