People who are born with a mission are always a little breathtaking. Their clarity on the purpose of their life and their ability to focus often makes them achieve prominence at an early age.

Dr. Charlotte Hawkins Brown was such a person.  She founded the Palmer Institute in 1902 at age 19. The mission of the institute was to educate black students in elementary and high school in rural North Carolina, and she had a phenomenal reputation. We’ve talked about the Palmer Institute once before.

Some people who rise to the top professionally have an undeveloped personal life, for lack of a better expression. This is often the case with people whose work involves helping others.  Perhaps they see anything outside their mission as a distraction. A woman like Charlotte seems to fit that profile but I’m very glad to say she was not.

She married Edward Brown in Sedalia, North Carolina on March 26, 1905. She would have been about 22 years old. I haven’t been able to uncover much information about him, and I suspect she would prefer to keep her private life private. One small surviving memento is Charlotte’s wedding portrait.

North Carolina State Library

Do you know, I love that she didn’t remove her glasses for the photograph. I would have, if it had been my portrait, but there’s something about her wearing them that I find oddly touching.