Athlete – Baseball
John Will “Scoop” Brown was born March 16, 1922 to the late Anna Mae and Hiram Thurman Brown. The youngest of three children, two brothers preceded him in death, Hiram Brown (Beulah) and Harry Armstrong. He graduated from the original Paul Laurence Dunbar High School, where he was a stand-out in football, basketball and baseball (1938-1941). Brown earned All-State honors in Football. He attended Clark College in Atlanta on a basketball scholarship and graduated from the Bluegrass Business College in Lexington.
“Scoop” got his nickname for being a nimble first baseman as player/coach for the semi-pro Lexington Hustlers. He played against the likes of Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, and other legendary players in the Negro Baseball League. Mr. Brown was a basketball, football, and baseball official in the Kentucky High School Athletic Association, several black college conferences and the Ohio Valley Conference. He was thought to be the first black official in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA).
Mr. Brown was a member of the Historic Pleasant Green Missionary Baptist Church. He dedicated his life to serving the youth in the community as a supervisor with the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Parks and Recreation Department for more than 40 years. He was considered the “Father“ of the nationally acclaimed Dirt Bowl summer basketball league in Lexington. Mr. Brown coordinated and coached various programs, ranging from Small Fry baseball and football to tennis, dance, golf, and the “PushMobile Derby.” He supervised the operations of more than 10 parks, including the Charles Young Center, and, most important to his heart, Frederick Douglass Park. A coach and mentor to many African-American youth, he helped them begin their careers, hiring many into positions in the Parks and Recreation Department.
Brown was a member of the American Legion Post #132 and participated in several sports organizations, including the Midwest Officials Association. He was inducted into the Dawahares KHSAA Hall of Fame in 1994 and was honored in May 2010 when the city erected a street sign at the main entrance of Douglass Park named “Scoop Brown Way.”
His family, friends, and the community will forever remember Mr. John Will “Scoop” Brown’s legacy.
