UA Receives $1.9 Million Bequest from Former Tuscaloosa Civic Leader

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The University of Alabama has received a bequest of $1.9 million from the estate of long-time Tuscaloosa civic leader James Maxwell Brown, UA Interim President Barry Mason announced today.

The funds are designated for two endowments. Half will be used to establish the James Maxwell Brown Crimson Scholars Fund through the UA National Alumni Association. The remaining half will establish an endowment, the income from which will be used for needs determined by the UA president.

“Mr. Brown was a well known and much loved figure in the Tuscaloosa community for many, many years. He lived within blocks of the University campus for most of his life. We are most grateful for this generous gift and most appreciative of his loyal support for the University,” Mason said.

Pat Whetstone, director of alumni affairs at UA, said the James Maxwell Brown Crimson Scholars Fund will support full-tuition scholarships for highly qualified instate students.

“We are thrilled to have these new scholarships that will help us recruit some of the state’s best and brightest students,” Whetstone said.

Brown, a lifelong resident of Tuscaloosa, was self-employed in real estate and property appraising for most of his career. A 1928 graduate of the UA College of Commerce and Business Administration and a member of Phi Sigma Kappa social fraternity, Brown was active in alumni affairs. He was a founding member of the University’s Golden Fifties Club, an organization for alumni who graduated 50 or more years ago.

Brown was perhaps best known for chronicling local news and events as the editor of the Exchange Club’s newsletter, The Unitor, for some 55 years.

“Mr. Brown would gather news from coffee gatherings at local banks and print it in the newsletter every week. Much of the news was not well known — and some of it was gossip although he was careful to confirm it. Some people would join the Exchange Club just to get the newsletter,” said Butch Hughes, planned giving officer in UA’s Office of University Advancement.

Hughes said Brown was known for his wit. The newsletter regularly included jokes and Brown would lampoon fellow Exchange Club members with comic nicknames, Hughes said. The newsletters were recently donated to University.

Brown never married and lived with his sister, Marine L. Brown. He joined First Baptist Church in 1918 at the age of 14, and served more than 50 years as a deacon, 24 years as secretary to the Board of Deacons and 21 years as church clerk.

In addition to his 60 years of membership in the Exchange Club, Brown was also involved with the Junior Chamber of Commerce, the American Red Cross and other organizations. During World War II, he volunteered for the U.S. Marine Corps and served in the South Pacific. He died on Sept. 28, 2001, at the age of 97.