Robert Washington Brown was born in Rockingham County, NC, in 1875, but early on moved to the town of Winston, where he became a member of the first graduating class of the Depot Street Colored School in 1894, receiving his diploma from Dr. Simon Green Atkins, the founder of what is now Winston-Salem State University.
In 1906, Brown joined forces with Dr. J.W. Jones and lawyer J.S. Fitts to found the Winston Mutual Life Insurance Company, which quickly became one of the preeminent black-owned and operated businesses in the South. Brown had a passion for education though so in 1911, he took on a second job as teacher and principal at the Woodland Colored Graded School.
In the 1920s, he added a third career as a lay churchman, serving as president of the Western North Carolina Sunday School Convention and as an officer in the statewide North Carolina Sunday School Convention. He served as an officer of the Winston-Salem Negro Chamber of Commerce and a founder and president of the Winston-Salem Emancipation Association, which every year put on an elaborate celebration of President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation. He also served as president of the Western North Carolina Fair Association which each year put on the Forsyth County Colored Fair, often eclipsing the local white fair in attendance.
At his death in 1941, he was still serving as principal of the Woodland School, as secretary-treasurer of the Winston Mutual Life Insurance company and was deeply involved in all his other endeavors.
The Woodland School would be renamed the Robert Washington Brown Elementary School a few years after his death, and the school would later became a middle school in its final years before closing in 1984. While the building, which formerly stood at 12th Street and Highland Avenue, saw subsequent use as a daycare and some other purposes, it eventually became abandoned and largely burned down in a December 2016 fire.
--- Info from a blog post by Forsyth County Public Library at https://northcarolinaroom.wordpress.com/2016/12/22/robert-washington-brown-lived-here/ ---
In 1906, Brown joined forces with Dr. J.W. Jones and lawyer J.S. Fitts to found the Winston Mutual Life Insurance Company, which quickly became one of the preeminent black-owned and operated businesses in the South. Brown had a passion for education though so in 1911, he took on a second job as teacher and principal at the Woodland Colored Graded School.
In the 1920s, he added a third career as a lay churchman, serving as president of the Western North Carolina Sunday School Convention and as an officer in the statewide North Carolina Sunday School Convention. He served as an officer of the Winston-Salem Negro Chamber of Commerce and a founder and president of the Winston-Salem Emancipation Association, which every year put on an elaborate celebration of President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation. He also served as president of the Western North Carolina Fair Association which each year put on the Forsyth County Colored Fair, often eclipsing the local white fair in attendance.
At his death in 1941, he was still serving as principal of the Woodland School, as secretary-treasurer of the Winston Mutual Life Insurance company and was deeply involved in all his other endeavors.
The Woodland School would be renamed the Robert Washington Brown Elementary School a few years after his death, and the school would later became a middle school in its final years before closing in 1984. While the building, which formerly stood at 12th Street and Highland Avenue, saw subsequent use as a daycare and some other purposes, it eventually became abandoned and largely burned down in a December 2016 fire.
--- Info from a blog post by Forsyth County Public Library at https://northcarolinaroom.wordpress.com/2016/12/22/robert-washington-brown-lived-here/ ---
Robert Washington Brown was born in Rockingham County, NC, in 1875, but early on moved to the town of Winston, where he became a member of the first graduating class of the Depot Street Colored School in 1894, receiving his diploma from Dr. Simon Green Atkins, the founder of what is now Winston-Salem State University.
In 1906, Brown joined forces with Dr. J.W. Jones and lawyer J.S. Fitts to found the Winston Mutual Life Insurance Company, which quickly became one of the preeminent black-owned and operated businesses in the South. Brown had a passion for education though so in 1911, he took on a second job as teacher and principal at the Woodland Colored Graded School.
In the 1920s, he added a third career as a lay churchman, serving as president of the Western North Carolina Sunday School Convention and as an officer in the statewide North Carolina Sunday School Convention. He served as an officer of the Winston-Salem Negro Chamber of Commerce and a founder and president of the Winston-Salem Emancipation Association, which every year put on an elaborate celebration of President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation. He also served as president of the Western North Carolina Fair Association which each year put on the Forsyth County Colored Fair, often eclipsing the local white fair in attendance.
At his death in 1941, he was still serving as principal of the Woodland School, as secretary-treasurer of the Winston Mutual Life Insurance company and was deeply involved in all his other endeavors.
The Woodland School would be renamed the Robert Washington Brown Elementary School a few years after his death, and the school would later became a middle school in its final years before closing in 1984. While the building, which formerly stood at 12th Street and Highland Avenue, saw subsequent use as a daycare and some other purposes, it eventually became abandoned and largely burned down in a December 2016 fire.
--- Info from a blog post by Forsyth County Public Library at https://northcarolinaroom.wordpress.com/2016/12/22/robert-washington-brown-lived-here/ ---
In 1906, Brown joined forces with Dr. J.W. Jones and lawyer J.S. Fitts to found the Winston Mutual Life Insurance Company, which quickly became one of the preeminent black-owned and operated businesses in the South. Brown had a passion for education though so in 1911, he took on a second job as teacher and principal at the Woodland Colored Graded School.
In the 1920s, he added a third career as a lay churchman, serving as president of the Western North Carolina Sunday School Convention and as an officer in the statewide North Carolina Sunday School Convention. He served as an officer of the Winston-Salem Negro Chamber of Commerce and a founder and president of the Winston-Salem Emancipation Association, which every year put on an elaborate celebration of President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation. He also served as president of the Western North Carolina Fair Association which each year put on the Forsyth County Colored Fair, often eclipsing the local white fair in attendance.
At his death in 1941, he was still serving as principal of the Woodland School, as secretary-treasurer of the Winston Mutual Life Insurance company and was deeply involved in all his other endeavors.
The Woodland School would be renamed the Robert Washington Brown Elementary School a few years after his death, and the school would later became a middle school in its final years before closing in 1984. While the building, which formerly stood at 12th Street and Highland Avenue, saw subsequent use as a daycare and some other purposes, it eventually became abandoned and largely burned down in a December 2016 fire.
--- Info from a blog post by Forsyth County Public Library at https://northcarolinaroom.wordpress.com/2016/12/22/robert-washington-brown-lived-here/ ---
Family Members
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Records on Ancestry
Advertisement
