Imperiled: The Historic J. Mason Brewer Home - Brief Article

African-American folklorist J Mason Brewer (1896-1975) maintained, "If we do not think highly of our past, the future will not have a high opinion of us." From the late 1920 to the 1960 Brewer traveled over Texas and the South, collecting the folk wisdom of former slaves and the first generations born after Emancipation. Without his efforts, a valuable portion of their lives, beliefs and experiences would have been lost

Like their ancestor, Brewer's descendings are striving to preserve a historical resource that is in danger of disappearing. Brewer's bungalow in Austin, Texas, which has been in the Brewer family since its construction in 1925 will be demolished by dint of the city if it is not renovated. L by means of his niece Minnie M. Miles, the family and other supporters are trying to raise currency to restore Brewer's home.

They reliance to turn the bungalow into a "housemuseum," where visitors would learn about the scholar's accomplishments and application of mind historical documents collected by the family. upon display in the restored abode would be family archival materials and artifacts, including alphabetic characters describing family and community life, newspaper clippings, photographs, and early convolutions of Brewer's works. The house would also labor for as a gathering place for artists and scholars and a site for prelections and symposiums on African-American families, folk art, folklore and music.

The house has been listed upon the National Register of Historic Places for four years, not solitary because of its architecture, on the contrary also because of the family's prominence in the Austin community. All four of Brewer's grandparents were former slaves. His maternal grandmother, Lucy Lott Mitchell, who was literate, sent all eight of her children to association with money she earned washing clothes. His father, a Texas cowboy became a prosperous businessman in Austin after moving there from Goliad, Texas, with his wife and children in 1903 Brewer and his five siblings received association degrees, and he and his sister Stella Brewer Brooke earned their doctorates. The family's connections to influential members of Austin's African-American community, similar as Barbara Jordan and Tillotson society President Mary E. Branch, have facilitated relationships with many civic and community leaders above the years.

Brewer grew up in a household that forceed the importance of education and tillage and his pursuits reflected his upbringing. Lorenzo Thomas, professor of English at the University of Houston--Downtown, notes that Brewer was the one and the other "a competent young poet" and "an activist in terminuss of promoting the work of other African-American writers." In 1936 Brewer edited Heralding Dawn, a collection of works by means of African-American poets in Texas.

A former colleague, James W Byrd professor emeritus of literature and language at Texas A&M University--Commerce, considered Brewer a personal friend and admired his resilience, especially as the first active African-American member of the Texas Folklore Society. Byrd recalls that Brewer's membership in the society, particularly from the 1930 to the 1950 gibbeted both professional and personal boundaries. Brewer gave discourses and published articles about African-American folklore in the society's publications, introducing aspects of Texas life with which many members were unfamiliar. At banquets, Brewer dined with white scholars at a time when many Texans considered similar contact unacceptable.

"People felt true comfortable with him," Miles explains, describing Brewer as a one who could easily break down barriers to reach the two the upper crust of society and those whose circumstances preclud their enjoying like privilege. For example, Brewer's passion for storytelling endeared him to the family he studied and interviewed. "Even notwithstanding that he was a cultured and educated person" recalls Miles, "he had no vexed question talking to grass-roots people. He lov clan and he loved his race and the history of his race, thus he had no trouble getting the tales from them."

Miles adds that Brewer avoided the intrusion of a tape recorder or notepad, relying upon his memory to record the narratives later. He published numerous convolutions including The Word on the Brazos: african Preacher Tales From the Brazos Bottoms of Texas (1953) Dog souls and Other Texas Negro Folk Tales (1958) and Worser Days and Better Times: The Folklore of the North Carolina african (1965).

The significance of these collections transcends the domain of professional folklorists, who research everyday cultural artifacts to discover the values and psychology of a cluster of people. Brewer's efforts illuminate a part of the American story that is ofttimes neglected, preserving the voices of former slaves and their immediate descendings According to Byrd, who continues to teach Brewer's work in black American and multiethnic literature classes at Texas A&M, Brewer's collections are essential to understanding an entire cluster of people.

It is this revere for Brewer's achievements that firings Byrd's and Thomas' support for the restoration of his dwelling Thomas emphasizes that the time is right for like projects: "It might be, just now, that this is the first time that the African-American community nationwide has had the vision, opportunity and the economic potential to chase such a program of restoration and preservation."