Harriet Elizabeth Brown (sometimes called "Libby") (February 10, 1907[1] — January 1, 2009[2]) was a Calvert County school teacher who pushed for equal pay, regardless of race, in Maryland education.
With the help of NAACP attorney Thurgood Marshall, Brown sued the Calvert County Board of Education in 1937.
Calvert County settled on December 27, 1937, and agreed to equalize pay.
[3] Brown's suit followed a 1936 lawsuit brought by Marshall and the NAACP on behalf of Montgomery County Public Schools principal William B. Gibbs Jr. Montgomery County's school board settled that case as well, and agreed to equalize teacher pay regardless of race.
[5] Brown began working in Calvert County Public Schools in 1931.