R. Jess Brown | |
|---|---|
| Born | Richard Jess Brown (1912-09-02)September 2, 1912 Coffeyville, Kansas, U.S. |
| Died | December 31, 1989(1989-12-31) (aged 77) Jackson, Mississippi, U.S. |
| Education | Illinois State Normal University Indiana University Bloomington (MEd) Texas Southern University Law School |
| Occupations | Civil rights lawyer, teacher |
Richard Jess Brown, commonly known asR. Jess Brown (September 2, 1912 – December 31, 1989) was an Americancivil rights lawyer and teacher.[1][2] Brown was known for his work in Mississippi with theNAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. He was involved in a 1948 civil right lawsuit over discriminatory teacher compensation, and lost his teaching job for signing on to the lawsuit. The experience inspired him to return to school to become a lawyer.
Richard Jess Brown was born on September 2, 1912, inCoffeyville, Kansas, and raised inMuskogee, Oklahoma.[1][3]
He attendedIllinois State Normal University,Indiana University Bloomington (M.Ed 1942) and theTexas Southern University Law School (now Thurgood Marshall School of Law).[2]
In his early career in the late 1940s, Brown taughtindustrial arts in Mississippi atAlcorn College,Lanier High School, andCampbell College.[1] He lost a teaching job in 1948 after signing on as a co-plaintiff withGladys Noel Bates in her lawsuit for equal pay against theJackson County School District.[4][5] Brown decided to become a lawyer, and returned to studies atTexas Southern University's law school.[3]
He returned to Mississippi in 1953, and passed the Mississippi bar exam.[1] Brown initially practiced law in Vicksburg and then later in Jackson, Mississippi, where he lived for many years.[6] AttorneyJames E. Winfield from Vicksburg worked with Brown.[7] During his career he frequently engaged in litigation seeking desegregation of specific Mississippi schools.[6] He representedJames Meredith,Mack Charles Parker,[2] and he worked with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.[8] Brown defended blacks accused of crimes, challenged laws restricting blacks from voting, and litigated to end the exclusion of blacks from white-only educational institutions in Mississippi.[3]
On April 5, 1963, Brown represented clients seeking to desegregateLeake County, Mississippi schools in theSouthern District of Mississippi.[6] He was improperly targeted by JudgeSidney Carr Mize after the district's lawyers submitted an affidavit stating one of theplaintiffs sought to remove herself from the case.[6]
Brown died at age 77 on December 31, 1989, at Hinds General Hospital in Jackson, Mississippi.[2][9]
United States legislative bill H.R. 455, a 2017 resolution in theMississippi House of Representatives, honored him after his death,[10] and sought to rename a courthouse in Jackson, Mississippi in his honor.[11] RepresentativeBennie Thompson gave testimony on the bill.[12]
Brown was one of the three lawyer featured in the documentary film,The Defenders: How Lawyers Protected the Movement (2023).[13]
TheMagnolia Bar Association in Mississippi has an R. Jess Brown Award.[14]
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