John Quinn Brisben (September 6, 1934 – April 17, 2012) was an American teacher, author, and political activist from Chicago, Illinois. Brisben was on the Socialist Party USA's presidential ticket twice. He was the party's vice-presidential nominee in 1976 alongside former Milwaukee mayor Frank P. Zeidler. In 1992, he returned to SPUSA's ticket when he ran as a candidate for president of the United States. Background John Quinn Brisben was born September 6, 1934, to Olive and John Brisben of Enid, Oklahoma. He grew up during the Dust Bowl era with his brother, Joseph, matriculating through Enid Public Schools and graduating Enid High School in 1952. While in Enid he worked for the Enid News & Eagle and radio station KCRC. He also studied at Phillips University. He met Andrea Rosaaen, a needlepoint artist, while studying at the University of Oklahoma. He graduated from the College of Arts and Sciences in 1955, and she from the College of Fine Arts in 1954. They married in 1955 and then lived for some time in Madison, Wisconsin while he studied for his graduate degree at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He was an agnostic. Teaching career J. Quinn Brisben taught history and social studies for 32 years at the high school and middle school level, including briefly in Gurnee, Illinois before relocating to Chicago, where he taught at Mason Upper Grade Center, Thomas Kelly High School and Harlan High until his retirement in 1990. He served several terms as a representative in the American Federation of Teachers, Local 1, and frequently served on strike committees. He received several teaching awards, including being named Teacher of the Year by Teachers for Integrated Schools in 1964. Activism J. Quinn Brisben was active as an ally in many social movements during his lifetime, beginning with the Civil Rights Movement. Brisben took part in the Mississippi Freedom Summer of 1964—where he was briefly jailed—and in several Southern Christian Leadership Conference-sponsored activities in Alabama from 1965 to 1967. As a student at the University of Oklahoma in the 1950s, Brisben was once physically attacked for being the first white member of the local NAACP chapter. He was active in the anti-Vietnam War movement and served as a boycott captain for the United Farm Workers. In July 1990, he and Andrea helped smuggle 3,000 condoms donated by ACT-UP Chicago to the Moscow Lesbian and Gay Union. Around the time