'We have to remember our history' — Drury plans to honor Rev. Oliver Brown
Linda Brown, who died this week, served as a face for the landmark desegregation case, Brown v. Board of Education. But her father, the Rev. Oliver Brown, also played an important role propelling the civil rights movement forward in Springfield and elsewhere.
Drury University has proposed, as part of a new master plan, a way to honor the former Springfield pastor, who helped end school segregation.
The private liberal arts institution that opened its doors in 1873 wants to turn a portion of Central Street into a linear park that will help tell the history of Springfield, including the Civil War and the civil rights movement.
Drury officials believe revamping the corridor of Central, from Clay to Benton avenues, will allow the city to celebrate, among other things, the cultural and historical significance of the Benton Avenue A.M.E. Church. In the late 1800s and the early 1900s, it served as a vital part of the black community.
The church had a string of pastors — and members — who contributed to the history of the community. One was known nationally.
The Rev. Oliver Brown, lead plaintiff in the landmark 1954 U.S. Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education in Topeka, Kansas, was pastor of the church from October 1959 until his death in June 1961.
The church, listed on the National Registry of Historic Places, is on the southeast corner of Central Street and Benton Avenue, across from Springfield's Central High School and Drury's Stone Chapel. Founded in 1867, the church closed its doors in 2014 and was later acquired by the university.
In fall 2016, Drury embarked on a process to imagine the future of its campus. As part of that process, it sought to pay respect to its role in the community and the neighborhood where it was established.
"One of the ideas we had was turning Central Street, as it comes through our campus, into a linear park that could tell the history of Springfield, particularly in regards to civil rights," said David Hinson, executive vice president of Drury. "We want this to connect us. We want this to be something the community feels ownership in."
Hinson added: "This needs to be a destination."
Drury President Tim Cloyd said the university has reached out to leaders in the city and Springfield Public Schools with a proposal that a section of Central, from Benton to Clay avenues, be transformed to reflect the historical corridor. Those talks are ongoing.
"The wonderful thing about this opportunity with the church is it allows us to do a linear park that is a gift to the community," Cloyd said. "This is something we think we can get national attention for. It will be really special."
The university has commissioned a watercolor rendering of its concept for the section including a landscaped median, on-street parking, improved landscaping and lighting, and space for vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians.
Central was one of the first streets mapped in the city. The plan calls for a circular node, or roundabout, at the intersection of Central and Benton, with commemorative markers — noting important events — at various points along the corridor.
Drury officials have researched the history of the Benton Avenue A.M.E. church and the role it played in Springfield as a touchstone for black families.
"Springfield has had a less than ideal history with the African-American community and for good or bad, it's part of who we are today. We feel like, as part of the healing of those times, it's important for us to recognize that," Hinson said.
"We have to remember our history."
Hinson said the contributions of Rev. Brown and his family were among the many bright spots, in terms of what they achieved locally and nationally.
The Topeka, Kansas minister was thrust into the national spotlight in the 1950s when he joined, and became the namesake, of the case that ended racial segregation of public schools. In Springfield, the schools integrated swiftly.
Rev. Brown joined the fight because he wanted his daughter Linda — one of three girls born to Brown and his wife, Leola — to enroll at the all-white school near their home in Topeka instead of walking to the black school more than a mile away.
In 1959, four years after the Supreme Court decision, Brown accepted an assignment to pastor the church in Springfield. Linda, by then in high school, enrolled at Central, where she attended until her graduation in 1961. She died March 25.
The church, under Brown's leadership, included hundreds of members, and he became active in the Springfield NAACP and the Springfield ministerial alliance.
According to a 1980 dissertation by Isabell Masters — referencing historical documents, letters to and from the Brown family, and interviews with individuals who had been in the Springfield community — the young, charismatic pastor was described as warm, wise and speaking with precision.
"I have never met a more humble, yet a more able person than Reverend Brown. His Christian life exemplified the highest traits of Christian character and dedication," said Lea Etta McAdams, of Springfield, in a March 8, 1980 interview with Masters. "He was a dynamic speaker and an asset to the community."
Masters wrote, in the dissertation, that parishioners at the church said Rev. Brown didn't view the Supreme Court decision as a personal success, though he was happy with the outcome. In addition to working as a pastor, he worked part time at the Buick company and helped remodel the church.
Masters wrote that the pastor objected to the level of segregation that he found in the city and vowed to integrate Springfield. He joined forces with other ministers including Rev. Felix Dancy to engage in a series of civil rights demonstrations, including picketing and mass marches.
At the time, blacks were not allowed to stand at the counter, eat or drink coffee in many downtown restaurants.
"There was a mass meeting held at the (Reedy) Chapel and the leadership planned to make it as large as possible," Masters wrote, after reviewing historical documents. "The coordinating support and the publicity were enormous ... Many residents contributed their support to the cause."
In 1960, within 48 hours of a mass meeting at a Springfield chapel, dozens of downtown establishments announced, in the newspaper, that they were changing their policies.
According to the dissertation, Brown also successfully protested so a black reporter in Springfield to cover a stop by Richard Nixon's campaign party could stay in a previously all-white hotel, according to the dissertation.
Georgia Burton, who belonged to the church during Brown's tenure, told Masters that the pastor raised money for the church by sponsoring programs and bringing gospel groups, including Soul Stirrers and Mahalia Jackson, to the city.
In June 1961, while traveling to Topeka for a special event, Brown died at age 42. Not long after, his widow and the couple's daughters moved back to Kansas.
"He was a great man. He did a lot. He was a pretty humble guy," Hinson said. This year, on Aug. 19, will be the 100th anniversary of Brown's birth.
Going forward, Drury plans to reach out to to the Topeka-based The Brown Foundation and members of the Brown family to seek input.
Drury wants to reinvigorate the empty church, which was constructed in 1926, as well as the parsonage on the east side of the property.
"Our idea is to turn it into a museum or a gallery," Hinson said, noting the space will be tied into programming on campus. "We see it as either being a museum devoted to Springfield history or to civil rights history here in Springfield."
The details of the proposed project, as well as the funding, remain question marks.
Hinson said plans for Central Street and Drury Lane are critical junctures in Drury's 25-year master plan, unveiled last year. The blueprint includes, among other elements, a new student life center, residential quad, a compass center for advising, and a new home for the Breech School of Business Administration.
Hinson said to fund the linear park, the university will seek partners, grants and funding from various sources, including private donors.
"We will have to do some fundraising," he said.
A look at important dates in the history of Springfield's Benton Avenue A.M.E. — African Methodist Episcopal — church:
- 1867 — Founded
- 1877 — Trustees borrowed money to purchase the land, a wood-frame church is constructed on the site
- 1922 — Cornerstone set in place
- 1926 — Current structure was completed
- 1952 — One-story parsonage constructed east of church
- 1959-61 — Rev. Oliver Brown was pastor
- 1962 — Membership was more than 500
- 2001 — Placed on the National Register of Historic Places
- 2014 — Ownership was deeded to Midwest Annual Conference of the A.M.E.
Central Street proposal
Drury University wants to transform Central Street, from Benton Avenue to Clay Avenue, into a linear historical park. Here are elements of the proposal:
- Improved landscaping and street lighting
- Commemorative markers celebrating its place in history
- On-street, parallel parking on the north side
- Wide, multi-use way, 12 feet wide, for pedestrians and cyclists
- Landscaped median, 8 feet wide, with trees
- Wide carriage lanes, 11 feet wide, in each direction