January 2020: Year of the Woman

Harriet Elizabeth Brown was born on February 10th, 1907 in Baltimore City and matriculated from Morgan State University and the University of Maryland. In 1931 she began teaching at Mt. Hope Elementary school in Calvert County. In 1937 with six years of experience and a principal’s certificate, Ms. Brown was paid only half of what her white colleagues earned. Knowing this clearly violated the 14th Amendment she reached out to the NAACP. A new attorney, fresh from winning a similar lawsuit involving a black Rockville principal, eagerly took on Ms. Brown’s case. This attorney, future Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, filed suit against the Calvert County Board of Education. On December 27th the Board settled outside of court, agreeing to pay black and white teachers the same. Bolstered by Brown’s victory, then-Governor Harry Nice publicly declared his support for a law stipulating that Maryland teachers be paid equally regardless of race. On January 1, 1941 Maryland’s Pay Equalization Law was enacted; the first of its kind in the state. 

Harriet remained in Calvert county schools as a teacher and principal until she retired in 1973. During her career she saw the historic Brown vs. Board of Education ruling “separate but equal” segregated schools unconstitutional.  In 1963 she witnessed the passage of the Equal Pay Act banning pay discrimination against women. She beheld the monumental Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibiting segregation of public spaces and employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. It stands to reason that these measures would not have come to pass without her courageous contribution in calling for justice.

Harriet Elizabeth Brown is an admirable and imitable Maryland Woman. She was the first woman to bring a suit against Maryland for racially based pay inequality, spurring state and national laws to reflect the irrefutable truth that equal work deserves equal compensation. She was quoted as saying, “Even if I lose my job, at least I would lose it for something worthwhile”. She bravely pursued justice at personal risk so that she and other people of color would be recognized for what they were: citizens with equal dignity and rights. She was inducted into the Maryland Women’s Hall of Fame in 1994. She taught and invested in the Calvert county community until her death at age 101 on January 1, 2009.

Guest blogger: Ranger Catherine Donley - Point Lookout State Park

Ranger Catherine Donley has worked for the MPS since 2017. When not felling hazardous trees she is likely found hiking or reading a good economics book. After a stint in a monastery, she believes working for DNR is the best job ever, second to nun.