Byrd Rowlett Brown was an activist, lawyer, and leader in the American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for improving life for Pittsburgh's African Americans and the poor through his long terms as president of the Pittsburgh Branch of the NAACP and his legal and civil work. He led a march on Duquesne Light to protest unfair hiring practices. This work resulted in the creation of training programs for African-Americans so that they could gain admission into trade unions. Byrd Brown used his education to promote equality rather than to gain wealth. "Pro bono was his middle name," said former NAACP president Harvey Adams. He ran for Congress in 1970 and mayor of Pittsburgh in 1989. Reverend J. Van Alfred Winsett III noted that despite struggling with racism, Brown "carried himself with dignity, never with hatred." Brown died at UPMC-Presbyterian hospital on May 3, 2001, from emphysema.