First Professional Black Artist
First Professional Black Artist in Pacific Northwest is from Harrisburg, PA
In 1858, at the height of the Gold Rush, a Black teenager left Harrisburg, his hometown, and became the “first professional Black artist in the Pacific North West” His name was Grafton Tyler Brown (BC Black History Awareness Society).
Passing For White…?
Grafton was born on February 22, 1841, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to Black abolitionists, Wilhelmina (Tyler) and Thomas Brown.
One of his younger brothers, Cassius Maddigan Brown (who is buried in Lincoln Cemetery), “served in the brigade defending Harrisburg from Confederate forces in the invasion of 1863, co-published a weekly Black Newspaper, Our National Progress with William Howard Day, and worked to build the foundational organizations that defined the need for Equal Rights in the United States (Jackson et al., 2020, p. 52).
At the age of 18, Grafton Tyler Brown moved to California, on his own. “At the same time that Archy Lee, a young enslaved Black man who had been brought to California from the South, was waging a legal battle for his freedom” (Kaplan, 2021).
Although California was technically a “free” state, at the time of Brown’s arrival in San Francisco, in 1858, “nearly 800 free Blacks left the oppressive racial conditions of San Francisco for a new life on Vancouver Island” (BC Black History Awareness Society).
This is the Earliest Known Photo of Grafton Taylor Brown
According to the description of his biography (on Amazon.com):
Grafton Tyler Brown―whose heritage was likely one-eighth African American―finessed his way through San Francisco society by passing for white. Working in an environment hostile to African American achievement, Brown became a successful commercial artist and businessman in the rough-and-tumble gold rush era and the years after the Civil War. Best known for his bird’s-eye cityscapes, he also produced and published maps, charts, and business documents, and he illustrated books, sheet music, advertisements, and labels for cans and other packaging.
Chandler, Robert (2014). San Francisco lithographer: African American artist Grafton Tyler Brown. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press. pp. 113–150. ISBN 978-0-8061-4410-8.
Grafton Tyler Brown was a hotel steward, porter, and entrepreneur. He was an artist: a painter, lithographer, cartographer, and graphic designer. He was a bold and ingenious pioneer who made an indelible mark on American History that refuses to be forgotten.
As a lithographer, he and his small team produced not only bird’s-eye view panoramic maps but also mining stock certificates and advertisements that won Brown great acclaim. In the 1880s, Brown shifted his focus from lithography to painting, producing popular oil paintings of mountainous Pacific Northwest landscapes, including Mount Rainier, Mount Hood, and Yellowstone National Park (St. Onge, 2017).
Trailblazing 19th Century Black Cartographer Grafton Tyler Brown: artist, craftsman, communicator, documentarian, entrepreneur, and pioneer (February 22, 1841 – March 2, 1918)
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. “Virginia City, Nevada Territory, 1861 / Drawn from Nature by Grafton T. Brown ; C.C. Kuchel, Lith.” Image. Accessed October 16, 2022. https://www.loc.gov/item/96511984/.
Palmer Museum of Art Acquires Rare and Important Work by Grafton Tyler Brown
Grafton Tyler Brown, “Hot Springs at Yellowstone,” 1889, oil on canvas, 16 x 24 inches. Purchased with funds from the Terra Art Enrichment Fund, Palmer Museum of Art, 2020. Credit: Penn State. Creative Commons
Explore Exhibits of Grafton Tyler Brown’s Art and Learn More About His Life:
Harrisburg Telegraph. “Amanda Gray & Cassius Brown Celebrate 50th Anniversary 1915.” October 4, 1915. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84264007/amanda-gray-cassius-brown-celebrate/.
BC Black History Awareness Society. “An Event of National Historic Significance.” Historical. Accessed October 16, 2022. https://bcblackhistory.ca/an-event-of-national-historic-significance/.
———. “Grafton Tyler Brown: 1st Professional Black Artist in the Pacific North West.” Historical. BC Black History Awareness Society (blog). Accessed October 16, 2022. https://bcblackhistory.ca/grafton-tyler-brown/.
“Cassius M Brown Sr. (1844-1921) – Find a Grave…” Accessed October 17, 2022. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/231287114/cassius-m-brown.
“Grafton Tyler Brown.” In Wikipedia, September 10, 2022. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Grafton_Tyler_Brown&oldid=1109486546.
Grafton Tyler Brown. “Virginia City, Nevada Territory, 1861 / Drawn from Nature by Grafton T. Brown ;” Image. Virginia City, Nevada: C.C. Kuchel, lith., 1861. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA dcu. https://www.loc.gov/item/96511984/.
Jackson Jr., Calobe, Katie Wingert McArdle, and David Pettegrew, eds. One Hundred Voices: Harrisburg’s Historic African American Community, 1850-1920. The Digital Press at the University of North Dakota, 2020. https://doi.org/10.31356/dpb017.
Kaplan, Frances. “Grafton Tyler Brown and the Art of Lithography.” California Historical Society, March 8, 2021. https://californiahistoricalsociety.org/blog/grafton-tyler-brown-and-the-art-of-lithography/.
Penn State University. “Palmer Museum of Art Acquires Rare and Important Work by Grafton Tyler Brown.” Accessed October 17, 2022. https://www.psu.edu/news/arts-and-entertainment/story/palmer-museum-art-acquires-rare-and-important-work-grafton-tyler-brown/.
St. Onge, Tim. “Grafton Tyler Brown, Trailblazing Cartographer of the American West | Worlds Revealed: Geography & Maps at The Library Of Congress.” Webpage, June 28, 2017. //blogs.loc.gov/maps/2017/06/grafton-tyler-brown-trailblazing-cartographer-of-the-american-west/.
Unknown. “Blacks in the Westward Movement,” Anacostia Neighborhood Museum, n.d.
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. “Virginia City, Nevada Territory, 1861 / Drawn from Nature by Grafton T. Brown ; C.C. Kuchel, Lith.” Image. Accessed October 16, 2022. https://www.loc.gov/item/96511984/.
