John Brother Cade, a native of Elberton, Georgia, served at Southern University for 23 years. Born in Dansburg, Georgia, on October 19, 1894, he was the second of six children of a family of three boys and three girls born to William and Francis Cade. Between 1896 and 1900, the family moved from Wilkes County in Dansburg, Georgia, to Elbert County, Elberton, Georgia. There, Cade began his early school training in St. Paul C. M. E Church. Upon finishing grade school, he went to Knox Institute and Industrial School in Athens, Georgia, graduating in 1915.
In October 1915, he entered Atlanta University but volunteered for Military Service in the 17th Provisional Training Camp at Des Moines, Iowa, in June 1917. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Infantry and was assigned to Camp Dodge, Iowa, with Company F, 366th Infantry. He served overseas from June 15, 1918, until February 22, 1919, and was honorably discharged on March 31, 1919. He was in France when World War I ended. His book, Twenty-Two Months with Uncle Sam, chronicles his experiences in the military.
Cade returned to Atlanta University and completed work for his B.A. degree in 1921. His teaching career began at Paine College in Augusta, Georgia. There, he met and married Jessie Mae Maben on June 4, 1923. A daughter, Jessie Lola, now deceased, was born in 1924.
In 1928, Cade was awarded a master's degree at the University of Chicago with a major in history. During the summer of 1929, he came to the Southern University Laboratory School, where he became its first principal. Interrupting his tenure at Southern University in 1930, Dean Cade moved to Prairie View, Texas. From 1931 to 1939, he was the Director of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Prairie View College. There, a son, John B. Cade, Jr., was born on June 18, 1932.
Cade returned to Southern University in 1939 and served as University Dean and Director of Extension Services until his retirement in 1961. While at Southern, he wrote three more books: By Their Fruits, A Man Christened Josiah Clark (a biography of Dr. Joseph S. Clark, who is recognized as the founder of Southern University), and Holsey: The Incomparable; He has one grandson, James Kenneth Washington, and two granddaughters, Jeanne Cherise Cade Story and Patti Michelle Cade Jones.
After retirement, he established this campus's Archives of Black Louisiana History. His long and valuable life ended at age 75 on January 31, 1970. He was listed in Who is Who in Negro America, a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, and Post 502 of the American Legion. The library was named in his honor at the library dedication ceremony on October 8, 1987.