We write in support of naming the Jackson courthouse building for the United States District for the Southern District of Mississippi in honor of the late R. Jess Brown. In terms of times of service, we are the oldest African American lawyers, in terms of time of service, in the State of Mississippi, and we all had the opportunity to work with and know Jess Brown. We can attest, first hand, to his courage, ingenuity and leadership in the dark era of the ’40s, ’50s and ’60s when so much legal drama occurred in the District Court.

Even before he became a lawyer, Jess Brown got involved with civil-rights issues when he stepped in as a plaintiff in the Gladys Noel Bates suit to equalize black teacher salaries. In 1949, the suit was brought to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi. The lone original plaintiff, Mrs. Bates, was promptly fired and forced to leave the state after she brought the suit. Jess, who was then a high-school teacher, took her place. He was also promptly fired.

He had already begun to study law through a La Salle extension course and later began took the Bar Exam without success. He decided to attend law school at Texas Southern University. In 1953, during his second year, he finally passed the bar examination, dropped out of law school and began his practice. In 1957, Jess brought the first and perhaps only civil-rights lawsuit in Mississippi in the 1950s when he filed a voting-rights suit in on behalf of Jefferson Davis County residents who were attacking the literacy requirement that prospective voters interpret constitutional provisions to be eligible to vote.

This suit was also filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi. Although he was not successful, the U.S. Supreme Court later upheld his position in the 1960s.

In the 1950s and 1960s, Jess Brown courageously represented civil-rights leaders across the state, as well as blacks accused of capital crimes in often hostile environments. These included Mack Charles Parker, who was accused of rape and lynched in Pearl River County just days after Jess appeared on his behalf.

He also represented Clyde Kennard, who had applied to what was then the all-white Mississippi Southern College, now the University of Southern Mississippi, which today has an African American president. In response to his audacity, Kennard was framed and convicted of stealing “chicken feed.” Medgar Evers was convicted of contempt of court for criticizing Kennard’s conviction. Jess and Jack Young Sr. represented Medgar, and his conviction was reversed on appeal.

When the Freedom Riders came in 1961, Jess Brown, Carsie Hall and Jack Young represented them. These three lawyers defended most of the civil-rights workers charged with crimes for daring to challenge segregation in the early 1960s before there were any full-time legal civil-rights offices.

They were counsel of record in the first school desegregation cases that were filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi in 1963. These cases resulted in the assassination of Medgar Evers and the bombings directed at Dr. Gilbert Mason in Biloxi and the Hudson family in Leake County. The Leake County case also resulted in Judge Cox holding Jess Brown in contempt when some of the named plaintiffs backed down. The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit promptly reversed Judge Cox’s ruling.

In the ’60s and ’70s, Jess Brown was a mentor for civil-rights attorneys and young African American attorneys, including the authors of this letter. We do not write to denigrate others who might be suggested to have the honor of a building named after them. We write in support of bestowing this honor and recognition on a man who provided exemplary service to the cause of justice and equality during turbulent times at great economic and physical danger to himself and his family. He and his family deserve this recognition. We urge all readers to write the Mississippi Congressional delegation in support of naming the new federal court building the R. Jess Brown Federal Court Building.

Eddie Tucker, Constance Slaughter Harvey, Reuben Anderson and Fred L. Banks Jr. The photo of Brown above is a still from his 1959 speech on police brutality, available on YouTube.