NEW ORLEANS — Brown park in New Orleans East is well-known, but what about Joe Brown the man?
"Unless people do the research, you do not know that information," points out NORD CEO Larry Barabino Jr.
We turned to Barabiono for answers, and even he had to do some research.
"Joe Brown was a rich oil tycoon shall we say. He owned racehorses. He owned a lot of property. He was a developer," Barabino said.
Joe Brown was born in Texas in 1897, relocated to Louisiana in the 1920s, and passed away on February 15, 1959.
It wasn't until after his death that the park came to be named after him.
"His wife, Dorothy Dorsett Brown, got with the city, and they did a land acquisition where they swapped properties. In the process of swapping a lot of the properties, they donated some with the request that the property be named after her late husband, Joe W. Brown," said Barabino.
The city of New Orleans acquired the land that would become Joe Brown Park in a land exchange with Joe Brown's wife Dorothy in 1962.
A document from 197 makes clear that a condition of the deal was that a portion of the land be a public park, designated as Joe W. Brown memorial park.
More than 160 acres of land were exchanged., and 64 acres of that is Joe W. Brown Park; the Nature Center, a library, a fire station, and a police station sit on the rest of that land.
While the park was the inspiration to find out more about Joe Brown, it turns out that Joe Brown's legacy goes beyond the park. There is actually a Joe W. and Dorothy Dorsett Brown Foundation.
The office is out in Metairie. The foundation did not want to be interviewed for the story, but according to the website, the foundation contributes to the betterment of communities, alleviating human suffering, and supporting educational initiatives
Most of the couples' charitable acts were anonymous. Joe W. Brown Park is one of the rare exceptions.
While Joe Brown's legacy may not be well known, the benefits that he left to the community are undeniable.
"I always have to tell those in New Orleans East, this complex is not just a jewel for New Orleans East, but it's the jewel of NORD," said Barabino.
