John Nicholas Brown Gate

The John Nicholas Brown Gate on George Street close to the John Carter Brown Library was a gift of the widow of John Nicholas Brown by whose bequest the John Carter Brown Library was built. On December 9, 1903, her son, four-year-old John Nicholas Brown (later Secretary of the Brown Corporation), dressed in a coat of white fur, with a large white hat and golden curls, took part in the cornerstone laying with a trowel of ivory and silver and added much to the spirit of the occasion by spontaneously turning to the students, shouting “Rah, rah, rah, Brown!” The gate was opened for the first time to admit the procession at the dedication of the John Carter Brown Library on May 17, 1904.