Sherry Tucker Brown\u2019s family roots run deep in New York, and also in a familiar brand of alcoholic spirits.<\/p>\n
Her grandmother, Francis Dewar Tucker, who was born in Montego Bay, Jamaica, was the daughter of John Dewar 2nd, the son of John Dewar, founder of Dewar Scotch Whiskey.
\nThere is no known official record of Black family members who are descendants of the Dewar dynasty, but Brown says she is acquainted with numerous Black Dewar descendants in Jamaica.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have met Black Dewars in Jamaica, and there are still Black and white Dewars who live in Jamaica,\u201d said Brown who turned 80 in January. Her grandmother, Brown says, was sent with her sister to New York, but they had other family members who could pass for white, and were sent to Scotland. However, none of her family shared in the Dewar family inheritance. She said her whole family in New York grew up knowing this family history and a rule was instilled that no Dewar Whiskey was not allowed in their home. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat was really the story of the United States,\u201d she said. \u201cI wasn\u2019t getting any of the money, so why was I supporting them?\u201d<\/p>\n
Even without the inheritance, the family made a prominent name for themselves. \u201cAlthough we didn\u2019t inherit the Scotch whiskey money, the family, the Tuckers still did very well and did very well by their children and their children\u2019s children,\u201d said Brown.<\/p>\n
Sherry\u2019s Uncle, Alfred Tucker, a World War I veteran became the eighth Black Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in America, and the second Black CPA in New York City, working in an office on Lenox Avenue and 125th Street. He later went on to work as an accountant and field auditor at the New York State Transit Commission.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo matter what was going on in the United States then, I mean the total segregation, he still went to law school and he graduated from Colombia [as] a CPA.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brown, the youngest daughter of five girls, all born in the Bronx, attended the historically Black University Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio. She later went to work for the New York Urban League Street Academy and also for the City of New York as a counseling department manager for a vocational training program located in what is now the Theresa Towers on 125th Street.<\/p>\n
\nShe is now co-principal of The Tucker Brown Group, a Cape Cod based consulting firm.<\/p>\n
Brown was excited about sharing her family\u2019s story and wanted to let people know of her family\u2019s contributions to the fabric of New York and Harlem. Despite her family not inheriting anything from the Dewars, she said they did build a name for themselves and helped to enrich their communities.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s actually a part of African American history. Some of us know where we came from and some of us don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
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