Letitia Woods Brown

Dr. Letitia Woods Brown
Letitia Woods Brown
Born	October 24, 1915 Tuskegee, Alabama, U.S.
Died	August 3, 1976(1976-08-03) (aged 60) Washington DC, U.S.
Cause of death	Cancer
Alma mater	Tuskegee Institute Ohio State University Harvard University
Occupation	Historian community activist researcher
Years active	1935-1976 (As a teacher)
Spouse(s)	Theodore Edward Brown (1947–1976; her death)
Children	Lucy Evadne Brown Theodore Edward Brown Jr. in 1951

Letitia Woods Brown (October 24, 1915 – August 3, 1976) was an African American researcher and historian. Earning a master's degree in 1935 from Ohio State University and a Ph.D. in 1966 from Harvard University, she served as a researcher and historian for over four decades and became one of the first black woman to earn a PhD from Harvard University in history. As a teacher, she started her career in Macon County, Alabama between 1935 and 1936. Later in 1937, she became Tuskegee Institute's instructor in history but left in 1940. Between 1940 and 1945 she worked at LeMoyne-Owen College in Memphis, Tennessee as a tutor. From 1968 to 1971, she served as a Fulbright lecturer at Monash University and Australia National University followed by a period in 1971 working as a consultant at the Federal Executive Institute. Between 1971 and 1976 she served as a history professor in the African-American faculty of George Washington University and became the first full-time black member. She also served as a primary consultant for the Schlesinger Library’s Black Women Oral History project during the course of her professional career. Aside from teaching history, Brown wrote and contributed to books on Washington DC such as Washington from Banneker to Douglas, 1791 - 1870 and Washington in the New Era, 1870 - 1970.

Letitia Woods Brown (née Letitia Christine Woods) was born on October 24, 1915, to Evadne Clark Adam Woods and Matthew Woods in Tuskegee, Alabama, U.S. One of three daughters, Letitia was the second child. The Woodses were a middle-class family; both parents worked as teachers at the Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University), an industrial college established by Booker T. Washington. Matthew Woods was educated at the Tuskegee Institute. Letitia's mother Evadne Woods was one of twelve children born to Lewis Adams and Theodosia Evadne Clark. Her father Lewis Adams was a former slave who became a Tuskegee Normal School trustee and a commissioner in 1881. They all served as educators throughout the southern USA.