Brown, Elaine, 1943-....

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Elaine Brown (1943- ), African American activist and past leader of the Black Panther Party.

From the description of Elaine Brown papers, circa 1991-2010. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 79463032

Elaine Brown was born in North Philadelphia and raised by her mother. Although she grew up in a single-parent home and experienced economic hardship, Elaine had the opportunity to attend a private school where she participated in extracurricular activities such as classical piano and ballet. She was noted to have had many white friends because of this. After high school, Brown briefly attended Temple University before withdrawing to pursue a music career in Los Angeles. While there, she enrolled in University of California, Los Angeles. In Los Angeles, Brown became involved with Jay Richard Kennedy, a music executive who educated her on capitalism, communism, and social justice movements. Eventually Brown became active in the Black Liberation Movement. After their breakup, Brown began working for the African American newspaper Harambee. She attended her first Black Panther meeting after Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination in 1968. As a member of the Black Panther Party, Brown helped set up the first Free Breakfast for Children program in Los Angeles as well as its first Free Busing to Prisons Program and Free Legal Aid Program. Soon after, she became the editor of the publication The Black Panther for the South California Branch. In 1971, Brown became a member of the Party’s Central Committee as Minister of Information, replacing Eldridge Cleaver, who had been expelled. In 1973, Brown was commissioned to record some songs by Founder and Minister of Defense, Huey P. Newton that resulted in the album Until We’re Free. Brown was chosen by Newton to lead the BPP in 1974 when he moved to Cuba to avoid criminal charges. She led the Party from 1974 until 1977. During her leadership, Brown chaired the successful political campaign of Lionel Wilson, Oakland’s first African American mayor, and she founded the Panther Liberation School. She left her leadership position in the BPP in 1978 after Huey Newton’s return and after he ordered the beating of a female Panther. Her decision was driven by her rejection of the negative attitudes toward women in the party. Brown moved to Los Angeles to raise her daughter. Brown's later activism included radical prison reform and providing educational resources for African American children living in poverty. In 2007, she declared herself a candidate for the Green party in the 2008 presidential election. She left the party later that year because it was dominated by white people who, in her opinion, were not really trying to effect change or help her do so. Presently, Brown lectures frequently on prison reform at conferences, colleges, and universities.
Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
referencedIn Guide to the Daily Worker and Daily World Photographs Collection, 1920-2001 Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
referencedIn Los Angeles, [California] - 157-3430-v.5 [Classification - Civil Unrest] -- Elaine Brown National Archives at College Park
creatorOf Elaine Brown Papers, 1977-2010 Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library
referencedIn Los Angeles, [California] - 157-3430-v.1 [Classification - Civil Unrest] [Newspaper] -- Elaine Brown National Archives at College Park
referencedIn Los Angeles, [California] - 157-3430-v.14 [Classification - Civil Unrest] -- Elaine Brown National Archives at College Park
referencedIn Los Angeles, [California] - 157-3430-v.15 [Classification - Civil Unrest] -- Elaine Brown National Archives at College Park
referencedIn Atlanta, [Georgia] - 157-4877 [Classification - Civil Unrest] -- Elaine Dorothy Brown -- Elaine Brown -- Elaine Brown (Key Black Extremist) National Archives at College Park
referencedIn Los Angeles, [California] - 157-3430-v.4 [Classification - Civil Unrest] -- Elaine Brown National Archives at College Park
referencedIn Los Angeles, [California] - 157-3430-v.19 [Classification - Civil Unrest] -- Elaine Brown National Archives at College Park
Los Angeles, [California] - 157-3430-v.8 [Classification - Civil Unrest] -- Elaine Brown National Archives at College Park
referencedIn Los Angeles, [California] - 157-3430-v.10 [Classification - Civil Unrest] -- Elaine Brown National Archives at College Park
referencedIn Los Angeles, [California] - 157-3430-v.6 [Classification - Civil Unrest] -- Elaine Brown National Archives at College Park
referencedIn Los Angeles, [California] - 157-3430-v.7 [Classification - Civil Unrest] -- Elaine Brown National Archives at College Park
referencedIn Los Angeles, [California] - 157-3430-v.12 [Classification - Civil Unrest] -- Elaine Brown National Archives at College Park
referencedIn Black Panther Party collection. California state library
referencedIn Los Angeles, [California] - 157-3430-v.11 [Classification - Civil Unrest] -- Elaine Brown National Archives at College Park
referencedIn Los Angeles, [California] - 157-3430-v.2 [Classification - Civil Unrest] -- Elaine Brown National Archives at College Park
contributorOf On a taste of power: a Black woman's story / Elaine Brown; interviewed by Gerald Horn. 1992 Pacifica Radio
referencedIn [Elaine Brown] Historical Society of Pennsylvania
referencedIn Los Angeles, [California] - 157-3430-v.17 [Classification - Civil Unrest] -- Elaine Brown National Archives at College Park
referencedIn New York, [New York] - 157-4541-v.1 [Classification - Civil Unrest] -- Elaine Brown National Archives at College Park
contributorOf To mourn Fred Hampton is to move forward for the people / Elaine Brown; interviewed by Larry Bensky, December 4, 1972 Pacifica Radio
referencedIn Los Angeles, [California] - 157-3430-v.3 [Classification - Civil Unrest] -- Elaine Brown National Archives at College Park
referencedIn Los Angeles, [California] - 157-3430-v.9 [Classification - Civil Unrest] -- Elaine Brown National Archives at College Park
referencedIn New Haven, [Connecticut] - 157-1079-v.2 [Classification - Civil Unrest] -- Black Panther Party Hartford National Archives at College Park
referencedIn Los Angeles, [California] - 157-3430-v.18 [Classification - Civil Unrest] -- Elaine Brown National Archives at College Park
referencedIn Los Angeles, [California] - 157-3430-v.13 [Classification - Civil Unrest] -- Elaine Brown National Archives at College Park
referencedIn Los Angeles, [California] - 157-3430-v.16 [Classification - Civil Unrest] -- Elaine Brown National Archives at College Park
referencedIn Bobbye S. Ortiz Papers, (bulk, 1919-1993 and undated, 1950-1990) David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library
creatorOf Brown, Elaine, 1943-. Elaine Brown papers, circa 1991-2010. Emory University. Special Collections and Archives
referencedIn Indianapolis, [Indiana] - 157-761-v.1 [Classification - Civil Unrest] National Archives at College Park
Role Title Holding Repository
creatorOf Ericka Huggins' statement read by Elaine Brown, 7/19/1969 Pacifica Radio
contributorOf Official Campaign Web Site - Elaine Brown Library of Congress
Relation Name
memberOf Black Panther Party corporateBody
associatedWith Communist Party of the United States of America. corporateBody
associatedWith Greens/Green Party USA corporateBody
associatedWith Ortiz, Bobbye S. person
Place Name Admin Code Country
Philadelphia PA US
United States
Subject
African Americans
African Americans
Black Panther Party members
Black Panther Party
Black power
Black power
Black power
Black power
Black power
Green party
Prison reform
Prison reformers
Prison reformers
Occupation
Activist
Writer
Activity

Person

Birth 1943-03-02

Birth 1943-03-02

Female

African Americans,

Americans

English

Information

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Ark ID: w6wr0wr3

SNAC ID: 87817610