[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 49 (Monday, April 12, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E600-E601]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. MELVIN L. WATT

                           of north carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, March 24, 1999

  Mr. WATT of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, Dr. Charlotte Hawkins Brown, 
a granddaughter of slaves and a native of Henderson, North Carolina, 
was born in June of 1883.

[[Page E601]]

  During the time Dr. Brown was born, African-Americans were leaving 
the south to move north, seeking a more tolerable racial climate and 
better economic opportunities. Boston was considered a mecca for 
progressive African-Americans. Dr. Brown's mother moved the family to 
Cambridge, Massachusetts--a move that was followed by 19 other members 
of the Hawkins family.
  Dr. Brown was a natural leader at an early age: at 12 she organized a 
kindergarten department at her church and at 14 she was chosen as 
orator for her minister's 15th anniversary. Dr. Brown went on to attend 
English High School until she entered Salem Teacher's College in Salem, 
Massachusetts. She ultimately received a Bachelor's degree from 
Wellesley College.
  In 1901 Dr. Brown returned to North Carolina, teaching at Bethany 
Institute in Sedalia. When Bethany Institute was forced to close its 
doors after only one year of operation, Dr. Brown began the difficult 
process of founding, developing, and operating a school for local rural 
African American youth. This school would become the Alice Palmer 
Memorial Institute. Alice Palmer Memorial Institute evolved from an 
agricultural and manual school to a fully accredited, nationally 
recognized preparatory school, graduating over 1,000 students during 
her 50-year presidency.
  Dr. Brown was a founding member of the North Carolina State 
Federation of Negro Women's Clubs, an organization dedicated to the 
betterment of African-American womanhood. She also served two terms as 
president for the North Carolina Teachers Association, where she 
pursued three primary objectives: (1) the upgrading of North Carolina's 
educational facilities, (2) a higher level of communication between the 
State of North Carolina and African American teachers and (3) the 
instillment of a high sense of racial pride in African-American 
teachers.
  Much of Dr. Brown's success can be attributed to the founding of the 
Palmer Memorial Institute but she was also involved in various 
community and civic organizations.
  When Dr. Brown returned to Sedelia in 1901 only two families owned 
their farms. By 1930, 95 percent of the families were successful 
through the Home Ownership Association she founded. Four years later 
she implemented a movement geared toward ``urban-farm'' living, a 
program that encouraged farmers to live off their crops.
  Dr. Brown was also instrumental in the survival of Efland Home for 
Wayward Girls. Recognizing the school's hardship, Dr. Brown requested 
that the North Carolina General Assembly fund and maintain the home. 
Ultimately the State granted $50,000 for the establishment of a new 
facility for the training of disadvantaged African-American girls.
  Dr. Brown died on January 11, 1961 in Greensboro, North Carolina 
after having received numerous accolades for her work in education and 
civic service, including honorary degrees from Livingstone College, 
North Carolina Central University, Howard University and a LL.D from 
Wilberforce University.
  In 1987 the Charlotte Hawkins Brown Memorial opened as a state 
historic site in North Carolina and is the only one to honor an African 
American.

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