Hallie Quinn Brown was an educator, author, and prominent moment of the women’s suffrage in the early 20th Century. Ms. Brown was also a notable orator and author, publishing a book focusing on the achievements of Black women of her era.
Brown was born March 10, 1849 in Pittsburgh, Pa. Her parents, educated former slaves, emigrated to Canada before settling in Wilberforce, Ohio. Brown’s father was known as the “walking encyclopedia” according to some accounts and her mother was a special adviser to local HBCU Wilberforce University students. Brown graduated from the university and began a teaching career across the deep South.
While in South Carolina, Brown taught mainly at plantations in an effort to raise the literacy level of Black residents in Columbia. She eventually became the Dean of Allen University and later a Dean of Women at the Tuskegee Institute. During her time at Allen, Brown developed a reputation as a forceful speaker, and in 1893 she used her gifts to organize the Colored Women’s League of Washington, D.C. (READ MORE)
