Ella Barksdale Brown (June 22, 1871 – November 7, 1966) was an American anti-lynching advocate, activist, educator, suffragette and journalist. She was a member of the first graduating class of Spelman College in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

Life

On June 22, 1871, in

Milledgeville, Georgia Milledgeville is a city in and the county seat of Baldwin County in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is northeast of Macon and bordered on the east by the Oconee River. The rapid current of the river here made this an attractive location to buil ...

, Ella Barksdale was born to Jefferson and Julia Lamar Barksdale, both former slaves. She attended college and was a student in the first graduating class from Spelman College in

. After marrying John M. Brown in Georgia in 1898, she moved to Jersey City,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

in 1901. John found a job there working for the

Pullman Company The Pullman Company, founded by George Pullman, was a manufacturer of railroad cars in the mid-to-late 19th century through the first half of the 20th century, during the boom of railroads in the United States. Through rapid late-19th century d ...

. Together, Ella and John had four children: Marcia, Jefferson Barksdale, Mildred, and Miriam.

Work

Brown was a journalist who wrote for '' The Chicago Defender'' and ''

The New York Amsterdam News The ''Amsterdam News'' (also known as ''New York Amsterdam News'') is a weekly Black-owned newspaper serving New York City. It is one of the oldest newspapers geared toward African Americans in the United States and has published columns by s ...

'' and was also a columnist for the

Jersey Journal ''The Jersey Journal'' is a daily newspaper, published from Monday through Saturday, covering news and events throughout Hudson County, New Jersey. ''The Journal'' is a sister paper to ''The Star-Ledger'' of Newark, ''The Times'' of Trenton and ...

. Besides writing, she was a well-known educator within the Jersey City high schools and surrounding community. She was given credit for introducing African-American studies into Jersey City public schools. The area schools and community organizations hosted her lectures on African American history due to her dedication to education. She was the first woman to be appointed to the Hudson County Board of Election. Brown was most involved with the

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. ...

(NAACP), the Circle For Negro War Relief, the New Jersey Civil Rights Bureau, and the National Association of Colored Women. Her involvement in these organizations gained her recognition in community and national activist circles, which gained her personal connections with many leading civil rights and African American leaders including

W.E.B. Dubois William Edward Burghardt Du Bois ( ; February 23, 1868 – August 27, 1963) was an American-Ghanaian sociologist, socialist, historian, and Pan-Africanist civil rights activist. Born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, Du Bois grew up in ...

Booker T. Washington Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856November 14, 1915) was an American educator, author, orator, and adviser to several presidents of the United States. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the dominant leader in the African-American c ...

, Paul Robeson, and James Weldon Johnson. Along with her journalistic and educational achievements, Brown is credited with advocating for the New Jersey Federation to designate March 5 as

Crispus Attucks Crispus Attucks ( – March 5, 1770) was an American whaler, sailor, and stevedore of African and Native American descent, commonly regarded as the first person killed in the Boston Massacre and thus the first American killed in the Amer ...

day in New Jersey, which they did in 1949. She died in

Jersey City Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.Ella Barksdale Brown Papers. Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Ella Barksdale 1871 births 19th-century American educators 19th-century African-American educators 19th-century American women educators 19th-century American journalists 19th-century American women journalists Spelman College alumni 1966 deaths African-American journalists