Pictured is a signed 1965 photo of Clarence J. Brown Jr. that he gave to John Evans of Mechanicsburg, who would later serve as manager of the Ohio State Fair, thanking him for helping with his campaign for Congress. The photo is in the Champaign County Historical Society archives.
Submitted photo
Submitted story
The life and public service of the late Clarence J. “Bud” Brown Jr., who served from 1965 to 1983 as U.S. Representative for the 7th District of Ohio, including Champaign County, will be the focus of his son Roy Brown’s Sept. 22 presentation at the Champaign County Historical Society Museum.
The program, at 2 p.m., is free and open to the public.
Bud Brown was elected to Congress, by special election, in 1965 to fill the vacancy left by the death of his father, Clarence Brown Sr., who had represented the 7th District since 1939.
Bud Brown was reelected to eight terms in the House of Representatives before serving as the United States Deputy Secretary of Commerce and Acting Secretary of Commerce in the Reagan administration from 1983 to 1988. He also served as president and chief executive officer of the United States Capitol Historical Society from 1992 to 1999.
In his presentation, Roy Brown will speak on his father’s key legislative concerns. His father and grandfather were both focused on promoting limited government, small town interests and civil rights (Clarence Brown Sr. helped pass the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965). Roy Brown will also talk about his father’s commitment to bipartisanship, working across the aisle to pass legislation in Congress.
In the family business, Brown Publishing Company, started by his father in 1920, Bud Brown served as president from 1965 to 1976, and later as chairman of the board. Brown Publishing published many daily and weekly newspapers, including the Urbana Daily Citizen.
Brown and his wife, Joyce Eldridge Brown, who made their home in Urbana, were active in supporting the local community.
He died in 2022 at age 94, and she continues to live in Urbana.
About the Champaign County Historical Society
The museum collects, preserves, and interprets artifacts, documents, and other resources from Champaign County to educate current and future generations about our history.
The museum has been located at 809 East Lawn Ave., Urbana, since 1972. Originally established in 1934, the museum first housed its collection at the former location of the Champaign County Library on West Market Street, and then moved to the Nutwood Barn, south of Grimes Field on North Main Street.
The Historical Society is open to the public 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.
Submitted by CCHS
