Samuel Browne

Born on April 11, 1908, Browne was one of the first black teachers in the Los Angeles secondary school system. Browne was an accomplished pianist, organist and choir director who was educated in the same South-Central area of Los Angeles where he would one day teach. In 1936 he integrated the all-white faculty at his alma mater, Jefferson High School where he stayed until 1961, when he transferred to the new Palisades High School. He was a mentor to such famous jazz figures as Dexter Gordon, O.C. Smith, Chico Hamilton, Buddy Collette, Horace Tapscott and Art Farmer and a musical figure in his own right for many years. He tutored Horace Tapscott, Sonny Criss, Dexter Gordon, and Don Cherry at L.A.'s Jefferson High School. He retired in 1973 and died on November 15, 1991.