The collection is comprised of three reporter’s notebooks, provided by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch to staff, and papers torn from a similar notebook filled with notes taken by reporter Lisa Brown relating to the aftermath of the fatal shooting of unarmed Michael Brown, Jr. by a Ferguson, Missouri, police officer on 9 August 2014. The notebooks date from August to December 2014 and 9 August 2015. One notebook, dated 24 November 2014, is available as a digital resource only. It includes Brown’s notes on the Robert McCulloch press conference revealing the grand jury’s decision not to indict the police officer who shot Michael Brown and the reactions in Ferguson to the decision.

Lisa Brown spoke with people in the Ferguson community, those who lived there as well as those who traveled to Ferguson, including Rev. Jesse Jackson. Brown also spoke with store owners who reopened their stores or who were victims of property damage. She later spoke with Cornell William Brooks, NAACP president, and others who marched 135 miles from Ferguson to the Missouri Capitol in Jefferson City known as the Journey for Justice. On 9 August 2015, Brown attended the ceremony marking the anniversary of Michael Brown’s death.

Please also see Four Months in Ferguson by Lisa Brown (MHS Library).