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Builders: Herman and George R. Brown

Name: Builders: Herman and George R. Brown
Author: Joseph A. Pratt, Christopher J. Castaneda
ISBN: 9780890968406

by Joseph A. Pratt, Christopher J. Castaneda

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Overview

Herman and George R. Brown, formidable figures in the construction industry and Texas politics, made a unique business team. Practical and decisive Herman, a builder by nature, and university trained, soft-spoken George, a natural salesperson, combined their individual strengths with their shared work ethic and ambition to develop Brown & Root, a company that began by building roads and grew into a diversified international construction company. Builders serves both as a history of their careers and as an examination of business life in mid-twentieth-century America. In addition to examining Herman and George Brown's business accomplishments, Joseph A. Pratt and Christopher J. Castaneda also address the political influence and antiunionism associated with the Brown name. The authors present a balanced account of both the Browns' treatment of workers and their longtime relationship with Lyndon Baines Johnson. Builders also traces the brothers' philanthropy, including the work of the Brown Foundation, through which George in particular contributed to the development of educational and cultural institutions. This biography is sure to interest students and enthusiasts of both business and Texas history.

Synopsis

The Brown brothers, formidable builders in construction and politics in Texas. Herman along with his brother-in-law founded Brown and Root.

About the Author, Joseph A. Pratt, Christopher J. Castaneda

Joseph A. Pratt is Cullen Professor of History and Business at the University of Houston and has written or coauthored six books of business history. Christopher J. Castaneda is assistant professor of history and director of the Oral History Program at California State University, Sacramento. Together they wrote From Texas to the East: A Strategic History of Texas Eastern Corporation, which Texas A&M University Press published in 1993.

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Editorials

Bruce E. Seely

"Thus the book illuminates the history of business and urban development in twentieth century Houston and central Texas as much as it does the lives of Herman and George Brown. In the end, this volume on the Browns is a balanced case study of the relationship of business, economic power, and urban development in twentieth-century America."—Bruce E. Seely, Journal of American History