Brown, Ella Barksdale, 1871-1966.

Ella Barksdale Brown, anti-lynching activist, educator, suffragist and journalist, was born in Milledgeville, Georgia and was a member of the first graduating class of Spelman Seminary (later Spelman College) in 1887. She married John M. Brown in Georgia in 1898 and the two moved to Jersey City, New Jersey in 1901 where John worked for the Pullman Company. Among Ella Barksdale Brown's many interests and activities, she was best known as an educator, journalist and anti-lynching activist. She wrote for well-known African American newspapers of the early twentieth century including the Chicago Defender and the New York Amsterdam News. She also lectured at Jersey City high schools and community organizations on African American history. Her national activism included involvement with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Circle for Negro War Relief and the National Association of Colored Women.

From the description of Ella Barksdale Brown papers, 1885-1952 (bulk 1906-1926). (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 702188097

Ella Barksdale Brown, educator, anti-lynching activist, suffragist, and journalist, was born in Milledgeville, Georgia, and was a member of the first graduating class of Spelman Seminary (later Spelman College) in 1887. According to her obituary, she was born to former slaves, Jefferson Barksdale and Julia Lamar Barksdale on June 22, 1871. Ella Barksdale married John M. Brown in Georgia in 1898, and they moved to Jersey City, New Jersey in 1901 where John worked for the Pullman Company. The couple had four children: Marcia, Jefferson Barksdale, Mildred, and Miriam. Among Brown's accomplishments as an educator and activist, she is credited with introducing the study of African American history to Jersey City public schools. She is also credited with persuading the New Jersey Federation, in 1949, to designate March fifth as Crispus Attucks Day in New Jersey.

Brown was also a journalist who wrote for well known African American newspapers of the early twentieth century including The Chicago Defender and The New York Amsterdam News . A devoted educator, she was sought after by area Jersey City high schools and community organizations to deliver lectures on African American history. Her community and national activism gained her personal acquaintance with some of the leading civil rights proponents and African American leaders of the early twentieth century including W. E. B. Dubois, Booker T. Washington, Paul Robeson and James Weldon Johnson. Some of the community organizations she was most involved with were the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Circle for Negro War Relief, the New Jersey Civil Rights Bureau and the National Association of Colored Women.

Additional biographical information obtained from Spelman College is filed in Box 1.

From the guide to the Ella Barksdale Brown Papers, 1885-1952, 1906-1926, (Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library)