Notice: file_put_contents(): Write of 200164 bytes failed with errno=28 No space left on device in /opt/frankenphp/design.onmedianet.com/app/src/Arsae/CacheManager.php on line 36

Warning: http_response_code(): Cannot set response code - headers already sent (output started at /opt/frankenphp/design.onmedianet.com/app/src/Arsae/CacheManager.php:36) in /opt/frankenphp/design.onmedianet.com/app/src/Models/Response.php on line 17

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /opt/frankenphp/design.onmedianet.com/app/src/Arsae/CacheManager.php:36) in /opt/frankenphp/design.onmedianet.com/app/src/Models/Response.php on line 20
R. Jess Brown - Wikipedia Jump to content

R. Jess Brown

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

R. Jess Brown
Born
Richard Jess Brown

(1912-09-02)September 2, 1912
Coffeyville, Kansas, U.S.
DiedDecember 31, 1989(1989-12-31) (aged 77)
Jackson, Mississippi, U.S.
EducationIllinois State Normal University
Indiana University Bloomington (MEd)
Texas Southern University Law School
Occupation(s)Civil rights lawyer, teacher

Richard Jess Brown, commonly known as R. Jess Brown (September 2, 1912 – December 31, 1989) was an American civil rights lawyer and teacher.[1][2] Brown was known for his work in Mississippi with the NAACP 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.

Early life and education

[edit]

Richard Jess Brown was born on September 2, 1912, in Coffeyville, Kansas, and raised in Muskogee, Oklahoma.[1][3]

He attended Illinois State Normal University, Indiana University Bloomington (M.Ed 1942) and the Texas Southern University Law School (now Thurgood Marshall School of Law).[2]

Career

[edit]

In his early career in the late 1940s, Brown taught industrial arts in Mississippi at Alcorn College, Lanier High School, and Campbell College.[1] He lost a teaching job in 1948 after signing on as a co-plaintiff with Gladys Noel Bates in her lawsuit for equal pay against the Jackson County School District.[4][5] Brown decided to become a lawyer, and returned to studies at Texas 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] Attorney James E. Winfield from Vicksburg worked with Brown.[7] During his career he frequently engaged in litigation seeking desegregation of specific Mississippi schools.[6] He represented James 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 desegregate Leake County, Mississippi schools in the Southern District of Mississippi.[6] He was improperly targeted by Judge Sidney Carr Mize after the district's lawyers submitted an affidavit stating one of the plaintiffs sought to remove herself from the case.[6]

Death and legacy

[edit]

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 the Mississippi House of Representatives, honored him after his death,[10] and sought to rename a courthouse in Jackson, Mississippi in his honor.[11] Representative Bennie 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]

The Magnolia Bar Association in Mississippi has an R. Jess Brown Award.[14]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d Dalton Lyon, Carter (July 10, 2017). "R. Jess Brown, Carsie A. Hall and Jack H. Young, Sr". Mississippi Encyclopedia. Center for Study of Southern Culture.
  2. ^ a b c d "R. Jess Brown, 77, Civil Rights Lawyer in Mississippi Cases (Published 1990)". The New York Times (Obituary). January 3, 1990. ISSN 0362-4331.
  3. ^ a b c Mitchell, Jerry (September 2, 2024). "1912: Lawyer R. Jess Brown is born - Mississippi Today". Mississippi Today.
  4. ^ Jannik, Catherine M. (July 10, 2017). "Bates, Gladys Noel". Mississippi Encyclopedia. Center for Study of Southern Culture. Retrieved September 9, 2025.
  5. ^ Flucker, Turry; Savage, Phoenix (2008). African Americans of Jackson. Arcadia Publishing. p. 8. ISBN 978-0-7385-5328-3.
  6. ^ a b c d "In the Matter of R. Jess Brown, Appellant, 346 F.2d 903 (5th Cir. 1965)". Justia Law. June 3, 1965.
  7. ^ "James Winfield Opens Law Office At 1720 Clay St". The Vicksburg Post. May 19, 1974. p. 10. Retrieved September 14, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ Darby, Kim (March 8, 1990). "Firefighters honor R. Jess Brown for community service, dedication". Clarion-Ledger. p. 99. Retrieved September 9, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Rights Lawyer R. Jess Brown Dies". The Washington Post (Obituary). January 3, 1990. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved September 9, 2025.
  10. ^ "Congressional Record – House" (PDF). April 25, 2017.
  11. ^ Thompson, Bennie G. (April 26, 2017). "H.R.455 - 115th Congress (2017-2018): To designate the United States courthouse located at 501 East Court Street in Jackson, Mississippi, as the "R. Jess Brown United States Courthouse"". Congress.gov.
  12. ^ "Rep. Thompson's statement on H.R.455, R. Jess Brown United States Courthouse". April 25, 2017 – via YouTube.
  13. ^ Anderson, Roslyn (February 18, 2023). "Documentary on Civil Rights attorneys examines legal struggle of the movement". WLBT. Retrieved September 9, 2025.
  14. ^ "Gov. Reeves appoints new judge to fill vacancy left by late Cooper-Stokes". SuperTalk Mississippi. November 27, 2023.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=R._Jess_Brown&oldid=1314410333"