Laura A. Brown
{{Short description|American activist and politician (1874–1924)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Laura A. Brown
| image = Laura_A._Brown(cropped).jpg
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name = Laura Penn
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1874|11|08}}
| birth_place = Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
| death_date = 1924
| death_place =
| nationality = American
| other_names =
| occupation =
| years_active =
| known_for = first African-American to run for state legislature in Pennsylvania
| notable_works =
}}
Laura A. Brown ({{née}} Penn; 1874–1924) was an American activist and local politician.{{cite book|author=Hallie Q. Brown|author-link=Hallie Quinn Brown|title=Homespun Heroines and Other Women of Distinction|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GnBA_iwA9vcC&pg=PA237|year=1988|publisher=Oxford University Press, USA|isbn=978-0-19-976309-2|pages=237–8}} She was the first African-American to run for the state legislature in Pennsylvania.{{cite book|author=LaVonne Leslie|title=The History of the National Association of Colored Women's Clubs, Inc.: A Legacy of Service|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1PENu3w8PGMC&pg=PT132|year=2012|publisher=Xlibris Corporation|isbn=978-1-4797-2265-5|page=132}}
Personal life
Brown was born Laura Penn on November 8, 1874, in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. She married George Brown at a young age. They lived in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and had one daughter.
Public life
Brown was an active member of the Pennsylvania Federation of Colored Women's Clubs and her church choir.
During World War I, Brown led a war savings stamp campaign that allowed individual citizens to help fund the U.S. war effort. Later, during Warren G. Harding's presidential campaign, Brown became a member of the executive board of the Republican Women's Committee of Allegheny County and the Republican Council of Women of the City-County Federation of Allegheny.
In 1922, Brown became the first African-American to run for state legislature in Pennsylvania as a candidate for the First District in Allegheny County. She did not win election.
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Laura A.}}
Category:Pennsylvania Republicans
Category:Politicians from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Category:Politicians from Pittsburgh
Category:20th-century African-American women politicians
Category:20th-century African-American politicians
Category:20th-century American women politicians
Category:20th-century Pennsylvania politicians
{{AfricanAmerican-stub}}
{{Pennsylvania-politician-stub}}