Nathaniel Brown, 81, ‘determined to make a difference'

By Michelle E. Shaw

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Nathaniel Brown was concerned about human rights. Though he may be well known as a civil rights advocate in Norcross, he wanted to help anybody and everybody he could, not just blacks.

Special Nathaniel Brown, a resident of Norcross since 1933, helped the integrate the city's public schools.

More Atlanta area news »

• Beryl may bring rain, wind here
• Suicide call leads to pot bust
• 
‘Pioneers’ helped break
 Marines’ color barrier
• Not all cheating the same at APS

“He was so determined to make a difference, said his daughter Linda Brown, who lives in Norcross. “He tried to teach us to be the same way. He told us if we see something wrong, we should try to correct it.”

Nathaniel Brown, of Norcross, died Jan. 26 at Saint Joseph’s Hospital from complications of pneumonia. He was 81. A funeral was held Tuesday at Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church, Norcross. He was buried in Whites Chapel Cemetery, Duluth and Donald Trimble Mortuary was in charge.

Raised in Norcross, Mr. Brown helped organize the integration of city schools. He was also a driving force behind the establishment and construction of Rossie Brundage Park in Norcross, named for his uncle. A charter member of the Gwinnett Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, his activism helped get Autry, Nesbit and Ewing streets in Norcross illuminated and paved.

Mr. Brown was a barber, a school bus driver, a bail bondsman a General Motors clerk and an insurance agent, just to name a few of the jobs he held. He wanted to be a city councilman in Norcross too, aiming to be the first black elected to the post, but never won an election.

Mr. Brown first ran for city council in 1969. The last time he ran for the office was in 1996, but by then Norcross had already elected its first black member: Craig Newton, his nephew. Mr. Newton was appointed to the council in 1995 and elected to serve a full term later that year.

Mr. Brown worked extremely hard on his nephew’s campaign, Mr. Newton said. And he did it because a white city council member once told Mr. Brown he’d never see a black member of the council during his lifetime, Mr. Newton said.

“When he told me that, I understood his passion even more,” his nephew said. “My election wasn’t just a victory for me, but it was a victory for him as well.”

Even though Mr. Brown never held an city office, he was well respected in the Norcross community for all of the civic work he did, said his daughter Deidre Brown-Stewart, of Loganville.

“He didn’t just focus on one community, he wanted to make things better for everybody,” she said. “To me, he was just my dad, but I knew he meant a lot to so many and helped a lot of people in the community.”

In a 2004 Atlanta Journal-Constitution article, Mr. Brown said he didn’t mind helping people, it was second-nature to him.

“You don’t have to be related to me or anything like that for me to try and help you,” Mr. Brown said in the article.  “I grew up doing that kind of stuff.”

Mr. Brown also survived by his wife of 61 years, Winnie Brown; sons, Wayne Brown of Roswell and Chris Brown of Loganville; a third daughter, Sophronia Hairston of Duluth; sister, Rachel Johnson of Norcross;12 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.