and in the decades that followed, Brown continued to publish fiction and non-fiction books, securing his reputation as one of the most prolific African-American writers of his time. He also helped recruit blacks to fight for the Union in the Civil War. He introduced Robert John Simmons from Bermuda to the abolitionist Francis George Shaw, father of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, the commanding officer of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment. While continuing to write, Brown was active in the Temperance movement as a lecturer. After studying homeopathic medicine, he opened a medical practice in Boston's South End while keeping a residence in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 1882 he moved to the nearby city of Chelsea. William Wells Brown died on November 6, 1884, in Chelsea, Massachusetts, at the age of 70. Legacy and honors He is the first African American to publish a novel with Clotel, or, The President's Daughter: a Narrative of Slave Life in the United States, in 1853 in London (Harriet Wilson's Our Nig, published in 1859, is the first novel published by an African American in the United States). An elementary school in Lexington, Kentucky, where he spent his early years, is named after him. He was among the first writers inducted to the Kentucky Writers Hall of Fame. A historic marker marks the approximate location of his home in Buffalo Wells' portrait by Buffalo, N.Y.-based artist Edreys Wajed is one of 28 civil rights icons depicted on the Freedom Wall, commissioned by the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, completed in September 2017. Writings Narrative of William W. Brown, a Fugitive Slave. Written by Himself, Boston: The Anti-slavery office, 1847. Narrative of William W. Brown, an American Slave. Written by Himself, London: C. Gilpin, 1849. Three Years in Europe: Or, Places I Have Seen and People I Have Met. London: Charles Gilpin, 1852. Brown, William Wells (1815–1884). Three Years in Europe, or Places I Have Seen and People I Have Met. with a Memoir of the author. 1852. William Wells Brown, CLOTEL; or the President's Daughter (1853), An Electronic Scholarly Edition, edited by Professor Christopher Mulvey The American Fugitive in Europe. Sketches of Places and People Abroad. Boston: John P. Jewett, 1855. The Black Man: His Antecedents, His Genius, and His Achievements. New York: Thomas Hamilton; Boston: R.F. Wallcut, 1863. The Rising Son, or The Antecedents and Advancements of the Colored Race. Boston: A. G. Brown & Co.,