St. Elmo Brady was born in 1884 in Louisville, Kentucky, and named after the hero in the novel St. Elmo, a popular novel of the 19th century that had sales only second to Uncle Tom’s Cabin. His grandfather, Joseph Brady, was born into slavery in Maryland in 1816, but by the 1850 US Census, he was listed as Joseph, a 34-year-old freedman. Other relatives listed in future census report them as free.
St. Elmo received an early education at Central Colored High School and graduated in 1903. This high school was one of nine high schools for Blacks and the best one. In 1910, only 13.5% of those over 25 went on to college in 1904-1905 of any race. So, it was scarce when St. Elmo decided to continue his education at Fisk University. After graduating in 1908, Brady taught in the chemistry department at Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute (Tuskegee University). In 1913, Brady took a leave of absence from Tuskegee at 29 to attend graduate school at the University of Illinois and received his Master of Science in Chemistry in 1914. He continued at Illinois University for his PhD in two years, becoming the first Black to obtain a PhD in chemistry.
At this time, in 1916, Brady decided to return to Tuskegee to teach because of the strong impression that Booker T. Washington had made on him. Even though Washington died in 1915, Brady returned to Tuskegee to teach Black students even though the facility was, at the time, less equipped than other institutions. Brady wanted to give Black students a chance to work with a degreed professor and to show that success was not about the color of their skin. Throughout his career, he taught at four HBCUs: Fisk University, Howard University, Tuskegee, and Tougaloo College.
Brady went on to build chemistry curricula, faculty, programs, and facilities at these four significant HBCUs, where he and his colleagues mentored multiple generations of African-American chemists. St. Elmo Brady was a professional pioneer, role model, dedicated leader, and teacher who worked with Booker T. Washington and Dr. George Washington Carver. His life inspired all who had the privilege to meet him, and his legacy lives on because he addressed the underrepresented African Americans in the chemical industry.
St. Elmo Brady was a professional pioneer, role model, dedicated leader, and teacher who worked with Booker T. Washington and Dr. George Washington Carver. St. Elmo Brady died in Washington, DC, on Christmas Day 1966 at 82.