school until her retirement in 1952. In addition to her work at the Palmer Institute, Brown was active in national efforts to improve opportunities for African Americans, including the Southern Commission for Interracial Cooperation and the Negro Business League. She was the first African American woman named to the national board of the YWCA. She was an honorary member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. Legacy Brown's papers are at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University. The restored campus buildings of the Palmer Memorial Institute are now the Charlotte Hawkins Brown Museum, which links Brown and Palmer Memorial Institute to the larger themes of African American women, education, and social history, with an emphasis on the contributions made by African American citizens to education in North Carolina. The museum's visitor center is located in the Carrie M. Stone Teachers' Cottage (1948), and features exhibits about Brown, the Institute and African American education in North Carolina. Visitors can tour Brown's residence, known as Canary Cottage, which has been furnished to reflect the 1940s and 1950s, when the school was at its peak. Several dormitories, the dining hall, bell tower, teahouse and several teachers' cottages can also be seen. Brown's brother, Mingo, was the father of jazz singer Maria Hawkins Cole, who became the wife of musician Nat King Cole and the mother of singer Natalie Cole and actress Carole Cole. References Further reading External links Charlotte Hawkins Brown Museum Charlotte Hawkins Brown Papers Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University. 1883 births 1961 deaths People from Henderson, North Carolina African-American academics 20th-century American educators People from Cambridge, Massachusetts Academics from North Carolina African-American women academics American women academics 20th-century American women educators 20th-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American educators