Kate Moore Brown
{{Short description|American musician, clubwoman and traveler}}
Kate Moore Brown (December 17, 1871 - March 28, 1945) was an American musician, clubwoman and traveler who lived in El Paso, Texas. Brown was one of the first graduates of El Paso High School. She was the first person to teach music in the public schools in Texas and El Paso and was the first woman to own a bicycle in El Paso. Brown is also one of the original creators of the El Paso International Museum which later became the El Paso Museum of Art.
Biography
Brown was born in Missouri on December 17, 1871.{{Cite journal|last1=Saenz|first1=Brandy|last2=Eubank|first2=Alexis|last3=Vise|first3=Ruth|date=2012|title=Kate Moore Brown: A Woman of Many Firsts|url=http://lgdata.s3-website-us-east-1.amazonaws.com/docs/2368/577945/2012_brown.pdf|journal=Borderlands|volume=30}} She was raised in Sherman, Texas, where she took music lessons at the North Texas Female College. Brown's brother, Francis Moore, would later become a well-known pianist in New York.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/18694424/|title=Music Was Taught in El Paso Long Before In Cultured Boston|date=13 September 1946|work=El Paso Herald-Post|access-date=2018-03-27|language=en|via=Newspapers.com}} Brown came to El Paso in 1886 with her family.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/18353889/el_paso_heraldpost/|title=Social History Shows Culture Throve in El Paso's Wooly Western Days|date=28 May 1936|work=El Paso Herald Post|access-date=2018-03-26|language=en|via=Newspapers.com}} She served as a bridesmaid for Anne Buford, who married into the Magoffin family in 1887.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/18353664/|title=Magoffin Buford|date=27 February 1897|work=El Paso Herald|access-date=2018-03-27|language=en|via=Newspapers.com}} Brown was in the first graduating class of El Paso High School, and was one of the two graduates in 1887.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/18655231/|title=Queen Victoria's Fan Featured in Collection|date=8 January 1958|work=El Paso Herald-Post|access-date=2018-03-26|language=en|via=Newspapers.com}} When she graduated, she went with her father to San Diego, California, where she received a second high school diploma from a high school there in 1889.
She returned to El Paso again in 1890, a year after her father died. She then began to teach music in the public schools and was the first person to do so in both El Paso and Texas. Brown was the first woman to own and ride a bicycle in El Paso, Texas.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/18692441/|title=Daring Cyclist|date=7 May 1973|work=El Paso Herald-Post|access-date=2018-03-27|language=en|via=Newspapers.com}} She used the bike to get to the schools she taught at, pedaling through sand in some places.{{Sfn|Cunningham|1978|p=121}} She taught music in the public schools until 1899. She also wrote about the history of music in El Paso.
Brown married William R. Brown, a railroad agent for the Santa Fe railroad, on June 29, 1898.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/18692704/|title=Moore-Brown|date=29 June 1898|work=El Paso Herald|access-date=2018-03-27|language=en|via=Newspapers.com}} Her husband was a cornet player and also enjoyed music. Kate Moore Brown continued to play piano and organ and also organized various musical groups in El Paso.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/18655160/el_paso_herald/|title=Mrs. Kate Moore Brown will be the|date=19 February 1900|work=El Paso Herald|access-date=2018-03-27|language=en|via=Newspapers.com}}
Brown joined the El Paso Woman's Club in 1899.{{Sfn|Cunningham|1978|p=121}} She was the head of the El Paso Woman's Club's music department. Brown was also a member of the first board of directors for the El Paso School for Girls (Radford School) in 1910.{{Cite web|url=http://wcoep.org/history/|title=History|website=Woman's Club of El Paso|language=en-US|access-date=2018-03-26}} Also in 1910, Brown became the president of the Woman's Club and held meetings at her home. Later, she was on the executive board of the Texas Federation of Women's Clubs.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0U82AQAAMAAJ&dq=%22mrs.+w.+r.+brown%22&pg=PA271|title=The History of the Texas Federation of Women's Clubs|publisher=Dealy-Adey-Elgin Company|year=1919|editor-last=Christian|editor-first=Stella L.|location=Houston, Texas|pages=271|language=en}} In 1917, she formed an auxiliary of the Woman's Club devoted to music, called the MacDowell Club, named after Edward MacDowell.
Brown became the second woman elected to the El Paso School Board in 1921. She recalled later that the Ku Klux Klan attempted to infiltrate politics within the board, and she said, "I worked hard as a board member and stood for justice."{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/18693743/|title=School Board Women Leave Fine Records|date=3 March 1944|work=El Paso Herald-Post|access-date=2018-03-27|language=en|via=Newspapers.com}} She later became the state chair of Child Welfare in 1923.{{Sfn|Cunningham|1978|p=122-123}} In 1924, Brown served as the first chairman-director of the Women's Department of the El Paso Chamber of Commerce.{{cite news
| url = https://www.elpasoinc.com/lifestyle/local_features/el-paso-chamber-celebrates-100-years-of-the-womans-department/article_c64c9678-24f5-11ef-b990-b7431f09636f.html
| title = El Paso Chamber Celebrates 100 Years of the Woman's Department
| last =
| first =
| date = 2024-06-07
| newspaper = El Paso, Inc.
| access-date = 2024-06-13
}} Brown helped originate the idea for the El Paso International Museum (later known as the El Paso Museum of Art) in 1925.{{Cite web|url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/kleqt|title=El Paso Museum of Art|last=Curlee|first=Kendall|date=12 June 2010|website=Handbook of Texas Online|publisher=Texas State Historical Association|access-date=26 March 2018}} She served as an organizer for the museum and worked as a chair on the board.{{Sfn|Cunningham|1978|p=122}} In 1933, she was the president of the Pioneer Women's Association.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/18694286/|title=Pioneer Women to Be Guests at Tea|date=8 May 1933|work=El Paso Herald-Post|access-date=2018-03-27|language=en|via=Newspapers.com}}
Brown's husband died in 1934. Kate Moore Brown inherited his estate.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/18692842/|title=Widow Gets Estate|date=24 January 1934|work=El Paso Herald-Post|access-date=2018-03-27|language=en|via=Newspapers.com}}
Brown was president of the El Paso Symphony Association and helped get the organization incorporated in 1937.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/18693188/|title=Symphony Charter Issued|date=22 March 1937|work=El Paso Herald-Post|access-date=2018-03-27|language=en|via=Newspapers.com}} Brown also served on the board for the El Paso Public Library.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/18693743/|title=Special Collections Room Honors Mrs. Sullivan|date=15 February 1944|work=El Paso Herald-Post|access-date=2018-03-27|language=en|via=Newspapers.com}} She was president of the library board in 1936.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/18694183/|title=First Graduate|date=12 December 1936|work=El Paso Herald-Post|access-date=2018-03-27|language=en|via=newspapers.com}}
Brown collected the fans and shawls belonging to notable women from around the world.{{Sfn|Cunningham|1978|p=123}} Brown donated her collection of over 300 fans to the El Paso International Museum. She died on March 28, 1945.{{Sfn|Cunningham|1978|p=121-122}}
References
= Citations =
{{Reflist}}
= Sources =
- {{Cite book|title=The Woman's Club of El Paso: Its First Thirty Years|last=Cunningham|first=Mary S.|publisher=Texas Western Press|year=1978|isbn=0874040612|location=El Paso, Texas}}
External links
- [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/18693985/ Pioneer Families Have Had Same 'Phone Numbers Half a Century] (1944)
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Category:People from Sherman, Texas
Category:People from El Paso, Texas
Category:American women music educators
Category:American women classical pianists
Category:American classical pianists
Category:American classical organists