John Henry Brown (October 29, 1820 – May 31, 1895) was an American journalist, military leader, author, politician, and historian, who served as a state legislator and as mayor of both Galveston (1856) and Dallas, Texas (1885–1887).

His writing and speeches, particularly in the antebellum years, expressed considerable racism and discrimination against African Americans, most of whom in Texas gained freedom only after the Civil War and emancipation.

At age 17, Brown moved to the recently established Republic of Texas and soon was working for a newspaper in Austin.

As the Civil War approached, Brown was selected in 1861 to chair the committee that prepared Texas's articles of secession.

Beginning service in the Confederate States Army as a private, he rose to the rank of major, serving on the staff of Brig.

"[citation needed] Brown's papers are preserved in the Texas Hall of State in Dallas's Fair Park.

During the 1950s the demographics of the school's neighborhood changed from early generations of European Americans and Jewish immigrants; it became primarily African-American.

Meanwhile, community resentment grew as local residents learned about Brown's racist rhetoric, as illustrated in these excerpts from Michael Phillips, White Metropolis: Race, Ethnicity, and Religion in Dallas, 1841-2001 (2006): While Brown's racist writing may have been typical of opinions of antebellum white slaveholders, local Dallas residents objected to their children having to attend a school that honored such a man.