Letitia Woods Brown facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Dr.
Letitia Woods Brown
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Letitia Woods Brown
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| Born | October 24, 1915 Tuskegee, Alabama, U.S.
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| Died | August 3, 1976 (aged 60) Washington, DC, U.S.
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| Years active | 1935–1976 (as a teacher) |
| Spouse(s) | Theodore Edward Brown (1947–1976; her death) |
| Children | 2 |
Letitia Woods Brown (born October 24, 1915 – died August 3, 1976) was an important African American historian and researcher. She made history by becoming one of the first Black women to earn a PhD in history from Harvard University in 1966.
Dr. Brown spent over 40 years teaching and researching. She started her teaching career in Alabama in 1935. Later, she taught at Tuskegee Institute and LeMoyne-Owen College. She also worked as a consultant and a professor at George Washington University, where she was the first full-time Black faculty member in the African-American studies department.
Besides teaching, Dr. Brown wrote and helped create several books about the history of Washington, DC. Her work helped people learn more about the city's past, especially its Black history.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Letitia Christine Woods was born on October 24, 1915, in Tuskegee, Alabama. Her parents, Evadne Clark Adam Woods and Matthew Woods, were both teachers at the Tuskegee Institute. This was an important college started by Booker T. Washington. Letitia was one of three daughters in a middle-class family.
Many of her family members were educators in the southern USA. Her grandfather, Lewis Adams, was a former slave who became a trustee at Tuskegee Normal School.
Letitia Woods Brown followed in her family's footsteps and attended Tuskegee Institute. She earned her bachelor's degree in 1935, during the Great Depression.
After college, she taught 3rd and 4th grade in segregated schools in Macon County, Alabama from 1935 to 1936. She remembered how difficult it was, saying teachers often had to buy their own supplies because there weren't enough books or materials.
In 1937, she earned a Master of Arts degree in history from Ohio State University. At that time, it was very rare for African American women to go on to higher education and earn advanced degrees. After getting her master's, she traveled to Haiti with other students from Ohio State to study Caribbean history and literature. She later said this trip was her "first sally forth to see the world."
A Career in History
After her trip to Haiti, Letitia Woods Brown returned to Alabama in 1937. She taught history at the Tuskegee Institute until 1940. Then, she moved to Memphis, Tennessee, and taught history at LeMoyne-Owen College until 1945.
Like many Black educators of her time, she mostly found teaching jobs at historically African American universities and colleges. In 1945, she briefly returned to Ohio State University to take more classes in Eastern history and geography.
Pursuing a PhD
Brown wanted to earn a PhD in history, so she moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, to attend Harvard University. There, she met Theodore Edward Brown. They got married in 1947 and moved to his hometown, Harlem.
Later, they moved to Mount Vernon, New York. Letitia became involved in her community, working with the local health and welfare council. She even helped with an election campaign that successfully elected Harold Wood, the first Black person to serve on the Westchester County Board of Supervisors.
In 1956, her family moved to Washington, DC. There, she worked as an economist. Living in Washington sparked her deep interest in the city's African American history, which became a major focus of her future research and lectures.
While working on her doctorate at Harvard, Brown also taught at the university from 1961 to 1970. She started as a social science teacher and later taught history. She was also appointed an associate professor. During this time, she and her husband helped train the first group of Peace Corps volunteers for their deployment to Ghana in 1961.
In 1966, at the age of 51, Letitia Woods Brown completed her PhD in history from Harvard University. This was 18 years after she first started, and it made her one of the first African American women to achieve this milestone.
Later Teaching and Travel
In 1968, Dr. Brown became a Fulbright lecturer in Australia, teaching at Australian National University and Monash University. She traveled widely, visiting places like Singapore, Jaipur, Istanbul, France, and Italy before returning to the U.S.
Back in America in 1971, she became a professor in the American Studies Department at George Washington University. She was the only full-time Black faculty member there. She continued teaching at George Washington University until her death in 1976. In 1972, she traveled again, exploring African cities such as Gao, Cairo, Timbuktu, and Luxor.
Upon her return, Dr. Brown joined the American Historical Association committee. Her efforts also helped create the Columbia Historical Society of Washington DC in 1973. She was also a main consultant for the Schlesinger Library’s Black Women Oral History project, using her skills in collecting oral histories.
Books and Publications
Besides her teaching and research, Dr. Brown wrote and contributed to several important books about Washington, DC history in her later years. Some of her books include:
- Washington from Banneker to Douglass, 1791 – 1870 (1971) with Elsie M. Lewis.
- Washington in the New Era, 1870 – 1970 (1972) with Richard Wade.
- Free Negroes in the District of Columbia, 1790–1846
- Residence Patterns of Negroes in the District of Columbia, 1800–1860
- Free Negroes in the Original District of Columbia
Personal Life
Letitia Woods met Theodore Edward Brown while they were both studying for their doctorates at Harvard University. He was an economics student and later became an economist. They married in 1947.
They had two children: Lucy Evadne Brown, born in 1948, and Theodore Edward Brown Jr., born in 1951.
Legacy and Recognition
Letitia Woods Brown passed away at her home in Washington, DC, on August 3, 1976, at the age of 60, after battling cancer. She had dedicated over four decades to her career.
Her impact was widely recognized. In 1983, the Association of Black Women Historical Society created the Letitia Woods Brown Memorial Book Award in her honor. This award celebrates scholars who write excellent books on African American women's history.
The Historical Society of Washington, DC, also named an annual history lecture "The Letitia Woods Brown Lecture." Additionally, George Washington University established the Letitia Woods Brown Fellowship to support studies in African American history and culture.
In November 2013, George Washington University held the Letitia Woods Brown Memorial Lecture to remember her contributions. The university's president, Steven Knapp, spoke at the event. He described Dr. Brown as "the first full-time African American professor at George Washington, a scholar of the history of the District of Columbia and a tireless advocate for the preservation of the city's heritage."
Images for kids
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Most of the Brown family members attended Tuskegee Institute, shown here in a 1910s panorama.
