Anderson Hunt Brown
Anderson Hunt Brown | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1880 Dunbar, West Virginia, U.S. |
| Died | 1974 |
| Occupation(s) | Entrepreneur, real estate developer, civil rights advocate |
| Known for | Brown v. Board of Education (1928) desegregation case in Charleston, West Virginia |
Anderson Hunt Brown (1880–1974) was a notable African-American entrepreneur, real estate developer, and civil rights advocate based in West Virginia. He played a key role in promoting integration within Charleston’s public education system. In the 1928 legal case Brown vs. Board of Education, where he was represented by NAACP attorney T. G. Nutter, the West Virginia Supreme Court mandated the desegregation of Charleston’s public library.
His son, Willard L. Brown, made history as West Virginia’s first African-American judge and acted on behalf of the state NAACP in a racial discrimination lawsuit that influenced the landmark 1954 U.S. Supreme Court decision, Brown v. Board of Education.
Personal life
Anderson Hunt Brown was born in 1880 in Dunbar, West Virginia, to Henry Arnold Brown and Margaret Stewart Brown, both formerly enslaved individuals freed in 1865. During his youth, he earned approximately $10 per week (equivalent to about $300 today) by performing with his brothers’ band called "Uncle Tom’s Cabin." After returning to Charleston, he established a butcher shop along with an adjoining restaurant.
Brown fathered two children: Willard L. Brown, who obtained a Master’s degree in law in 1936 and pursued a career as an attorney; and Della Brown Taylor Hardman, an accomplished artist who completed her Master of Fine Arts in 1945 and later taught at West Virginia State University.
Career
Following several years managing his butcher business, Brown enrolled in a real estate investment course in Boston, Massachusetts. Utilizing his profits, he acquired a residence at 1219 Washington Street, located near Charleston High School.
In collaboration with Gurnett E. Ferguson—builder of the Ferguson Hotel, an important African-American hotel, theater, and commercial center on Washington Street—Brown developed the Brown Building during the mid to late 1920s adjacent to the hotel. This district, often referred to as "The Block," emerged as a critical hub for residential life, social interaction, economic activity, education, and religious gatherings within Charleston’s African-American community during segregation.
After a fire damaged the Ferguson Hotel in the 1960s, Ferguson sold it to another hotel operator. Subsequently, Brown constructed a second Brown Building on Shrewsbury Street, completed in 1971 and built entirely by African-American contractors and businesses. Prior to his passing in 1974, Brown maintained an office there alongside his son and daughter. The building accommodated various commercial enterprises and government offices including a barber shop, medical practice, and real estate agency.
In addition to commercial ventures, Brown invested in land surrounding Charleston to develop affordable rental housing for Black residents. When his children pursued graduate studies at Boston University, he purchased three properties in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Due to limited housing options available to Black students at that time, he provided one property for his children’s residence while leasing the others to their Black peers.
Brown v Board of Education (1928)
Charleston operated a segregated library system that excluded African-American patrons from the main facility. Working with the local NAACP chapter, Brown filed a lawsuit against the Kanawha County Board of Education and Kanawha Public Library after three Black residents were denied entry on March 13, 1928.
Although the Kanawha Circuit Court initially upheld segregation policies, Brown and his legal team appealed to the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals in Brown vs. Board of Education of Charleston Independent School District (1928). Represented by NAACP attorneys T. G. Nutter along with E. L. Powell and W. W. Sanders, they successfully achieved desegregation of Charleston’s library system. The court ruled that taxpayer money could not be used to maintain a main library that excluded African-American citizens who also contributed taxes.
See also
External links
- 1880 births
- 1974 deaths
- American real estate entrepreneurs
- American beverage industry executives
- 20th-century American entrepreneurs
- 20th-century African-American entrepreneurs
- Business figures from West Virginia
- People from Charleston, West Virginia
- American civil rights advocates
- Residents of Dunbar, West Virginia
- American drink industry businesspeople