Julia McLean Brossman, 90, passed away in the afternoon hours Monday, September 5, 2016, of natural causes in her Washington, DC residence. Born October 4, 1925, in Winston-Salem, NC, she was a daughter of the late Alex M. & Nell B. (Miller) McLean.  Friends and family called her by her nickname, Judy. She was the wife of the late Martin W. Brossman II, who died December 15, 2012. Judy and Marty loved to travel the world together, developing a special affinity for Egypt which inspired her extensive knowledge of Egyptian history. She was a lifelong advocate for voices that couldn’t be heard, standing up for civil rights injustices while majoring in Sociology at Woman’s College of the University of North Carolina in Greensboro. She was a catalyst for the introduction of child labor laws, and a champion of increased opportunities for women.   
Julia McLean Brossman was born on October 4, 1925 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. That same year that Julia was born, the Slater Normal and Industrial School would become Winston-Salem Teacher’s College and the first African American institution in the United States to grant degrees for teaching elementary students. No one knew then what an important role Julia McLean would play in the area of racial equality and social justice in future years.
Julia grew up during an eventful time in the world. There were the Roaring Twenties with Lindbergh crossing the Atlantic in 1927 followed by the Stock Market Crash in 1929 and the Great Depression of the 1930s. Nationally, during the 1930s, there was a new focus on foreign relations after Hitler come to power in 1933. That same year Prohibition was repealed. In 1938, when Julia Mclean was 13, the United States Housing Authority was established and the Fair Labor Standards Act was passed in Congress. 
As a teenager, Julia learned along with the rest of the world of Nazi Germany’s attack on Poland in September 1939 and thus the beginning of World War II. Because President Franklin Roosevelt was preparing Americans for what he considered the inevitability of war, he instigated the first peacetime draft in 1940. It was a solemn occasion when the United States actually entered World War II after the Japanese bombed the American fleet in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941 when Julia was in high school. 
After the bombing in Pearl Harbor, the world changed for all Americans. Young men went off to war and women taking over jobs and roles they previously never considered filling. Julia McLean had the personality and skills to adapt to this new world very well.
Julia was an excellent student. Everyone knew and expected Julia to attend college after graduating from high school in 1943. With her thirst for learning and new experiences, Julia was destined for important accomplishments. She chose to start her independent life at Woman’s College of the University of North Carolina in Greensboro in the fall of 1943. Woman’s College would later become the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNC-G).
That same year, African American workers at the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company in Winston-Salem, North Carolina held their first strike. This event led to the establishment of the Food, Tobacco and Agricultural Workers International Union, Local 22, which became a vehicle for civil rights activism.
Though Winston-Salem was only 30 miles or so from Greensboro, Woman’s College might as well have been a world away. There was no Interstate Highway System and automobiles were a luxury not the necessity they are today. Even communication by telephone was a challenge. No one had even dreamed of cell phones or the internet.
True to her religious upbringing in the Moravian church, Julia participated in the Young Christian Women’s Association (YWCA) all four years of college. Started in 1858, the YWCA has been at the forefront of movements such as the empowerment of women, the elimination of racism and representation for laborers throughout its history. Julia served on the YWCA Dance Committee during her Sophomore year and in the YWCA Cabinet for her Junior and Senior years.
During all four years of college, Julia McLean was involved in the International Relations Club serving as Program Chair in her Sophmore year, Vice President in her Junior Year and Corresponding Secretary in her Senior year. She also participated in Student Government during her Junior and Senior years.
World War II had a major impact on Greensboro, the home of Woman’s College, with the large petroleum tank farm and a variety of industries that helped to support the war efforts. Cone Mills Corporation and other textile companies manufactured military uniforms. Mock, Judson & Voehringer Hosiery Mill converted their operation to producing material for parachutes. J. D. Wilkins, Co. made parts for landing craft on which troops stormed beaches. The Intelligence community thought that Greensboro was an enemy target because of these industries, particularly the petroleum tank farm. At dusk, the streets became quiet and curtains were drawn to hide glowing lights. 
World War II came to an end in Europe on May 8, 1945 with Prime Minister Winston Churchill proclaiming victory when Adolf Hitler committed suicide. The United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan on August 6 and August 9, 1945. On August 10th, Hirohito, Japan’s Emperor, agreed to surrender. World War II ended for the entire world on August 15, 1945 as Julia McLean was heading back to Woman’s College for her Junior year. Julia participated in the Post War Action Commission during her Junior and Senior years.
Julia’s major in college was sociology. She was a member of the Sociology Club and Alpha Kappa Delta during her Junior and Senior years. In her Senior year, Julia served as President of Alpha Kappa Delta, the International Sociology Honor Society founded in 1920. Alpha Kappa Delta’s mission is “…to acknowledge and promote excellence in scholarship in the study of sociology, the research of social problems and such other social and intellectual activities that lead to improvement in the human condition.”
Perhaps the most impactful activity that Julia McLean participated in while in college was the Student Legislature. The North Carolina Student Legislature (NCSL), founded in 1937, is the oldest continuously active student legislature in the country. More than 5,000 students from more than 25 public and private universities, colleges, community colleges and technical schools from across North Carolina have participated in NCSL. Julia McLean is one of those 5,000. Notable alumni include Governor James B. Hunt, Jr., Governor James Holshouser, Senator Robert Morgan, Secretary of Labor John Brooks and Charlotte Mayor Eddie Knox. 
The Student Legislature groups meet regularly at their respective campuses during the year to prepare for statewide meetings, most notably the Annual Session. During this model General Assembly held in Raleigh, delegates present bills researched year-long to the NCSL body. Legislation that passes both houses at the Annual Session is signed by the Student Governor and presented to the North Carolina General Assembly and prominent state leaders each year for consideration. The impact of this group is impressive with more than 40% of the NCSL’s legislative ideas have been written into law.
Julia McLean participated in the State Student Legislature during her Sophomore, Junior and Senior years, serving as Secretary during her Junior year. Julia attended the 8thAnnual Session of the NCSL on November 17-18, 1944 in Raleigh, North Carolina. Twelve colleges and universities including Woman’s College participated that year. Jean Varentoni from Woman’s College was the Senate Clerk. Students spent the nights at State College (now called North Carolina State University or NCSU) and at the Church of the Good Shepherd. 
During the 8th Annual Session, bills that passed both Houses included:

·      An increase in teachers’ salaries.
·      Women to serve on juries in North Carolina.
·      State-supported socialization of medicine requiring one 60-bed hospital for each county.

Other bills that were introduced but did not pass both Houses include:

·     Prohibiting “closed shop” labor policies in North Carolina and opposition to the idea that union membership should not be allowed in certain industries.
·      “Deindustrializing” Germany after the war
·      Lowering the voting age to 18, a heavily debated issue.

A resolution was passed by both houses to provide “Adequate Medical Care for the People of North Carolina.” The News & Observer called the NCSL Student Assembly that year “the largest meeting of its kind in the nation.” Many of the state student legislatures across the country had fallen apart when the war started because they were largely dominated by men who later went off to war. Since its inception, the North Carolina Student Legislature always had large participation by women who helped the organization to continue and actually thrive during the war.

Julia McLean attended the 9th Annual Session of the NCSL on November 30 and December 1, 1945 in Raleigh. Seventeen colleges and universities participated including Woman’s College. Burnice Wesehier from Woman’s College was the House Clerk. While several issues of state-wide and nationwide appeal were discussed, few if any bills passed both Houses. However, this Session did not lack action or controversy. The delegation from Woman’s College introduced a resolution to abolish all Jim Crow laws in North Carolina; however the bill did not pass both Houses. 
The greatest controversy came from a Carolina (later to be known as the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill or UNC-CH) student, Buddy Glenn. He made a motion to invite black college students to the Tenth Annual Session the following year. The motion passed 110 to 48. Word of the motion spread quickly throughout Raleigh even eliciting Secretary of State Thad Eure to come speak to the group. He told them he was “fearful that you (the students) may be jeopardizing the beautiful picture toward which we (the state) are moving.” Eure stated that racial progress in North Carolina was “going splendidly,” and that the actions of the Student Legislature could endanger further progress. There were rumors that the Annual Sessions would end, that Carolina (UNC-CH) in particular would lose state appropriations and that the “name of Chapel Hill would be mud.”
During the following week, December 2-9, 1945, letters to the editor on both sides of the issue appeared in newspapers across the state. Most letters supported the students. A Clayton man wrote to the News & Observer, “The North Carolina Student Legislative Assembly has made a step forward by voting to accept and invite students from Negro colleges and universities…At long last it seems like educated people are beginning to grasp the true meaning of democracy.”
There was considerable and very vocal opposition to the integration issue suggesting that the Carolina students were either Communists or Northerners or both. UNC President, Frank Porter Graham, was prompted to release a statement in support of the students on December 9, 1945. “The overwhelming majority of the Carolina students attending the Student Legislature were from Eastern, Piedmont, and Western North Carolina. Even if all the votes of the Carolina students (which were not unanimous) had been excluded the votes of students from other colleges would have made a clear affirmative majority for the resolution on invitation…These students in large majority are serious minded and studious, with a high sense of sobriety, with a fine sense of decency, and a responsible sense of freedom.”
Following the controversy during the 9th Annual Session, the faculty founder withdrew putting the 10th Annual Session of the NCSL in jeopardy. However, the students rallied and took over the complete organization of the 10thAnnual Session. Only one previously active school, Wake Forest, refused to attend. 
The 10th Annual Session of the North Carolina Student Legislature took place on December 6-7, 1946 with Delegate Julia McLean in attendance. Twenty-one colleges and universities participated including Woman’s College and five historically black institutions. There were 27 black delegates in attendance including 13 in the House and 14 in the Senate. In fact, the Senate President Pro Tem was Eunice Tucker from St. Augustine’s College and the House Recording Clerk was Claudius Black, also from St. Augustine’s College.
The 10th Annual Session was very active with the consideration of 36 bills. The Session was scheduled to end at noon on Saturday, but continued until 3:00 p.m. because of the full agenda and lively debate. The following bills were passed by both Houses:

·      Establishment of two 4-year state medical schools, one for whites and one for Negroes (the bill originally was introduced by NC A & T University to create one school for both blacks and whites).
·      Establishment of a world government.
·      Flat 30% increase in salary for all public school instructors.
·      Requirement for each child between 6 and 18 be required to attend school for a nine month period each year, beginning in September (This bill was introduced by the delegation from St. Augustine’s College).
·      Abolishment of capital punishment in the state for persons under age 18.
·      Increase of the minimum wage to 65 cents per hour.

The delegation from Woman’s College introduced two bills, neither of which passed both Houses:
·      A mandate for the State to provide $1.00 per day for all indigent patients, amounting to $500,000 annually. The appropriation of $9 million to Woman’s College for “immediate and future needs.”
Other bills that were introduced but did not pass both Houses included:

·      Free health examinations to all North Carolina citizens annually.
·      Make “closed shops” illegal in North Carolina.
·      Establishment of a domestic relations department in state government to consider problems in domestic relations of North Carolina residents and to aid them in finding solutions to the problems.
·      Provision of at least one social worker per county.
·      Repeal of the state sales tax.

A unanimous resolution came from the 10th Annual Session presenting “convincing evidence that the races can effectively cooperate.” 
In the Spring of 1947, Julia McLean graduated from Woman’s College with an A. B. in Sociology making the Dean’s List in her Junior and Senior years. There’s no doubt that Julia was influenced by the times she grew up in. Her college years were filled with activities related to the racial equality and social justice.
During 1946 while still in college, she co-wrote a publication, “State Child-Labor Standards: Child-Labor Serious No. 2” that was published by the U.S. Department of Labor, Division of Labor Standards. 
Following college, Julia McLean wrote the “State Child-Labor Standards,” published in 1953 by the U. S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Standards in Washington, DC. She also co-wrote two other publications that were published by the same agency:

·      “State Child-Labor Standards: A State-By-State Summary of Laws Affecting the Employment of Minors Under 18 Years of Age,” published in 1953.
·      “Hazardous Employment Prohibited for Minors under State Child-Labor Laws, Volumes 205-211,” published in 1959.

All three of these books are still available today on the internet as Google Books or at the Open Library.
While the steps that were taken by Julia McLean and the other students involved with the North Carolina Student Legislature during those pivotal years in 1945 and 1946 were only part of a larger movement involving many other people, they played a key role in the civil rights movement. College students from around the state had the courage to stand up for their fellow black students and welcome them to their organization. The publicity they received for taking such action was state-wide. These students including Julia McLean were courageous in helping to provide a voice to others and giving confidence to other college students that they could actually make a difference in the area of racial equality. 
It would take 14 more years before that important day on February 1, 1960 when four black college students from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College sat down at an all-white Woolworth’s lunch counter and refused to leave after they were denied service. The four students purchased small items in other parts of the store and kept their receipts, then sat down at the lunch counter and asked to be served. After being denied service, they produced their receipts and asked why their money was good everywhere else at the store, but not at the lunch counter. Hundreds of others soon joined in this sit-in, which lasted several months. Such protests quickly spread across the South, ultimately leading to the desegregation of Woolworth's and other chains.

Other things my Mother loved include:

World Travel
Research
Studying Architect
Political discussions 
Creating Moravian Putz each Christmas for visitor to see in the fireplace coming out of into the living room. Was spectacular. 

More to come about the writing of the book on Paper-folding with my Father, Martin W. Brossman II: 
A Japanese paper-folding classic : excerpt from the "lost" Kan no mado. 
Link to the reprint of the book.
Video of my Mother and her brother Ed McLean in 2008 talking about growing up.

And a few more stories

My Mother and her Brother - on becoming Moravians 
Thanks to those that helped research and write this and if you have other information or corrections please let me know. Martin AT CoachingSupport DOT com (write out to reduce spam) or call me at 919-847-4757
- Martin W. Brossman III
Also info on my late Father Martin W. Brossman II.
She carried forward her passion in her career as Research Analyst for the Dept. of Labor. Judy is survived by her son, Martin W. Brossman III, husband of Barbara Carr Brossman, Raleigh, NC. She was predeceased by her siblings: Edgar A. McLean, Oxon Hill, MD and Mary Smith, Shelby, NC. Funeral Services Saturday, September 10, 2016, at 2 PM, from the Mull Funeral Home, 27 E. High St., Womelsdorf, with Ronald E Rice, officiating.  Burial will follow in Womelsdorf Union Cemetery.  Relatives and friends may call Saturday, from 1 PM until time of service at the funeral home.

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