Brown, Solomon G., 1829-1906

Solomon G. Brown was one of the first settlers in the Hillsdale section of Anacostia/Southeast Washington, DC in 1867. This area of 375 acres, which has also been known as Barry Farms, was purchased from Julianna Coombe Barry, the widow of James David Barry. The Barrys were White landowners and their land was purchased by Major General Oliver Otis Howard (the person for whom Howard University was named) on behalf of the Freedman's Bureau. After the purchase of his home in Hillsdale, Solomon Brown set out to help his fellow colored man in his community; many of them were formerly enslaved and others were born free. One of his first acts was to establish a missionary Sunday School, which he organized on Mount Zion Hill and called it the Pioneer Institute (also referred to as the Pioneer Sunday School). Throughout his life in Hillsdale, he was often called on to write poems for special community events or make general speeches suitable for the occasion. Because of his father's death in 1833, Solomon was never able to attend school as a child, but had to work instead. In 1852, Mr. Brown became the Smithsonian’s first African-American employee - a job he held until he retired in 1906 with 54 years of service. Brown, born free when slavery was legal in Washington, DC, joined the staff of the Smithsonian not long after it was founded in 1846. He served under the first three Smithsonian Secretaries - Joseph Henry, Spencer Fullerton Baird, and Samuel P. Langley. One of the earliest jobs of his youth was to assist Professor Samuel F. B. Morse, in 1844, with testing and installing the first magnetic telegraph system which operated between Washington and Baltimore. This would soon be known as the "Morse Code." Brown, well-known for his lectures on natural history, was also an avid poet and Anacostia community leader. In December of 1869, he was appointed as a delegate to attend the National Labor Convention along with all three of Frederick Douglass' sons, Lewis, Charles, and Frederick, Jr. Solomon's name also appeared with the Douglass brothers and A.M.E. bishop, James A. Handy, as members of the First Legislative Assembly at the time of the Establishment of the Seat of Government in Washington, DC, which convened on 15 May 1871; he was a member of this assembly through 1873. Mr. Brown married Lucinda Adams in Washington, DC on 5 Jun 1854; she died at her Hillsdale home on 3 Jan 1922. Solomon's earliest known address in Washington, DC, 185 F Street, appears on his 1863 Civil War Draft Registration Record. He was a member of the Fifteenth Street Presbyterian Church, which was founded by Rev. John Francis Cook, Sr., and was later pastored by Rev. Henry Highland Garnet and Rev. Francis James Grimke. Solomon G. Brown's funeral, which took place at his home on Elvans Avenue (now Elvans Road) in Hillsdale, was officiated by Rev. William H. Hunter of Hillsdale and Rev. William V. Tunnell, a minister at Howard University and rector of St. Phillip's Episcopal Church of Hillsdale. A historical marker was dedicated to Solomon Brown by the Smithsonian Institute on The National Mall. The marker is on Constitution Avenue, NW, east of 12th Street NW, on the right when traveling east.