Dr Millicent Brown - Infinite Women

Born: 28 October 1948, United States
Died: NA
Country most active: United States
Also known as: NA

Millicent Brown was a child when the Brown v. Board of Education case was decided in 1954, ruling that American public schools could no longer be racially segregated. Her father was Joseph Arthur Brown, who became president of the Charleston chapter of the NAACP in 1955, and president of the South Carolina Conference in 1960. When he and her mother, MaeDe Myers Brown, were prevented from enrolling their children in their local public school, the family filed a lawsuit against the Charleston School District in 1959, with Brown’s older sister Minerva as the lead plaintiff. The case forcing the integration of Charleston public schools was not settled until 1963, and even then the judge only permitted the plaintiffs – not all African-American children – to enroll that fall. Millicent and Rivers High School became the first two African-American students at Rivers High School that year, experiencing harassment, racism and bullying.
After graduating, Brown earned a Bachelor’s in history from the College of Charleston in 1975, followed by a Master’s in education from The Citadel in 1978 and a doctorate in U.S. history Florida State University, where she wrote her dissertation on the history of civil rights in Charleston from 1940 to 1970. She went on to teach as a college professor, including at her alma mater, the College of Charleston.
In addition to serving on the board of directors for the South Carolina chapter of the ACLU, Brown established the Somebody Had to Do It Project in 2006. The project shares the experiences of “first children” like Brown, who integrated U.S. schools.