Oscar Brown Sr.

Last updated

Oscar Brown Sr.
Born(1895-12-22)December 22, 1895 [1]
nr. Camden, Arkansas, US
DiedOctober 1, 1990(1990-10-01) (aged 94) [2]
Chicago, Illinois, US
NationalityAmerican
Alma mater Howard University, Howard University School of Law
OccupationBusinessman, lawyer
Known for Civil rights activist, early proponent of black separatism, first African American on real estate planning committee for State of Illinois

Oscar Brown Sr. was a prominent Chicago businessman, lawyer and community activist. He was the father of Oscar Brown Jr.

Contents

Biography

Oscar Cicero Brown was born near Camden, Arkansas, on December 22, 1895. In 1916, he graduated from Howard University in Washington, DC, with degrees in commerce and law. He served in the military during World War I. [1] [3] [4]

In 1929, he founded the law firm of Brown, Brown, Cyrus and Green in Chicago. Gradually, he turned his attention away from law and started the Oscar C. Brown Real Estate Corp. and spent a good part of his life on issues relating to real estate, either as a developer, an activist or as an administrator. [3]

In the mid-1930s, disillusioned with the progress of racial integration, Brown seriously considered the concept of separatism. He led a group of African-American intellectuals to initiate the National Movement for the Establishment of a 49th State (there were only 48 United States at the time). He wanted to make a state for only African Americans. [5]

In 1944, Brown served as president of the Chicago branch of the NAACP. A major focus of his efforts there were to protest housing segregation and to improve police enforcement in predominantly African-American neighborhoods. He became the first African American appointed to the real estate planning committee of the Illinois Department of Registration and Education in 1964. [3] Brown was also a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.

He died at the University of Chicago Hospital on October 1, 1990, after a lengthy illness. [2] [3]

Personal

Entertainer and activist Oscar Brown Jr. is his son. He is also the brother of William H. Brown, who was a prominent attorney based in Chicago. [6]

Related Research Articles

Damon Keith American judge

Damon Jerome Keith was a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and a former United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. He never retired, dying in office.

Oscar Stanton De Priest American politician and civil rights advocate

Oscar Stanton De Priest was an American politician and civil rights advocate from Chicago. A member of the Illinois Republican Party he was the first African American to be elected to Congress in the 20th century. During his three terms, he was the only African American serving in Congress. He served as a U.S. Representative from Illinois' 1st congressional district from 1929 to 1935. De Priest was also the first African-American U.S. Representative from outside the southern states, the first since the Reconstruction Era, and the first since the exit of North Carolina representative George Henry White from Congress in 1901.

John H. Johnson American businessman and publisher

John Harold Johnson was an American businessman and publisher. Johnson was the founder of the Johnson Publishing Company which is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Johnson's Ebony (1945) and Jet (1951–2014) magazines are among the most influential African-American businesses in media beginning in the second half of the twentieth century. In 1982, Johnson became the first African American to appear on the Forbes 400. In 1987, Johnson was named Black Enterprise Entrepreneur of the year.

Johnson Publishing Company American publishing company based in Chicago, Illinois

Johnson Publishing Company, Inc. (JPC) was an American publishing company founded in November 1942 by African-American businessman John H. Johnson. It was headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. JPC was privately held and run by Johnson until his death in 2005. Led by its flagship publication, Ebony, Johnson Publishing was at one time the largest African-American–owned publishing firm in the United States. JPC also published Jet, a weekly magazine, from November 1951 until June 2014, when it became digital only. The company's last chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) was the founder's daughter, Linda Johnson-Rice. In its final years, Johnson Publishing Company sold off assets including its historic 820 S. Michigan Avenue headquarters in 2011, and its publications in 2016. In April 2019, JPC filed for liquidation, ending the company’s 76–year run. The historic Ebony/Jet photo archives, which JPC retained after the sale of its Ebony and Jet magazines, were sold in July 2019 for $30 million to a group of art and educational foundations to make them available to the public.

Miles Dewey Davis Jr. was an affluent American dentist and father of jazz legend Miles Davis.

Marjorie Vincent American beauty queen

Marjorie Judith Vincent is an American journalist and former beauty contestant who was crowned Miss America 1991.

Shauneille Perry is an American stage director and playwright. She was one of the first African-American women to direct off-Broadway.

Edward Gourdin Athletics competitor; Massachusetts Superior Court judge

Edward Orval "Ned" Gourdin was an American athlete and jurist. He was the first man in history to make 25 feet in the long jump and the first African-American and the first Native-American (Seminole) to be appointed a Superior Court judge in New England.

Joseph Edison Walker was a leading African American physician, businessman and religious leader. After graduating from college and medical school, he practiced as a doctor in Mississippi, where he was born and reared. He also became president of a bank and an insurance company serving blacks. In 1920 he moved with his family to Memphis, Tennessee for more opportunities.

Isaac Lolette "Ike" Jones was an American film producer and actor. In June 1953, he became the first African American graduate of the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television and was the first African American to serve as a producer on a major motion picture.

Graham T. Perry (1894–1960) was a prominent African-American attorney who served as assistant attorney general for the State of Illinois. He is also the father of stage director Shauneille Perry and uncle of playwright Lorraine Hansberry.

Frank Albert (Fay) Young (1884–1957) was an American journalist. He was widely regarded as the "dean of Negro sportswriters."

Andrew Spurgeon "Doc" Young was an American sports journalist and author. He was also one of the first African American publicists working in Hollywood. Throughout his career he received numerous honors from the National Newspaper Publishers Association.

William Nickerson Jr. was a prominent Los Angeles-based businessman and founder of Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company, which at one time was the largest black-owned business west of the Mississippi.

Norman O. Houston was a prominent Los Angeles-based businessman and president of Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company, which at one time was the largest black-owned business west of the Mississippi.

George A. Beavers Jr. was the board chairman of Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company, which at one time was the largest black-owned business west of the Mississippi.

Robert P. Braddicks (1882–1965) was a leading African-American businessman in New York City in the first half of the 20th century.

Earl B. Dickerson American activist

Earl B. Dickerson (1891–1986) was a prominent African American attorney, community activist and business executive who successfully argued before the U. S. Supreme Court in Hansberry v. Lee.

Nathan K. McGill American lawyer

Nathan K. McGill (1888–1946) was the first African American to serve as assistant attorney general for the State of Illinois. He was also the first African American appointed to the Chicago Library Board.

The National Movement for the Establishment of the 49th State was an intellectual movement popular among African-American separatists during the 1930s. The movement sought to create a state for African Americans in the American South. The movement was led by Oscar Brown, Sr., who was a leading civil rights activist from Chicago, Illinois.

References

  1. 1 2 "Social Security Death Index [database on-line]". United States: The Generations Network. Retrieved October 1, 2010.
  2. 1 2 "Cook County (IL) Death Index [database on-line]". United States: The Generations Network. Retrieved October 1, 2010.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Rites in Chicago for Oscar Brown Sr., 94". Jet. Chicago, Illinois: Johnson Publishing Company, Inc. 78 (27): 17. October 22, 1990.
  4. ↑ "World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917–1918 [database on-line]". United States: The Generations Network. Retrieved October 1, 2010. Lists birthdate as December 23, 1895 and place of birth as Congles Mills, Arkansas
  5. ↑ Llorens, David (September 1968). Johnson, John H. (ed.). "Black separatism in perspective:movement reflects failure of integration". Ebony. Chicago, Illinois: Johnson Publishing Company, Inc. 23 (11): 88–90, 92–95.
  6. ↑ "Prominent Chicago Attorney Dies of Heart Attack". Jet. Chicago, Illinois: Johnson Publishing Company, Inc. 37 (2): 26. October 16, 1969.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.