Brooklyn Center leaders are confronting allegations that favorite son Earle Brown belonged to the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s, and they may soon opt to separate the city from a name that adorns many of its most prominent buildings.
Even the city’s summer festival, Earle Brown Days, honors the man who served as Hennepin County sheriff, helped found the Minnesota State Patrol and unsuccessfully ran for governor in 1932.
But at a City Council work session last week, members expressed concern about information on Brown in “The Ku Klux Klan in Minnesota,” a book published in 2013 by Minneapolis high school teacher Elizabeth Dorsey Hatle. They’re weighing name changes for the Earle Brown Heritage Center, Earle Brown Drive and Earle Brown Days. Continue reading.