 Robert Brown Papers
Collection DescriptionBiographical NoteRobert Lofton Brown was born on January 30, 1950 in Greenville, Georgia to Joe and Ruby Lofton Brown. From 1968 to 1971, Brown attended Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, earning a B.S. in Sociology and Christianity. Brown lived in Macon for the remainder of his life and was actively involved in several civic organizations including the Greater Zion Hill Baptist Church, Black Student Alliance (chairman), M.L.K. Coalition for Freedom, Macon Chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (board president), Volunteer Macon, Broadway Arts Alliance at the Douglass (president and founding member), and the National Coalition of Advocates for Students (founding board member). Brown's many local honors and awards include the Macon Courier's Community Service Award (1979) and the Concerned Citizens League's Medgar-Martin-Malcolm Award (1982). Brown was actively involved in education policy reform in Georgia, South Carolina, and throughout the southeastern United States in the 1970s and 1980s. From 1971 to 1980, Brown served as a program associate and then associate regional director of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) where he helped to lead programs focused on school discipline and juvenile delinquency; competency based education; and monitoring of local agency compliance with the Title I Elementary and Secondary Education Act, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and Title IX of the United States Education Amendments of 1972. From 1980 to 1985, Brown served as Director of the Southeastern Public Education Program (SEPEP) where he was responsible for administering a multistate advocacy program in support of local schools. Robert Brown's political career began with two unsuccessful races for the Georgia House of Representatives (District 102) between 1978 and 1982. In 1984, he was elected to the Bibb County Schools Board of Education and served on the board until his resignation on June 14, 1991 to campaign for the Georgia State Senate. Brown was first elected to represent Georgia's 26th District in the George State Senate in a special election held in August 1991 to fill an unexpired term. Brown's opponents in the election were Robert Reichert and Jack Ellis, both of whom would later serve as mayor of Macon. Brown was sworn in as Bibb County's first African American state senator on September 9, 1991. During his time in the Georgia State Senate, Brown held several leadership positions including assistant floor leader under Zell Miller, Democratic Minority Leader (2005-2011) and Secretary of the Veterans and Military Affairs Committee. Brown's committee and task force assignments included Administrative Affairs, Economic Development, Insurance and Labor, Joint Legislative Ethics, Joint Lottery Oversight, Judiciary, Reapportionment and Redistricting Committee, Senate-House Regional Hospital Study Committee, Senate Study Committee on Children at Risk, Senate Government Procurement of Recycled Products Study Committee, Aged and Disabled Transportation Task Force, and the Senate Task Force on Violence in the Media. Throughout his political career, Brown advocated for a variety of causes for his district and the state including the health and education of children, opposition to school voucher programs, racial non-discrimination, fair reapportionment and redistricting, the establishment and preservation of the HOPE (Helping Outstanding Pupils Educationally) scholarship program, strengthening the position of consumers treated unfairly by utility providers, strengthening legal protections for animals, and support for the arts. Brown retired from the Georgia State Senate on June 9, 2001 to run (unsuccessfully) for mayor of Macon. Robert Brown died on December 8, 2011 from an apparent suicide. Scope and ContentThe Robert Brown Papers document his political career as a member of the Georgia State Senate (26th District) between 1991 and 2011; his involvement in education policy reform in Georgia and throughout the southeastern United States in the 1970s and 1980s as a member of the Bibb County School Board of Education, as program associate and then associate regional director of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), and as director of the Southeastern Public Education Program (SEPEP); and his advocacy for the preservation of the historic Douglass Theatre in downtown Macon, Georgia and support for the arts through his work with the Broadway Arts Alliance at the Douglass, Inc. The collection includes memoranda and correspondence, business and financial records, meeting minutes, subject files, campaign materials, reports and other publications, publicity materials, photographs, audio and video recordings, and artifacts. Organization and ArrangementThis collection is arranged in six series: I. American Friends Service Committee, II. Bibb County Schools Board of Education, III. Southeastern Public Education Program, IV. Education Subject Files, V. Political and Personal, and VI. Broadway Arts Alliance at the Douglass, Inc. Administrative InformationConditions Governing AccessThis collection is open for research. This collection contains digital files. To access these files, please request the folders you would like through the finding aid using your research account. An archivist will be in contact with you to explain how to access the files. Please note that not all file formats are currently supported by the library for research use. This collection contains audiovisual materials. Reference copies of the audiovisual recordings are available upon request. Research requests will be filled as soon as possible and will be dependent upon the condition of the recordings. Restricted Materials: Series III (Southeastern Public Education Program) includes some boxes that must be reviewed for account numbers prior to research use. These boxes are identified with an "R" before the box number and there is an access note with each restricted folder indicating that it requires review. Please request these boxes three business days prior to your research visit to allow time for this review. Series III (Southeastern Public Education Program) includes student records protected by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) that are closed for 75 years from the date of creation. Series V (Political and Personal) contains constituent mail that is closed for 75 years from the date when the letters were written. Preferred citationRobert Brown Papers, Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies, University of Georgia Libraries, Athens, Georgia, 30602-1641. Processing InformationDuring processing, Russell Library staff could not always be sure in which series to place subject files since each series deals with similar subject matter. Subject files were searched for correspondence or other materials that would indicate if they were related to Brown's work with the AFSC, Bibb County Schools Board of Education, or SEPEP. If the original use could not be determined, the files were placed in Series IV (Education Subject Files). Copyright InformationBefore material from collections at the Richard B. Russell Library may be quoted in print, or otherwise reproduced, in whole or in part, in any publication, permission must be obtained from (1) the owner of the physical property, and (2) the holder of the copyright. It is the particular responsibility of the researcher to obtain both sets of permissions. Persons wishing to quote from materials in the Russell Library collection should consult the Director. Reproduction of any item must contain a complete citation to the original. Finding Aid PublicationFinding Aid prepared by Adriane Hanson, Agozie Onyirimba, and Brandon Pieczko, 2018. Related Materials and SubjectsSubject Terms | ||||||||||||||||||||||