Brown, Russell Salathiel, Sr.
(born: August 31, 1889 - died: June 14, 1981)Russell S. Brown, Sr. was born in London, KY, the son of Bartlett and Alice Brown. The family moved to Kansas when Russell was a teen. He was a minister between 1920 and 1925, and he founded the First Community House for Soldiers in Memphis, Tennessee, the first in the south. He also served as chaplain at the Fulton County Jail and conducted services at the Atlanta Federal Prison.
In 1929, Brown was elected to the City Council of Cleveland and appointed a trustee with the State Department by Gov. Cooper. Brown was the second African American to serve on the City Council of Cleveland. He left Cleveland in 1933 and moved to Denver, CO; he was the only African American to have his picture included in the Denver Daily Post's Hall of Fame. Brown was general secretary of the AME Church, serving as its financial officer for 28 years.
Rev. Brown Russell S. Brown died in Chicago in 1981. He was the husband of Floy Smith; the couple had three children.
For more see Who's Who in Colored America, 1927 & 1933-37; The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History [online], sponsored by Case Western Reserve University and the Western Reserve Historical Society; Rev. Russell S. Brown in The Encyclopaedia of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, compiled by Bishop R. R. Wright; "Rev. Russell S. Brown, Sr., former A.M.E. secy., dies," Jet, 9/3/1981, p. 25; and Russell Salathiel Brown, Sr. at Find A Grave.