Hallie Quinn Brown

(March 10, 1850 - September 16, 1949)

Educator, lecturer, clubwoman, reformer

Daughter of former slaves, Hallie Brown grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Chatham, Ontario. She graduated from Wilberforce University in Ohio and taught in schools in Mississippi and South Carolina. In 1885 she became dean of Allen University in South Carolina, and studied at the Chautauqua Lecture School. She taught public school in Dayton, Ohio, for four yeas, and then was appointed lady principal (dean of women) of Tuskegee Institute, Alabama, working with Booker T. Washington.

From 1893 to 1903, she served as professor of elocution at Wilberforce University, but served on a limited basis as she lectured and organized, traveling frequently. She helped promote the Colored Woman's League which became part of the National Association of Colored Women. In Great Britain, where she spoke to popular acclaim on African American life, she made several appearances before Queen Victoria, including tea with the Queen in July, 1889. She also spoke for temperance groups and represented the United States at the International Congress of Women, meeting in London in 1899. She took up the cause of woman suffrage and spoke on the topic of full citizenship for women as well as civil rights for black Americans. In 1925 she protested segregation of the Washington (DC) Auditorium being used for the All-American Musical Festival of the International Council of Women, threatening that all black performers would boycott the event if segregated seating were not ended. Two hundred black entertainers did boycott the event and black participants left in response to her speech.

She served as president of several organizations after she retired from teaching, including the Ohio Federation of Colored Women's Clubs and the National Association of Colored Women. She served as a representative of the Women's Parent Missionary Society of the African Methodist Episcopal Church at the World Missionary Conference in Scotland in 1910. She helped raise funds for Wilberforce University and helped initiate the drive to raise funds to preserve Frederick Douglass' home in Washington, DC. In 1924 she supported the Republican Party, speaking for Warren Harding's nomination at the Republican Party convention where she took the opportunity to speak up for civil rights. She published a few books, mostly connected with public speaking or famous women and men.

About Hallie Quinn Brown

• Categories: educator, lecturer, clubwoman, Harlem Renaissance, temperance, preservation of Frederick Douglass home
• Organizational Affiliations: Tuskegee Institute, Wilberforce University, Colored Woman's League, National Association of Colored Women, International Congress of Women
• Places: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Ohio, South Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, United States, Chatham, Ontario, Canada
• Period: 19th century, 20th century
• Religious Associations: African Methodist Episcopal Church (A.M.E.)

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