Calvin Scott Brown was born on March 23, 1859, in Salisbury, North Carolina. A graduate of Shaw University, Brown was an educator and minister. During World War I, he promoted Liberty Bonds in support of the American war effort. For fifty-two years he was principal of Chowan Academy, a school he founded in 1885 to serve the needs of African American students in Hertford County and the surrounding areas. Brown died in Winton, North Carolina on September 9, 1936.