Brandon Family papers

Golden Brandon was born in Union, South Carolina in 1885. His wife Abbie was born a year later in the same town. The two were married in 1905 and had eight children together, the two oldest not surviving infancy. The surviving children were: Abbie Johnson, Evelyn Brandon, Julia Brandon, Phyllis Thompson, Donald G. Brandon, and Robert A. Brandon. Their daughter Evelyn Brandon was born in 1917 in South Carolina. She came to Rochester, New York in 1921 with her family. She studied at Howard University and The University of Chicago in 1938 and 1939. She organized the Howard University Mothers Club in 1939. She was the first African American full time teacher at the Rochester Institute of Technology, teaching Phychology from 1966-1985. She also became the first African American woman president of the Board of Trustees of the Rochester Public Library in 1976. Evelyn was involved in many associations and continued to remain active until her passing in 1995. Her sister Julia Brandon was also born in South Carolina in 1919. Relocating to Rochester New York with her family in 1921. She also graduated from Howard University in 1942 and continued to study at: Atlanta Univeristy, Cornell, Yale, and the Rochester Institute of Technology. Julia taught in public schools in Alabama and North Carolina. Julia passed away in 1982. She had one daughter, Nancy E. Brandon (who later married to be Nancy Scott). She is also survived by her grandson Gregory O. Brandon.