Overview of the Item |
||
| Repository: | The HistoryMakers | |
| 1900 S. Michigan Avenue | ||
| Chicago, Illinois 60616 | ||
| (312) 674-1900 | ||
| info@thehistorymakers.com | ||
| http://www.thehistorymakers.com | ||
| Interviewer: | Larry Crowe | |
| Videographer: | Matthew Hickey | |
| Title: | Video Oral History Interview with Dorothy Brown | |
| Dates: | October 08, 2003 | |
| Abstract: | (ABSTRACT) | |
| Quantity: | 6 Betacam SP videocassettes, 1 half-Hollinger box containing (NUMBER) folders of accompanying materials. | |
| Identification: | A2003.251 | |
| Language: | The interviews and records are in English | |
November 7, 2000, Dorothy Brown was elected as the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County by a four to one margin, making her the first African American to hold the position. As the official keeper of records for all judicial matters brought into one of the largest unified court systems in the world, Brown is responsible for managing an annual operating budget of over $120 million and has a workforce of over 2,300 employees.
An attorney and certified public accountant, Brown grew up in a family of eight children. Her parents, David and Dinkie Rabb, both deceased, were poor and uneducated. Her mother was a cook and a domestic worker. Her father was a laundry worker and a cotton farmer who took Brown and her seven siblings to the cotton fields on weekends to chop and pick cotton. During high school, she continued to work, first as a housekeeper and later with a nutrition program for mothers on welfare. After high school, Brown attended Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where she earned her B.S. in accounting in 1975, and became a CPA two years later. In 1981, she earned an M.B.A. in finance from DePaul University and she attained a law degree from Chicago-Kent College of Law in 1996.
Beginning her career as an accountant and then a CPA, Brown worked for Commonwealth Edison and Arthur Anderson & Company. From there, she was hired by the First National Bank of Chicago and later left in 1984 to join the firm of Odell Hicks and Company. After serving as a senior manager for the audit of the city of Chicago, she was hired as the general auditor for the Chicago Transit Authority. While working with the CTA, Brown ran for treasurer of the city of Chicago and narrowly lost the election. Trying again in 2000, Brown ran for Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County and won. Brown still serves as Clerk today for the largest circuit court in the world.
Brown has been active in a number of other areas throughout her professional career, having served as president of the boards of the National Association of Black Accountants-Chicago, the National Women's Political Caucus of Greater Chicago and Lutheran Social Services of Illinois. She is also the founder and president of the Dorothy Brown Scholarship and Community Development Fund. Her work, both civic and professional, has garnered her many awards, including the Women in History Excellence Award, 2002 Hillary Rodham Clinton Leadership Award, the 2003 National Forum for Black Public Administrators Marks of Excellence Award, the 2003 Women of Achievement Award from the Anti-Defamation League and the 2004 NAACP Proviso/Leyden Medal of Freedom.
Brown lives in Chicago, and has one daughter, Detris, currently at Drake University Law School.
Biographical Note by The HistoryMakers®
This life oral history interview with Dorothy Brown was conducted by Larry Crowe on 2003-10-08 in Chicago, Illinois and is recorded on 6 30-minute Betacam SP videocassettes. Access copies exist on Betacam SP, VHS, DVD and MPEG-1. The interview contains information on (COMPLETE ONE SENTENCE DESCRIPTION OF INTERVIEW). Accompanying materials in the collection include Dorothy Brown's correspondence with The HistoryMakers® related to the interview; a copy of the signed release form and the production report; the biographical information used by the interviewer to prepare for the interview (DETAILS); paper copies of the interview transcripts, 3 1/2" floppy disks with electronic copies of the transcripts; selected quotes for video clips; photocopies of photographs captured on video; XML files with metadata created in editing and cataloguing the interview for The HistoryMakers Digital Video Library; and paper copies of these XML files.
Access to paper records is restricted. Other restrictions may be applied on a case-by-case basis.
All use of materials must be pre-approved by The HistoryMakers® and appropriate credit must be given. All use credits must be pre-approved by The HistoryMakers®. Copyright is held by The HistoryMakers®.
Index Terms |
||
| This record series is indexed under the following controlled access terms. | ||
| Contributors: | ||
| Brown, Dorothy | ||
| Crowe, Larry | ||
| Hickey, Matthew | ||
| Persons: | ||
| (PERSONS) | ||
| Corporate Bodies: | ||
| (CORPORATE BODIES) | ||
| Family Names: | ||
| Brown | ||
| Places: | ||
| (PLACES) | ||
| Subjects: | ||
| (SUBJECTS) | ||
| Document Types: | ||
| Video oral history interview | ||
| Titles: | ||
| The HistoryMakers® Video Oral History Interview with Dorothy Brown | ||
Accompanying materials: Accompanying materials are filed in (NUMBER) folders in a half-Hollinger box and shelved at The HistoryMakers® Archives and Collection Library by accession number, separately from the videos.
Betacam, VHS, DVD and MPEG-1 access copies are held for in-house use at The HistoryMakers®; Betacam SP, VHS and DVD playback hardware is provided for in-house viewing of the access copies; MPEG-1 copies are searchable and viewable via a digital video database.
The HistoryMakers® Video Oral History Interview with Dorothy Brown, October 08, 2003. The HistoryMakers® African American Video Oral History Collection, 1900 S. Michigan Avenue Chicago, Illinois.