Computer History Museum | Derrick Brown Oral History @ComputerHistory | Uploaded June 2023 | Updated October 2024, 1 hour ago.
Interviewed by Charlton McIlwain and Marc Weber on 2022-12-20 in Marietta, GA
© Computer History Museum
Derrick Brown and his family grew up on an 80-acre farm in rural South Carolina. He first discovered computers at his school in 1982 using a remote mainframe was used to recommend career options for high school students. Although he wanted to be a writer, the system recommended a technical field, like electrical engineering, as well. His Mom bought an Apple IIe computer for him at home, an enormous expense for the family at that time but one which put in him the minority of residents in his neighborhood. Brown attended a summer program at Clemson University for bright rural students, which was a very formative experience. He decided to study electrical engineering there and graduated in December 1991.
For graduate school he went to Georgia Tech and was an important member of the Black Graduate Student Association (BGSA). At about the same time, he created, with Alou Macalou, the Universal Black Pages, a search engine and directory where all the reviews of sites would be written by real people. Later he would lead founding of Project CHIP, which put used computers into underserved communities. Brown now teaches geometry at the high school level.
* Note: Transcripts represent what was said in the interview. However, to enhance meaning or add clarification, interviewees have the opportunity to modify this text afterward. This may result in discrepancies between the transcript and the video. Please refer to the transcript for further information - computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102792804
Visit computerhistory.org/collections/oralhistories for more information about the Computer History Museum's Oral History Collection.
Catalog Number: 102792805
Acquisition Number: 2022.0176
Interviewed by Charlton McIlwain and Marc Weber on 2022-12-20 in Marietta, GA
© Computer History Museum
Derrick Brown and his family grew up on an 80-acre farm in rural South Carolina. He first discovered computers at his school in 1982 using a remote mainframe was used to recommend career options for high school students. Although he wanted to be a writer, the system recommended a technical field, like electrical engineering, as well. His Mom bought an Apple IIe computer for him at home, an enormous expense for the family at that time but one which put in him the minority of residents in his neighborhood. Brown attended a summer program at Clemson University for bright rural students, which was a very formative experience. He decided to study electrical engineering there and graduated in December 1991.
For graduate school he went to Georgia Tech and was an important member of the Black Graduate Student Association (BGSA). At about the same time, he created, with Alou Macalou, the Universal Black Pages, a search engine and directory where all the reviews of sites would be written by real people. Later he would lead founding of Project CHIP, which put used computers into underserved communities. Brown now teaches geometry at the high school level.
* Note: Transcripts represent what was said in the interview. However, to enhance meaning or add clarification, interviewees have the opportunity to modify this text afterward. This may result in discrepancies between the transcript and the video. Please refer to the transcript for further information - computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102792804
Visit computerhistory.org/collections/oralhistories for more information about the Computer History Museum's Oral History Collection.
Catalog Number: 102792805
Acquisition Number: 2022.0176
