Sue M. Wilson Brown (1877-1941) was a prominent leader in Iowa’s women’s suffrage movement and an activist for civil rights. While born in Virginia, her family soon moved to the area near Buxton, Iowa, an integrated coal mining town in Mahaska County. She later attended high school in Oskaloosa and then moved to Des Moines after marrying Samuel Joe Brown, a lawyer who shared her commitment to improving the situation of Iowa’s African American community.
In Des Moines, Brown became involved in the Iowa Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs, including editing the Iowa Colored Woman, the organization's publication. She also founded several other groups including the Des Moines Intellectual Improvement Club, the Mary B. Talbert Club, the Des Moines Mary Church Terrell Club, and an African American Red Cross auxiliary.
In 1915, Brown became president of the Iowa Federation of Colored Women. During her tenure she led efforts to provide housing for African American women attending the University of Iowa, which did not allow them to live in the dorms until 1945. In this role she likewise worked with the Polk County Suffrage Association.
This was only the beginning of her involvement in the suffrage movement. In 1919, she established the Des Moines League of Colored Women Voters and served as the first president. She spoke at the Iowa Equal Suffrage Association's convention and was a delegate to the first convention of the Iowa League of Women Voters in 1920.
Additionally, Brown was an active member of the Republican Party, serving as a delegate to both county and state conventions. She also was the first vice president of the National League of Republican Colored Women and chair of the Polk County Republican Committee.
Brown was active in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). She established the Des Moines NAACP Junior Chapter in 1922, and served as the first female president from 1925 to 1930. Her advocacy likewise made her a strong supporter of efforts to improve race relations in Des Moines. She was on the executive committee of the Des Moines Interracial Committee and was president of the first Interracial Commission on Civil Rights in Iowa.
To learn more about Brown’s work and the efforts of her fellow Iowa suffragists, please come to the Klauer Commons on the Library’s main level from October 3-17 to view the exhibit, Toward a Universal Suffrage: African American Women in Iowa and the Vote for All. Also, come to the 3rd Floor Commons on Monday, October 3 at 7pm to hear Professor Kristin Anderson-Bricker’s presentation “Increasing the Intelligent Vote:” Losing the 1916 Fight for Woman Suffrage in Iowa and the Resulting Appeal to Enfranchise White, Native-Born Women.
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