Robert Raymond Brown (June 16, 1910 – February 5, 1994) was an author and the

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

The Episcopal Church The Episcopal Church, based in the United States with additional dioceses elsewhere, is a member church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. It is a mainline Protestant denomination and is divided into nine Ecclesiastical provinces and dioces ...

Early life and education

Brown was born on June 16, 1910, in

Garden City, Kansas Garden City is a city in, and the county seat of, Finney County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 28,151. The city is home to Garden City Community College and the Lee Richa ...

, the son of a dentist, Joseph Leslie Brown, and Madeline Swan Wells. He studied at the

Texas Military Institute TMI Episcopal is a private school in San Antonio. Previously known as Texas Military Institute, TMI is a selective coeducational Episcopal college preparatory school with a military tradition in San Antonio, Texas for boarding and day students. ...

, and then at

St. Mary's University, Texas St. Mary's University is a private Roman Catholic university in San Antonio, Texas. Founded by the Society of Mary (Marianists) in 1852, St. Mary's is the oldest Catholic university in Texas and the American Southwest. With a student populati ...

, from where he earned a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in 1933. He then had a brief high school coaching career before attending

Virginia Theological Seminary Virginia Theological Seminary (VTS), formally called the Protestant Episcopal Theological Seminary in Virginia, located at 3737 Seminary Road in Alexandria, Virginia is the largest and second oldest accredited Episcopal seminary in the Unit ...

from where he graduated with a

Bachelor of Divinity In Western universities, a Bachelor of Divinity or Baccalaureate in Divinity (BD or BDiv; la, Baccalaureus Divinitatis) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded for a course taken in the study of divinity or related disciplines, such as theology ...

in 1937. He married Katherine Warwick Rust on November 3, 1937, and had three children.

Ordained ministry

Brown was ordained deacon on June 20, 1937, and priest on December 24, 1937, by Bishop

William Theodotus Capers William Theodotus Capers (August 9, 1867 - March 29, 1943) was bishop of the Diocese of West Texas in the Episcopal Church in the United States from 1916 until his death. Early life and education Capers was born on August 9, 1867, in Greenville, ...

of West Texas. He served as priest-in-charge of All Saints' Church in

San Benito, Texas San Benito is a city in Cameron County, Texas, United States. Its population was 24,250 at the 2010 census. On April 3, 2007, San Benito celebrated the 100th anniversary of its naming. The post office was named "Diaz" from April to May 1907. The ...

, and St Alban's Church in

Harlingen, Texas Harlingen ( ) is a city in Cameron County in the central region of the Rio Grande Valley of the southern part of the U.S. state of Texas, about from the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. The city covers more than and is the second-largest city in ...

between 1937 and 1940, before becoming associate rector of Trinity Church in

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

in 1940. Between 1941 and 1947, he was rector of St Paul's Church in

Waco, Texas Waco ( ) is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a 2020 population of 138,486, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the ...

while between 1947 and 1955, he served as rector of St Paul's Church in

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

Bishop

In 1955, Brown was elected Coadjutor Bishop of Arkansas and was consecrated on October 5, 1955, by Bishop

John Vander Horst John Vander Horst (January 12, 1912 – April 19, 1980) was bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee from 1961 to 1977. Early life and education Vander Horst was born in Orange, New Jersey, on January 12, 1912. He was educated at Baltimore's G ...

of Tennessee. He then succeeded as diocesan bishop on October 5, 1956. He retired on November 1, 1970. Following his retirement, he served St. Thaddeus Episcopal Church in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Brown died in

Little Rock, Arkansas (The Little Rock, The "Little Rock") , government_type = council-manager government, Council-manager , leader_title = List of mayors of Little Rock, Arkansas, Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_ ...

on February 5, 1994.

Civil rights

Brown was a civil rights advocate who worked to bring an end to racial discrimination and segregation. He was as a Trustee of the American Church Institute for Negroes. In 1957 he became involved in the desegregation of Central High School in

."Robert Raymond Brown (1910–1994)"
''Encyclopedia of Arkansas''. Retrieved on June 6, 2021.

Works

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Robert Raymond 1910 births 1994 deaths People from Garden City, Kansas 20th-century American Episcopalians Activists for African-American civil rights American civil rights activists Episcopal bishops of Arkansas St. Mary's University, Texas alumni Virginia Theological Seminary alumni 20th-century American bishops 20th-century American Episcopal priests