By LAURA BUCK

Staff writer

One of the oldest pillars in the Calvert County community has died at the age of 101.

On Jan. 1, Harriet Elizabeth Brown died at the Solomons Nursing Center.

She will be remembered as a "significant person in our history," to Guffrie Smith, who is vice president of the Calvert Crusade for Children and a retired teacher and administrator with Calvert County public schools.

The historical significance Smith spoke of was in 1937 when Brown fought for and won a case that equalized the salary scales for black and white teachers in Calvert County.

For this case, Brown enlisted then NAACP attorney and future Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall to make the argument that having separate salary scales for teachers based on their race violated the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

According to the Maryland Women's Hall of Fame, of which Brown is a part, "this landmark case opened the door a couple years later for the Maryland Teachers Pay Equalization Law, the first equalization law in the state."

"Her efforts were all significant in equalizing the pay for black teachers in the county and actually the whole state," said Smith, who said as a black educator he "reaped some of [Brown's] benefits" when he started working for the school system in 1964.

But Brown was more than an advocate. She was a fun loving friend who enjoyed a "ladies night out," said her friend and former colleague Ruth Reid, who worked as a pupil personnel worker for Calvert County schools for many years.

"We had a club [with other school employees] called ‘Just Us Women' … we got a lot of enjoyment out of that," said Reid, who said Brown also really enjoyed playing and following sports.

Reid also said that Brown took a yearly trip with her sister Regina, who was a teacher and principal of the Old Wallville School, which educated segregated students from the 1880s through 1934. Regina Brown died in August of 2007 at the age of 97.

"They went to Europe, South America … each trip gave her some special memories," Reid said.

As an elementary school teacher and administrator, Reid said that Brown was no pushover. She was, according to Reid, actually quite strict.

"She was a no nonsense person and didn't stand for any foolishness or wishy-washy stuff … [but] students could look back and say ‘that was what I needed to keep me on course,'" said Reid, who said that Brown was conscious of the difference she made for members of her race.

"She was aware, but she wasn't boastful about it. She knew somebody needed to do that; somebody needed to take a stand," Reid said.

Harry Wedewer, who is chairperson of "Friends of the Old Wallville School," an organization that supports the restoration of the Prince Frederick building, said that Brown and her sister were one of the inspirations behind his own initiative.

"They were kind of understated, but they had a lot of grace and dignity," Wedewer said of the Brown sisters, whose story he said will be told through Old Wallville's interpretive program.

"She and Regina will still be teaching, even though they're gone," Wedewer said of the sisters who lived together for most of their lives.

In addition to being best friends, educators and civil rights advocates, both Brown sisters enjoyed the gift of longevity.

"[101 is] a good age, to live that long," Reid said.

But perhaps, Brown's long life should not come as a surprise, as Reid said of her friend, "If she made a commitment, she wasn't afraid to see the commitment through."

Published in The Recorder, Jan. 16, 2009