Interview with Lee F. Browne - Caltech Oral Histories

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Browne–2 COHEN: Now, that would have been— BROWNE: World War I. COHEN: World War I. OK. We’re going back a long time. BROWNE: Yes. See, I’m seventy-seven. [Chuckle] COHEN: Ah, OK. [Chuckle] BROWNE: So he went to World War I. And in the army he met my in-law uncles. My mother had two brothers, and then there was one man that my aunt had married, so that was three. So there were four of these men that went to the war together. So when he came back, my mother and he were married. And I was the product of that marriage. COHEN: Are you a first child, or an only child? BROWNE: First and only child. COHEN: Ah, OK. BROWNE: He was a blacksmith, and I used to spend time with him—as I can remember, [I was] about five or six years of age—looking at what he was doing and trying to understand why he was going through all of these machinations with heat and metals and all that stuff. COHEN: I see. Introduction to science in a practical way. BROWNE: Yes, that was my first meddling with that. COHEN: Was this a small town, this Reedsville? http://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Browne_L
Browne–3 BROWNE: Oh, yes. But by then they had moved to High Point, which is a very large furnituremanufacturing center. COHEN: OK. BROWNE: You’ll see many dressers and things were built there. But he worked as a blacksmith because they had a lot of horses and they did a lot of repairs on iron and all that business. But they didn’t stay together, because he became involved with the New Jersey Stars or Giants or something. It was a black baseball team. And he played baseball. And he’d go all over the place. COHEN: So he was on a professional team? BROWNE: Yes, but it was not the majors. It was a black league. COHEN: Which was separate. BROWNE: Yes. You’ve heard of that business? COHEN: Sure. BROWNE: So my parents didn’t make it too well. My grandmother meddled and broke up the marriage. COHEN: OK. BROWNE: And she forced him away. They wouldn’t let him see me hardly. So my mother brought me up. And she had some very, very—what I call—old-fashioned ideas about how you bring up young folks. You know, you make them go to bed at night, you give them a place to study and you make them study, and you tell them they’re going to starve to death if they don’t learn this—“because you know how racist this society is.” And she was really subject to that. http://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Browne_L
Page 1 and 2: LEE F. BROWNE (b. 1922) INTERVIEWED
Page 3 and 4: Lee Brown with the Black Students U
Page 5: CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
Page 9 and 10: Browne-5 business of killing and cu
Page 11 and 12: Browne-7 COHEN: Yes. BROWNE: Well,
Page 13 and 14: Browne-9 BROWNE: Well, they said th
Page 15 and 16: Browne-11 BROWNE: So I wrote them.
Page 17 and 18: Browne-13 COHEN: Yes. BROWNE: And g
Page 19 and 20: Browne-15 BROWNE: So I did that. An
Page 21 and 22: Browne-17 COHEN: It was a very good
Page 23 and 24: Browne-19 he said that he didn’t
Page 25 and 26: Browne-21 BROWNE: You see? And I ha
Page 27 and 28: Browne-23 communities—“…that
Page 29 and 30: Browne-25 COHEN: And what was it ca
Page 31 and 32: Browne-27 COHEN: So you came in abo
Page 33 and 34: Browne-29 BROWNE: A large number of
Page 35 and 36: Browne-31 COHEN: Were you having fu
Page 37 and 38: Browne-33 COHEN: OK. BROWNE: And I
Page 39 and 40: Browne-35 their nationality. So I
Page 41 and 42: Browne-37 COHEN: But now, I’m try
Page 43 and 44: Browne-39 COHEN: Can you tell me? B
Page 45 and 46: Browne-41 COHEN: There are still so
Page 47: Browne-43 COHEN: But you certainly

Interview with Lee F. Browne - Caltech Oral Histories

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