Brownsville was a trading center that developed in association with cotton plantations and commodity agriculture in the lowlying Delta of the Mississippi River around Memphis, Tennessee and West Tennessee. It is located north of the Hatchie River, a tributary of the Mississippi, which originally served as the main transportation routes to markets for cotton. The land was developed by planters for cotton plantations, and worked by large numbers of enslaved persons of African ancestry who made up a majority of the town and county population.
The town is notable for its many well-preserved homes owned by wealthy planters before the Civil War, and multi-generational family-owned farms.
The Tabernacle Campground was founded in 1826 by the Rev. Howell Taylor, soon after Brownsville was founded. In the 21st century, it serves as the site of an annual "camp-meeting" for descendants of Taylor.
In the mid to late 19th century, German Jewish immigrants also settled in Brownsville. They founded a congregation in the 1860s, and built Temple Adas Israel in 1882. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The building is believed to be the oldest synagogue in Tennessee,[8] and is a rare example of a synagogue built in the Gothic Revival style.[9]
Through the late 19th century, whites worked to re-establish supremacy after Reconstruction and impose Jim Crow and second-class status on African Americans. Tennessee effectively disenfranchised most blacks in the state after the turn of the 20th century, excluding them from the political system and destroying what had been a competitive system. The state's congressional delegation and elected officials became predominantly white Democrats. The exception was East Tennessee, where white Republicans formed the majority. The region of yeomen farmers had been mostly Unionist-leaning during the Civil War.
Among the city's contemporary attractions is the West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center, which interprets the delta region.[10]
Lynchings for control
From the late 19th into the early 20th century, whites lynched three African-American men in Brownsville, two in the 20th century.[11]
In the late 1930s, with Haywood County's black majority[12] disenfranchised, in 1939 a number of blacks in Brownsville founded a local NAACP chapter. They worked to assert their right to register and vote in the presidential election of 1940. In June 1940 threats were made against the group, and Elisha Davis was kidnapped by a large white mob. They demanded the names of NAACP members and their plans. He fled town, followed by his family, losing his successful service station and all their property.[13]
On June 20, 1940, Elbert Williams, secretary of the NAACP chapter, and Elisha's brother Thomas Davis were questioned by police. Thomas Davis was released,[13] but Williams was never seen alive again. His body was found in the Hatchie River a few days later, with bullet holes in his chest.[13] He is considered to be the first NAACP member to have been lynched for civil rights activities; he is the last recorded lynching victim in the state.[14] Several other NAACP members were run out of town by police, fearing for their lives.[13][15]
Thurgood Marshall of the NAACP conducted an investigation of Williams' murder and appealed to the Department of Justice to prosecute the case, providing affidavits of witnesses. FBI agents were sent to the town in September to protect blacks wanting to register to vote, but the local people were fearful because there had been no prosecution of Williams' killers. In October 1940, The Crisis, the magazine of the NAACP, reported that no blacks registered to vote.[16] Thomas Davis and his family moved North and resettled in Niles, Michigan.[13] The DOJ closed the Williams case in 1942.[11]
A retired white Tennessee lawyer, Jim Emison, has joined the family and other supporters in working in the 21st century to bring justice to Williams. Since 2012 he has been working on the case, based on contemporary Department of Justice files and his own research. He turned over his materials to DOJ in 2015, asking them to re-open the case.[11]
In 2015, the Tennessee Historical Commission approved an official historical marker honoring Elbert Williams. It was dedicated in Brownsville on June 20, 2015, at a memorial service marking the seventy-fifth anniversary of Williams' murder. The featured speaker was NAACP President Cornell W. Brooks.[15]
Geography
Brownsville is located in central Haywood County. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 10.2 square miles (26.4 km2), all land.[17] U.S. Routes 70 and 79 form a bypass around the southern and eastern sides of the city. US 79 leads northeast 25 miles (40 km) to Humboldt, while US 70 leads east 26 miles (42 km) to Jackson. The two highways together leads southwest 57 miles (92 km) to Memphis. Interstate 40 passes south of Brownsville, coming closest at exits 56 and 60, where it is 4 miles (6 km) south of downtown.
The Hatchie River passes south of Brownsville. It is the longest free-flowing tributary of the lower Mississippi, and contains the largest forested floodplain in Tennessee. The river is home to hundreds of species of fish, including 11 species of catfish, and the alligator snapping turtle. The Hatchie River was named by the Nature Conservancy as one of the "great places" to save. The Hatchie is designated as a "scenic river" under the Tennessee Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.[18]
Climate
The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Brownsville has a humid subtropical climate, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.[19]
Climate data for Brownsville, Tennessee (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1895–present)
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 9,788 people, 4,001 households, and 2,428 families residing in the city.
2000 census
As of the census[3] of 2000, there were 10,748 people, 4,105 households, and 2,865 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,178.1 inhabitants per square mile (454.9/km2). There were 4,372 housing units at an average density of 479.2 per square mile (185.0/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 60.72% African American, 36.52% White, 0.14% Native American, 0.10% Asian, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 1.83% from other races, and 0.61% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.61% of the population.
There were 4,105 households, out of which 35.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.8% were married couples living together, 27.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.2% were non-families. 27.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.58 and the average family size was 3.11.
In the city, the population was spread out, with 29.5% under the age of 18, 10.4% from 18 to 24, 27.1% from 25 to 44, 19.4% from 45 to 64, and 13.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females, there were 80.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 73.3 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $27,276, and the median income for a family was $33,782. Males had a median income of $30,313 versus $22,030 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,217. About 18.0% of families and 21.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 26.3% of those under age 18 and 27.0% of those age 65 or over.
Yank Rachell, blues artist and mandolin player, was born in Brownsville in the early 1900s. He recorded, and toured in Europe and Japan. Shortly before his death in 1997, he returned to Brownsville to perform Jug Band recordings with John Sebastian and the J-Band.[26]
Contemporary music
In the song "Delta Dawn" (recorded by Helen Reddy, Tanya Tucker, and others), the lyric "All the folks around Brownsville say she's crazy," is a reference to Brownsville, Tennessee. Songwriter Alex Harvey and former child rockabilly star Larry Collins are credited with the song, which hit #1 for Helen Reddy in 1973.
Singer and actress Tina Turner was born at Brownsville's Haywood Memorial Hospital on November 26, 1939.[27][28] Her father was a farm overseer in Nutbush. As a child, she lived in the Knoxville area, Nutbush, Ripley, and Brownsville.[26][29]
^"Elbert Williams", Letter M. Mitchell to Walter White, NAACP, 1 July 1940, Letter from Mitchell to NAACP headquarters-tab, Civil Rights and Restorative Justice Clinic, Northeastern University School of Law, 2017
^"Station: Brownsville, TN". U.S. Climate Normals 2020: U.S. Monthly Climate Normals (1991-2020). National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved September 25, 2021.
Richard A. Couto, Lifting the Veil, A Political History of Struggles for Emancipation (Knoxville: The University of Tennessee Press, 1993)
Norris, Sharon (2000). Black America Series: Haywood County Tennessee. Mount Pleasant, SC: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN0-7385-0605-2.
Raye Springfield, The Legacy of Tamar, Courage and Faith in an African American Family (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2000)
Patricia Sullivan, Lift Every Voice, The NAACP and the Making of the Civil Rights Movement (New York: The New Press, 2009)
West, Carroll Van & Duncan Binnicker, Margaret (2004). A History of Tennessee Arts. Knoxville, TN: The University of Tennessee Press. ISBN1-57233-239-5.
