Edwin Brown

{{Short description|Australian rugby league footballer}}

{{Other people}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2018}}

{{Use Australian English|date=April 2018}}

{{Infobox rugby league biography

|name = Edwin Brown

|fullname = Edwin Stanley Brown

|image = Nigger-Brown-File-5493441.jpg

|imagesize =

|caption =

|birth_date = 1898

|birth_place = ?, Australia

|death_date = 1972 (age 74)

|death_place = Toowoomba, Australia

|retired =

|height =

|weight =

|position = {{Rugby league positions|CE}}

|club1 = Newtown (Toowoomba)

|year1start = 191?

|year1end = 2?

|appearances1 =

|tries1 =

|goals1 =

|fieldgoals1 =

|points1 =

|teamA = Queensland

|yearAstart = 1919

|yearAend = 25

|appearancesA =

|triesA =

|goalsA =

|fieldgoalsA =

|pointsA =

|teamB = Australia

|yearBstart = 1921

|yearBend = 22

|appearancesB =

|triesB =

|goalsB =

|fieldgoalsB =

|pointsB =

|teamC = Toowoomba

|yearCstart = 19??

|yearCend = ??

|appearancesC =

|triesC =

|goalsC =

|fieldgoalsC =

|pointsC =

|updated =

|source =

}}

Edwin Stanley "Nigger" Brownalso known as "Edward" Stanley Brown (1898–1972) was an Australian rugby league player who played in the 1910s and 1920s. A Queensland state and Australian international representative centre,{{cite book

|title= Brisbane Broncos: The Team to beat

|last= Gallaway

|first= Jack

|year= 2001

|publisher= University of Queensland Press

|location= Australia

|isbn= 0-7022-3342-0

|page= 128

|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=S3VbeAbhxGEC

|access-date= 20 February 2011}} he played club rugby in Toowoomba for Newtown.{{cite web

|title = Queensland Representative Players – Brown, Edwin ('Nigger')

|year = 2010

|publisher = Queensland Rugby League

|url = http://www.qrl.com.au/default.aspx?s=history-players#B

|access-date = 20 February 2011

|url-status = dead

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111201055656/http://www.qrl.com.au/default.aspx?s=history-players#B

|archive-date= 1 December 2011

}}{{cite web

|title = Player Register

|year = 2009

|publisher = Australian Rugby League

|url = http://www.australianrugbyleague.com.au/kangaroos/register.php

|access-date = 20 February 2011

|url-status = dead

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110927000601/http://www.australianrugbyleague.com.au/kangaroos/register.php

|archive-date= 27 September 2011

}}

Brown, an Anglo-Australian who was nicknamed "Nigger" because of his fair complexion (or perhaps because of his use of the "Nigger Brown" variety of Kiwi shoe polish),{{Cite news

| agency = AAP

| title = Judge rejects bid on 'nigger' sign

| newspaper = The Age

| place = Melbourne

| publisher = Fairfax

| date = 20 March 2002

| url = https://www.theage.com.au/national/judge-rejects-bid-on-nigger-sign-20020320-gdu2a7.html

| access-date = 20 February 2011}} became Toowoomba's first rugby league international{{Cite news

| last = Chilcott

| first = Tanya

| title = Toowoomba to drop 'Nigger' name from sports ground

| newspaper = The Courier-Mail

| place = Brisbane

| publisher = Queensland Newspapers

| date = 26 September 2008

| url = http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/n-word-banned-from-ground/story-e6freoof-1111117585280

| access-date = 20 February 2011}} when he was selected to go on the 1921–22 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain, during which he played four matches.

Brown forged a world-class centre combination with Tom Gorman in the famous Toowoomba sides of the 1920s,{{Cite news

| last = Pramberg

| first = Bernie

| title = League Centenary painting shows Queensland's dream team

| newspaper = The Courier-Mail

| place = Brisbane

| publisher = Queensland Newspapers

| date = 14 June 2008

| url = http://www.couriermail.com.au/sport/nrl/art-captures-qrl-legends/story-e6frep5x-1111116627082

| access-date = 20 February 2011}} and in 1925 injured his ankle playing in their win over the New Zealand national side before a crowd of around 5,000 in Toowoomba.{{Cite news

| last =

| first =

| title = Football

| newspaper = The Sydney Morning Herald

| place = Sydney

| page = 12

| date = 13 August 1925

| url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Y48TAAAAIBAJ&pg=2702,86247

| access-date = 20 February 2011}}

Brown later served as a judge for Sunday Herald's player of the season award.{{Cite news

| last =

| first =

| title = Three Players in Competition Lead

| newspaper = The Sydney Morning Herald

| place = Sydney

| page = 1

| publisher =

| date = 3 July 1950

| url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=naAQAAAAIBAJ&pg=3369,558937

| access-date = 20 February 2011}} He was also president of the Toowoomba Rugby League during the early 1950s{{cite book

|title= Australian Anti-Discrimination Law: Text, Cases and Materials

|author1=Neil Rees|author1-link=Neil Rees (legal scholar)|author2=Katherine Lindsay|author3=Simon Rice

|year= 2008

|publisher= The Federation Press

|location= Australia

|isbn= 978-1-86287-661-3

|page= 550

|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=M9HsZjfW958C

|access-date= 20 February 2011}} and became a local councillor in Toowoomba.{{Cite news

| author1 = Andrew Fraser|author2=Michael McKenna

| title = Racist nickname consigned to history as indigenous activist celebrates victory

| newspaper = The Australian

| date = 26 September 2008

| url = http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/racist-nickname-consigned-to-history/story-e6frg6oo-1111117588368

| archive-url = https://archive.today/20121230224116/http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/racist-nickname-consigned-to-history/story-e6frg6oo-1111117588368

| url-status = dead

| archive-date = 30 December 2012

| access-date = 20 February 2011}} He was Kangaroo Tour manager in 1954.{{cite web|last=Collins|first=Tony|title='Ahr Waggy'; Harold Wagstaff and the making of Anglo-Australian rugby league culture|url=http://www.la84foundation.org/SportsLibrary/TomBrock/TomBrockLecture5.pdf|work=5th Annual Tom Brock Lecture|publisher=Tom Brock Bequest Committee|access-date=18 January 2011|author-link=Tony Collins (historian)|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120808034702/http://www.la84foundation.org/SportsLibrary/TomBrock/TomBrockLecture5.pdf|archive-date=2012-08-08|location=Australia|year=2004|url-status=dead}}

In the 1960s a grandstand in Toowoomba's main football stadium, the Toowoomba Sports Ground, was named the 'E S "Nigger" Brown Stand' in his honour.{{Cite news

| title = 'Nigger' Brown issue laid to rest at last

| newspaper = Brisbane Times

| publisher = Fairfax Media

| date = 17 February 2009

| url = http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/news/queensland/nigger-brown-issue-laid-to-rest-at-last/2009/02/17/1234632793995.html

| access-date = 20 February 2011}} Brown died in 1972 aged 74.{{Cite news

| title = Controversial stand to be demolished

| newspaper = Brisbane Times

| place = Australia

| publisher = Fairfax Media

| date = 22 May 2007

| url = http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/news/queensland/nigger-brown-stand-to-be-demolished/2007/05/22/1179601384315.html

| access-date = 20 February 2011}}

The "E S 'Nigger' Brown Stand" later became the subject of a book, The N Word: One Man's Stand, by Stephen Hagan, who campaigned for its removal. When the stand was demolished in September 2008, the Toowoomba Sports Ground Inc decided not to use the nickname in future references to Brown.