Collections A-Z @ Brown University Library

COLLECTIONS A-Z

Thomas Nast. Civil War Scrapbook. 1861 - 1866

American History Collections

Anne S.K. Brown Military Collection
The Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection is the foremost American collection of material devoted to the history and iconography of soldiers and soldiering, and is one of the world's largest collections devoted to the study of military and naval uniforms. It was formed over a period of forty years by the late Mrs. John Nicholas Brown (1906-1985) of Providence and is still growing. It contains approximately 12,000 printed books, 18,000 albums, sketchbooks, scrapbooks and portfolios, (containing thousands of prints and drawings), and over 13,000 individual prints, drawings and water-colors as well as a collection of 5,000 miniature lead soldiers.

Formerly in the Brown family residence (the Nightingale-Brown House, 1791), the entire collection (which was probably the largest private military collection in the world), was presented to Brown University and transferred to Special Collections located in the John Hay Library in 1982. ...more information
Anthony (Richard H.) papers, 1923-1958
Richard H. Anthony was a Providence, Rhode Island native and Brown University graduate, class of 1925. His distinguished career included working as a journalist in Paris for the European edition of the New York Herald Tribune, where he covered the landings of Charles E. Lindburgh and Richard E. Byrd on their respective transatlantic flights in 1927. These papers include letters, family memorabilia, and a collection of autographs of Richard E. Byrd, and co-pilots Bernt Balchen, Bertand B. Acosta and George O. Noville, who accompanied him on his historic flight from New York to the coast of Normandy on July 1, 1927. ...more information
Backus (Isaac) papers, 1717-1835
The Isaac Backus papers consist of a variety of items which include family letters over the years 1750-1806, travel journals, a listing of his library, church minutes, drafts of chapters of his book, sermons, and family genealogy. Backus was a Colonial minister in New England. The collection supplements the small, but important, group of Isaac Backus manuscripts in the Sidney S. Rider collection. ...more information
Bakst (M. Charles) papers
These papers date from 1927-2009 and include the personal papers and materials of Merrill Charles Bakst, Brown '66 and journalist for the Providence Journal. Includes manuscripts, correspondence, notebooks, ephemera, photographs, audiocassettes and videotapes related to his student days at Brown and his career as a reporter and columnist. ...more information
Baptist Collection
Holdings in the area of religious history that reflect the University's Baptist origins. Included are the papers of many clergymen, among them Roger Williams, Isaac Backus, Samuel Jones, Thomas Ustick, Jones Very, missionaries (Adoniram Judson and Josiah Nelson Cushing) and several presidents of Brown. The First Baptist Church of Swansea (Massachusetts), the Baptist Church in Warren (Rhode Island), and the Arkwright and Fiskeville Baptist Church in Scituate (Rhode Island) have placed their papers, records, and ledgers on deposit with the Library. There is also a sizeable collection of Baptist periodicals. ...more information
Barrett (Ellen M.) papers
Ellen M. Barrett, a scholar specializing in medieval monastic history, was the first openly gay person, and one of the earliest women, to be ordained priest in the Episcopal Church. Beginning in 1975, when she was ordained deacon, through 1977 when she was ordained priest, the collection documents her path to ordination and the far reaching international reaction to her ordination. The collection covers her subsequent, nearly thirty-year career as priest in the Episcopal Church and her eventual postulancy in an Anglican women's monastic community. ...more information
Bradford Swan Antarctic Collection

Collection of materials, primarily books in English, relating to the exploration of Antarctica. The collection is concentrated on the period from the turn of the 20th century to the early 1960s. It includes more than 200 books, all but a handful in English, on the expeditions of Scott, Shackleton, Amundsen, and others, as well as later exploratory and scientific expeditions and facilities. Also included are a small number of minor manuscripts (uncataloged as of May 2002) as well as 2 boxes of press releases of the National Science Foundation and U.S. Naval Support Force, Antarctica, and Operation Deep Freeze, and 2 boxes of U.S. Navy official Antarctic photographs, and a souvenir photo book that belonged to Swan.

The title list can be viewed by doing a "word" search in JOSIAH for "Swan Antarctic"
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Broadsides Collection
The Broadsides Collection houses broadsides (single-sheet imprints), posters, bookplates, prints, valentines, greeting cards, postcards, and photographs. From a nucleus of 8,000 pieces in 1928, holdings have increased to over 40,000 items. Largely ephemeral by nature, broadsides are collected by only a few major libraries and historical societies in the United States. Originally issued primarily by governmental, religious, and political bodies, broadsides were later used for advertisements, programs, notices, ballad verses, elegies, and comments on contemporary events. More recently, they have become popular as exemplars of fine printing. Includes holdings of the Harris, Rider, Lincoln, Koopman, Military and general library collections. Notable areas within Harris include slip ballads and carriers' addresses. ...more information
Brooks family papers, 1861-1865
The Brooks family papers consist almost exclusively of correspondence from the period 1861-1865 of members of the Brooks family of Little Falls, New Jersey. While most of the letters are primarily concerned with family matters and relationships, some portion of the content relates the military activities of William H. Brooks and Jesse S. Comac, who enlisted in the Union Army at the rank of private early in the war. Camp life and battle scenes are described. ...more information
Brown University Archives
The Archives collection contains copies of the official records and publications of the University, dating from 1763, along with the papers of many of its faculty, departments, and officers. A vital part of the collection are the records student groups and organizations. The Archives also encompass papers of Brown and Pembroke alumni/ae. The collections include Brown theses and dissertations, as well as printed, manuscript, graphic, and audiovisual material about the history of Brown University. ...more information
Butler Hospital records, 1840-1892
The Butler Hospital records contain many of the hospital's records from its founding in 1841 to approximately its 50th anniversary in 1891. These records document the changing attitudes toward the mentally ill in Europe and the United States in the early 19th century as well as communal responsibility for the less fortunate, the responsibility of the wealthy for sharing both their wealth and their expertise, the financial practices of the period, detailed specifications on the construction of the first hospital of any kind in Rhode Island, the hospital's expansion, and the day-to-day expenses of such an institution. ...more information
Cameron (William H.) Papers, 1862-1886
The William H. Cameron papers consists of approximately 100 items, most of which pertain to Cameron's service in the Union Army during the Civil War. ...more information
Carroll (Michael R.) papers, 1885-1931
The collection consists of documents relating to Michael Carroll's pension for Civil War military service, letters written to him about slavery and the impact of emancipation by Victor Chambers, and the book "Born at the Battlefield of Gettysburg" written by Carroll's great-grandaughter, Harriet Rinaldi. ...more information
Chace (Elizabeth Buffum), and family, papers [ca. 1801-1900]

Quaker reformer Elizabeth Buffam Chace was a feminist, abolitionist, activist for prison reform, the rights of orphans, peace, and temperance and the author of "Anti-Slavery Reminiscences."

The collection includes her commonplace book and diary; family albums, scrapbooks, photographs; miscellaneous clippings and other material relating to the Buffums, the Chaces, the Cheneys, and the Tolmans. The collection also includes some correspondence. ...more information
Charles Woodberry McLellan Collection of Lincolniana

A collection, comprising 30,000+ items in various media, of materials by and about Abraham Lincoln, 16th president of the United States, and about the historical and political context of his life and career, chiefly the U.S. Civil War and its causes and aftermath. The collection of Charles Woodberry McLellan (1836-1918), one of five great Lincoln collectors at the turn of the 20th century, was acquired for Brown University in 1923 by John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Class of 1897, and others, in memory of John Hay, Class of 1858, one of Lincoln's White House secretaries; in the ensuing 75 years it has been increased to more than five times its original size.

The books and pamphlets include 85-90 percent of the titles in Jay Monaghan's Lincoln bibliography, 1829-1939 (many in multiple editions and variant copies), as well as many thousand volumes of contemporary and later publications relating to the Civil War and the slavery controversy. In conjunction with the Harris Collection, the John Hay Library holds probably the largest collection anywhere of poems about Lincoln. There is also a good selection of representative titles of books that Lincoln read.

The manuscript collection includes original letters, notes, and documents, over 950 written or signed by Lincoln; material relating to Lincoln's family and associates; and facsimiles of manuscripts held by other institutions. The broadsides include song sheets, political sheets, ballots, and posters; also 27 of the 52 printed editions listed in Charles Eberstadt, Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation. There is a selection of newspapers for 1860-1865; an index to the 11,300+ entries for Lincoln items in all existing files of Illinois newspapers to the end of the Civil War; and photocopies of the clipping files of the Louis A. Warren Lincoln Library and Museum, Fort Wayne, Ind.

The prints, arranged according to Meserve numbers, include most of the known photographs of Lincoln, engravings, and Currier & Ives prints. There are also original oil portraits by artists of Lincoln's day, most notably the portrait by Peter Baumgras, 1827-1903; some original drawings, as well as a scrapbook of Thomas Nasts's Civil War sketches. The statuary includes two Rogers groups, an original Truman Bartlett plaster statuette, and replicas of Leonard Volk's work. The sheet music comprises every known piece relating to Lincoln, including funeral marches, memorial songs, and campaign songs. The museum objects include over 550 medals, mourning and campaign badges, coins, postage stamps, etc. ...more information
Chester H. Kirk Collection on Alcoholism and Alcoholics Anonymous

In 1995, Chester H. Kirk, in a generous contribution to the Brown University Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, established the Chester H. Kirk Collection on Alcoholism and Alcoholics Anonymous. The 15,000 items purchased initially with Chester Kirk's gift were amassed over two decades by Charles Bishop, an antiquarian bookseller and author of several research tools on Alcoholics Anonymous and related groups. . Acquisition of this collection, one of the largest of its kind in the country, immediately brought the University attention as a center for the study of addiction to alcohol and other substances and to the history of attempts to treat or prevent such addictions.

Chronologically, the collection ranged from a leaf from the 1493 Nuremberg Chronicle depicting a drunken Noah to late 20th century studies. The formats were equally diverse: in addition to printed books, pamphlets there were periodicals, newspapers, dealers' catalogues, posters, audiovisual materials, photographs, 18th century engravings and 19th and 20th century sheet music. American in emphasis, the collection provided rich resources for the study of the temperance and prohibitions movements of the 19th and 20th centuries, hospital-based treatment of addictive behavior, and the 20th century evolution of self-help programs under the leadership of Alcoholics Anonymous. The collection includes a copy of the first book published in British-speaking North America on alcoholism, Anthony Benezet's The Mighty Destroyer Displayed (1774) as well as current issues of The Union Signal, the periodical of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. Related materials ranged widely, from those bearing on drinking customs (bartenders' guides and drinking vessels) to anti-drunk driving campaigns and studies of other widespread addictions such as tobacco and narcotic drugs.

NOTE: Researchers using this collection are asked to abide by the Anonymity Guidelines for the Brown University Library AA Collections. ...more information
Christine Dunlap Farnham Archive
The Farnham Archive constitutes a system for describing and accessing collections with materials pertaining to women within the special collections housed at the John Hay Library. Accessed through the printed Research Guide, the Farnham Archive pulls together substantial holdings of all varieties in the Hay Library that document women's history. ...more information
Civil War Manuscripts Collection
Comprises more than 26 collections (more than 2,000 letters in all) covering the period from 1858 through 1879. Includes correspondence, diaries, photographs, prints and graphics and other related materials pertaining to all aspects of the Civil War, from the lives of enlisted Union soldiers and their families back home, to camp life and battlefield medicine, and the political issues that gripped the nation. ...more information
Cohen (Robert F., Jr.) papers, 1952-1984
The Robert F. Cohen, Jr. papers relate to his activist work as a student at Brown from 1964-1968, and as a community organizer in Providence and other Rhode Island communities, and New York City around welfare rights, housing discrimination and education between 1968-1972. The collection contains original materials created in the context of this work, including press releases, research notes, minutes of meetings, leaflets, and other organizing materials, as well as news clippings covering the actual events. There is also an extensive collection of publications from progressive organizations. ...more information
Community Organizing Archive
The Community Organizing Archive was founded in 2006 by a group of Brown Alumni active in the field, in collaboration with the Swearer Center for Public Service and the Brown University Archives. Collections are being processed as they arrive at Brown, and online finding aids are created for Brown's Archival and Manuscripts Collections Online (BAMCO) repository. ...more information
Corbett (Scott) papers, 1884-1984
The Scott Corbett papers contain a variety of material related to his career as a writer as well as personal memorabilia from his childhood and service in the United States Army during World War II. These papers also include Elizabeth Corbett’s personal and business papers and artwork by the illustrator and author Don Freeman. ...more information
Crost (Lyn) papers
Eleanor Elizabeth (Lyn) Crost graduated from Pembroke College as part of the Class of 1938, and went on to a distinguished career in journalism. The Crost papers relate Lyn Crost's experiences as a war correspondent covering the 100th/442nd Regimental Combat Team (an all Japanese-American unit) in Europe during World War II. The collection includes correspondence, photographs, draft literary manuscripts, scrapbooks of news articles written by Crost during the war as a reporter for the Honolulu Star Bulletin, and later materials she compiled to use in writing Honor by Fire(1994). The collection also includes incomplete runs of the serials Go for Broke and Puka Puka Parade, videocassettes of various movies and documentaries about the Nisei, and personal artifacts such as her World War II theater campaign ribbon and her war correspondent's hat.
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Denison (Frederic) collection of Baptist biographies, 1880-1883
The Denison Collection consist of letters, manuscripts, and printed matter that contain biographical information about individual Baptists in Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. ...more information
Dexter (Robert Cloutman) and Elisabeth Anthony Dexter papers
Records and personal papers of sociologist and Unitarian minister Robert Cloutman Dexter (Class of 1912) and his wife, the noted historian Elisabeth Anthony Dexter. An important focus within the collection is the significant role played by the Dexters -- co-founders of the Unitarian Service Committee with Rev. Waitstill and Martha Sharp in 1937 -- in working to expedite the release of war refugees from Nazi-occupied Europe between 1938 and 1944. The collection also includes personal writings by the Dexters, as well as much information on the history of the Anthony family. ...more information
Dickson (James C.) papers, 1988-2002
These papers document the career of James C. Dickson (Class of 1968) as an activist and organizer for disabled individuals, primarily with the VOTE! 2000 Campaign, an effort to increase the number of voters with disabilities. Includes materials Dickson used in his efforts to increase the voting rights of disabled persons and their access to polling places. The materials contain information on poll accessibility, black voters, gay and lesbian voters, voting statistics, the motor voter law, election reforms, methods of voting, and the registration of potential voters when they apply for food stamps, Medicaid or a driver's license. Also consists of material documenting other organizing efforts involving the rights of children, especially children with disabilities, and the medical care of the elderly and people with disabilities. ...more information
Dixon (Nathan Fellows) family papers, 1721-1938
The Nathan Fellows Dixon family papers consist of letters, legal documents, personal and political memorabilia and photographs relating to a Westerly, Rhode Island, family of great prominence in state and federal politics during the 19th century. The majority of the collection represents the domestic and political lives of three generations of men named Nathan Fellows Dixon, all of whom graduated from Brown University and went on to serve in the United States Congress. ...more information
Dorr (Thomas Wilson) papers, 1790-1897 (bulk 1826-1854)
The Library holds the papers of Thomas Wilson Dorr, 1805-1854, lawyer, politician, reformer, and central figure in Rhode Island's "Dorr War" of 1842. The Dorr collection contains letters and speeches on suffrage, elections, banks, and state politics. They are supported by 60 scrapbooks of Dorr's personal and political correspondence, law practice and other items relating to the Suffrage Party and Providence history in the Rider Collection. The collection includes a box containing personal effects relating to Dorr's prison stay. ...more information
Downs family correspondence, 1861-1865
The Downs family correspondence consists of letters written by four brothers (Albert, Edward, Frederick, and Willie Downs) to their family in Westville, Connecticut, while the four were serving in the Union Army during the Civil War. The letters, which date mainly from 1861-1865, cover topics such as camp life, military operations, family matters, and the Union naval blockade of the South. ...more information
Drowne family papers, 1636-1936 (bulk 1750-1885)
In 1940, the personal library of botanist and physician Dr. Solomon Drowne, Class of 1773, plus over 1,000 documents and letters relating to members of the Drowne family (1770 through 1940) were moved from Mt. Hygeia, Dr. Drowne's home in Foster, Rhode Island, to Brown. This fine example of an 18th century American private library is preserved intact within Special Collections. ...more information
Eli Hawley Canfield Papers, 1844-1898

This collection consists of over 1100 sermons, letters, and other personal manuscripts of the Rev. Eli Hawley Canfield. The letters are mainly to his son, James Hulme Canfield, the educator, and are largely personal in nature, but the papers also include 500 of his sermons which amply illustrate many of the religious and social beliefs and issues of the forty year period following 1845. ...more information
Ellsworth (Elmer Ephraim) papers, 1854-1861

The Elmer Ephraim Ellsworth papers, covering the period 1854-1861, consist of correspondence, a journal fragment, drafts of his writings, and sketches concerning Ellsworth's involvement with the Illinois Militia, the United States Zouave Cadets, and the New York Fire Zouaves, along with memorabilia about Ellsworth and his military career that was produced some time after his death. ...more information
Fales family letters, 1806-1840
The Fales family letters number thirty six, most of them sent by Stephen (who often signed himself "Esteban") Smith Fales from his Cuban plantation to his sister Lydia (Fales) French in Bristol, Rhode Island. Although the earliest letter dates from 1806, most of the letters were written between 1813 and 1834 from various locations in Cuba. ...more information
Fenner (Edward) papers, 1724-1802
The Edward Fenner papers consist of correspondence, family records, deeds, accounts, receipts, orders, invoices, and other documents relating to Fenner's family background, his life and his service on the Town Council of Johnston, Rhode Island during the latter half of the eighteenth century. ...more information
Fradkin (Irving A.) papers, 1956-2002
The Dr. Irving A. Fradkin papers date from 1956 to 2002 and relate to the founding and development of the Citizens’ Scholarship Foundation of America, now Scholarship America. ...more information
Glass (Jodi L.) papers, 1978-2002
The Jodi Glass papers provide rich documentation of the inner workings of feminist organizations and movements in Rhode Island and beyond. Included in the collection are the correspondence, essays, news clippings, legislation, agendas, and minutes of a number of groups and movements, including the Rhode Island Feminist Chorus, Feminist Resources Unlimited and the anti-pornography movement. ...more information
Gleeson (Alice Collins) papers, 1935-1937
The Alice Collins Gleason papers consist of scripts and preparation sheets for radio plays about early Rhode Island history written for elementary and junior high schools in Rhode Island. The plays date from 1935-1937. ...more information
Goff family papers, 1842-1946
The Goff family papers number seven items in all. The collection includes a letter from Daniel H. Goff, a Rhode Island native, sent from San Francisco, in 1849 to his family in Rhode Island. It includes military commissions of him and his son William M.Goff, in 1849 and 1865-1867 respectively. The collection also includes the wills of William’s brother, Daniel. C. Goff, probated 1852, and the latter’s wife, Martha Hall Goff, dated 1946. ...more information
Gorham Company Records

Archival records (approximately 3,000 linear feet, dating from 1831 to 2005) of the company founded in 1831 by silversmith Jabez Gorham in Providence, Rhode Island, and expanded under the leadership of his son John in the 1840s. At various times the company was the largest manufacturer of silver products, producer and distributor of ecclesiastical wares, and art bronze foundry in the United States.

The collection features many thousands of drawings and photographs of Gorham products, reflecting American taste from Victorian times to the present. It also contains corporate, personnel, costing, sales, and advertising records, as well as blueprints, plaster casts, and copper printing plates. Incorporated into the collection are the records of fourteen companies acquired by Gorham prior to its acquisition by larger companies, first by Textron Inc., then by Dansk International, and finally by Brown-Forman Corporation in 1991.

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Gurney (Warren S.) papers
The Gurney papers consist of forty-three letters pertaining to the Civil War, written between December 1863 and July 1865 by Warren S. Gurney, a bandmember of the 56th Massachusetts Regiment to his family in Massachusetts. The letters describe military life, the regiment's campaign in Virginia, and family matters. ...more information
Hall-Hoag collection of dissenting and extremist printed propaganda
Contains documents representing a broad spectrum of militant political, social and religious dissent in the United States, from the post-World War II period to the present. The Collection currently exceeding 168,000 items emanating from over 5,000 organizations, constitutes the country's largest research collection of right and left wing U.S. extremist groups, from 1950 to 1999. The collection began when Gordon Hall, a young veteran of the Pacific Theatre during the war, first encountered the printed propaganda issued by domestic hate-your-neighbor organizations/groups in the late 1940's. He supported his investigations and research of these organizations by giving public lectures about them. Materials from all corners of the country were collected, enabling him to document statements made in lectures as well as in a growing number of expository articles written for newspapers and magazines. Grace Hoag, an alumna of Smith College, began collaboration with Hall during the 1960's, assisting the research and investigation and expanding the collection beyond its initial emphasis. Includes publications of Anti-Abortion organizations; Anti-Integrationist organizations; Anti-Semitic and Racist political parties; Christian Identity organizations; Communist organizations; Communist political parties; Communist publishers; Congressional investigating committees; Cults and Alternative religions; Extreme Left-Wing publishers; Ku Klux Klan organizations; LaRouche organizations; Marxist-Leninist organizations; Militant Anti-Communist organizations; Militant Populist organizations; Neo-Nazi organizations; Pacifist organizations; Racial and Ethnic Consciousness organizations; Right-Wing Christian religious organizations; and Right-Wing publishers. ...more information
Hay (John) Collection
The John Hay collection documents the life of John Milton Hay (1838-1905), Brown Class of 1858, and consists of two major components: A collection of books, and Hay's personal papers.

The John Hay book collection comprises approximately 2,000 books by or about Hay and his period. Much of this material was given by members of the Hay family.

The John Hay Papers consists of over 9,100 items encompassing Hay's correspondence with his family and with literary, diplomatic, and political contemporaries; diaries kept by Hay as Lincoln's White House aide and as Secretary of the Legations in Paris, Vienna, and Madrid, 1866-1870; manuscript poems; galley proofs; personal letterpress copy books. Subjects include: Civil War; Lincoln and his administration; Reconstruction; court life in Paris; the bi-metal monetary standard; the Canadian boundary settlement; the fur seal question; Japanese naval activity; Chinese-American relations; the Spanish-American and Philippine-American Wars; British and American politics. A microform copy exists of this material. ...more information
Henry Wheaton Papers, 1786-1899
Henry Wheaton, Class of 1802, jurist, served as United States Chargé d'Affaires to Denmark, and Minister to Prussia. This collection of 275 letters and manuscripts consists chiefly of the correspondence of Wheaton and his family in Europe and America and concerns personal, diplomatic, legal, and political affairs, especially during the War of 1812. Wheatons's diaries, 1827-1835, an 1835 diary kept by his daughter Abby, and biographical notes about Wheaton and his uncle, Dr. Levi Wheaton, Professor of Medicine at Brown, are also among these papers. ...more information
Hill (Walter Nickerson) papers, 1860-1905 (bulk 1870-1884)
American chemist. Letters and manuscripts; letterpress books; scrapbook; notebooks; documents; pamphlets; photographs; and memorabilia. The bulk of the written material (to, from, and about Hill) dates from 1870 through 1884. It consists of personal letters between Hill and his wife; letters between Hill and leading scientists and ordinance specialists; letters to and from important political, scientific, and military figures regarding Hill's application for appointment of Professor of Mathematics in the Navy; business correspondence; Hill's patents and pamphlets regarding explosives, demagnetization, etc.; newspaper clippings of Hill's death in an explosion. ...more information
Isabel Harris Metcalf Peaceana Collection, 1918-1941
Mrs. Isabel Harris Metcalf was a Rhode Island pacifist who collected and indexed material relating to the international peace movement. Her collection, consisting of 50 scrapbooks of newspaper clippings, loose clippings and correspondence relating to the League of Nations and the World Peace Movement, came to the library by bequest in 1943. ...more information
Jenckes (Thomas Allen) papers, 1834-1870
One box, chiefly correspondence to Thomas Allen Jenckes, Congressional Representative from Rhode Island, about legal matters and legislative affairs for the period of 1837 to 1870. ...more information
John Hay Personal Library
In July of 1905, John Milton Hay (Class of 1858, perhaps the most famous Brown graduate of his day) died in office as U.S. Secretary of State. The following year his widow, Clara Stone Hay, presented 400 books and manuscripts from Hay's personal library to Brown. These books include many volumes which are inscribed to John Hay. ...more information
Jonathan Russell papers, 1795-1832
The papers of merchant, diplomat, and Massachusetts Congressman Jonathan Russell, Class of 1791, provide information on an early critical period of American politics and diplomacy. Included are records, notes, and correspondence for the period 1795-1830, during which Russell was a member of the United States Commission to draw up the Treaty of Ghent following the War of 1812, and later, Minister to Sweden and Norway. There are also several hundred letters from Russell to President James Monroe, and 22 from Monroe concerning commercial and diplomatic relations between the United States and Europe. Some 120 letters which Russell exchanged with John Quincy Adams span the years 1798 to 1823. ...more information
Jones (Samuel) papers, 1760-1794
These papers consist primarily of correspondence from James Manning, first president of Brown University, discussing issues relating to the founding of the college, such as fundraising, the charter, and the use of University Hall as barracks by the United States government during the American Revolutionary War. ...more information
Just Say No Campaign Collection, 1985-1996
This collection contains material, chiefly photographs, related to the "Just Say No" campaign against drug use from 1985 to 1996. It also includes some correspondence to and from the Just Say No Foundation and Just Say No International, slides, negatives, videocassettes and a workbook. ...more information
Keddy (Jane L.) papers, 1969-1993
The Keddy papers contain correspondence, research notes on index cards, brochures, museum handbooks, photocopies of entire chapters from books being used for research, maps and other illustrations along with extensive drafts of a proposed 1000 plus page biography of Samuel de Champlain. Other material includes personal correspondence on topics as diverse as feminism, safe drinking water and theology, professional correspondence in Jane Keddy's capacity as the editor/owner of Parameter Press and a folder of correspondence with potential publishers of the Champlain manuscript. ...more information
Keely (George Washington) papers, 1820-1834
These papers primarily consist of correspondence concerning events leading to the resignation of President Asa Messer and the educational developments in Providence between 1829 and 1833. ...more information
Korff (Rabbi Baruch) papers, 1914-1995
Personal papers of Providence rabbi and Jewish communal activist who became known as "Nixon's Rabbi" for his defense of the President during the Watergate affair. The collection includes materials pertaining to Korff's efforts on behalf of European Jewry during World War II, through the creation of the Emergency Committee to Save the Jewish People of Europe, as well as his post-war advocacy for the State of Israel. ...more information
Lewis (David C.) papers
The David C. Lewis papers contain information on his efforts to collect historical collections concerning alcoholism, and his work at the local, state and federal level concerning alcoholism and addiction. The collection contains correspondence, legal papers, writings, printed materials, meeting minutes, audiovisual materials and financial papers including appraisals of collections which David Lewis had acquired or was exploring acquiring for the Brown University library. ...more information
Littlefield (Katherine Frances) papers, 1887-1912
The Katherine Frances Littlefield papers chronicles the early professional life of a 1902 graduate of Pembroke College at Brown University through letters to her mother from 1905-1909. The letters focus on the establishment of her professional career and family matters. ...more information
Lord (Augustus Mendon) collection of letters and autographs of famous personages, 1778-1908 (bulk 1876-1908)
The Augustus Mendon Lord Papers includes correspondence, documents, and autographs of prominent figures from the period 1778 through 1908. The bulk of the correspondence pertains to American politicians, particularly members of Congress, and dates from 1876 through 1908. However, the collection also contains autographs and documents from American and European military, scientific, literary, and artistic figures. ...more information
Lownes (Albert Edgar) collection on Henry David Thoreau, 1837-1965
The Albert E. Lownes Collection on Henry David Thoreau was received in 1967 as a gift from Albert E. Lownes, Class of 1920. It consists of over 1,000 items, and includes books by Thoreau, later editions of his writing, biographical and critical works, and books from his personal library. It contains first editions for each of Thoreau's separately published books and pamphlets as well as a virtually complete selection of his contrib utions to periodicals. Of particular note are a number of annotated volumes from Thoreau's personal library and original manuscript fragments from his Journals, The Maine Woods, and A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers.

There are also periodicals, engravings, photographs, a striking original sketch of Thoreau, maps, broadsides, museum objects, and other memorabilia. The Collection includes a number of Thoreau letters, college papers and journal excerpts.

Especially noteworthy is an album entitled "Concordia", a collection of autograph letters, portraits, and original sketches of Concord personalities, compiled by Rev. Moncure Daniel Conway. ...more information
Mann (Horace) family papers, 1819-1952
These papers consist primarily of correspondence dating from 1829 to 1856. Letters discuss topics of teacher institutes, women’s issues, and Mann’s work in the House of Representatives. The majority of the letters were written by Horace Mann, Charlotte Messer Mann, Mary Tyler Peabody Mann, and James Stuart Holmes. ...more information
Margaret Bingham Stillwell papers, ca. 1925-1984
The papers of Margaret Bingham Stillwell, librarian of the Annmary Brown Memorial, 1917 - 1953, and professor of bibliography, 1948 - 1953. Includes personal correspondence, incunabula census correspondence, Annmary Brown Memorial correspondence, manuscripts, notes, poetry, talks, subject files, personal papers, Hroswitha Club Papers, specimen pages and galley proofs of Gesamtkatalog der Wiegendrucke. ...more information
Martensen (Augustus) papers, 1822-1923
The Martensen Papers are comprised of letters and documents; including fifty-five Civil War letters in German by Martensen and letters received by Martensen and members of Martensen's family. ...more information
Maury A. Bromsen Collection
of Confederate Etchings by Adalbert Volck

In 1863, Adalbert J. Volck, a Maryland dentist and Southern sympathizer, produced a series of copper-plate etchings that caricatured Lincoln and the Union cause. The prints were published as a set and were very popular in the South during and after the war.

The collection now at Brown was compiled by Boston book dealer Maury A. Bromsen and bequeathed to the John Hay Library. Though the prints are widely available in academic libraries today, the Bromsen collection of the Volck prints is unique as it includes the original copper plates from which the etchings were printed, as well as notes and reference material from Bromsen's research on Volck. ...more information
McConoughey (Artha May) papers, 1896-1939 (bulk 1908-1929)

The Artha May McConoughey Papers consist of travel diaries, temperance speeches, law school assignments, photographs, and personal artifacts. All of the written material is from McConoughey's own hand; most of it was composed during the first quarter of the 20th century when she came of age and became active in the temperance and women's suffragist movements in the Chicago area. ...more information
Metcalf Collection
An extraordinarily diverse collection of pamphlets donated by the Hon. Theron Metcalf, Class of 1805. It is the Library's principal collection of American, English and Irish pamphlet literature of the 17th through the 19th centuries.

A distinguished jurist and author on legal subjects, Metcalf was an avid collector of pamphlet literature. He added periodically to the collection after giving it to Brown and, at his death in 1875, it included well over 10,000 items.

The collection includes ordination, election-day and dedicatory sermons, Fourth of July orations, plus pamphlets on the Civil War and slavery, the Irish question, Mormonism, agriculture, medicine and women's suffrage to name but a few categories. Pamphlets were bound into thematic volumes, and the call numbers represent the individual volumes. ...more information
Morse (Carleton D.) Whaling Collection, 1762-1964
The Morse Collection of books, manuscripts and periodicals relating to the whaling industry was presented as a memorial to Carleton D. Morse (Brown Class of 1913), by his widow and daughter in 1958. It includes personal narratives and classics of whaling literature, along with correspondence; manuscript logbooks and journals; commercial papers; legal documents; memoranda; reports; personal memoirs; photographs; engravings; clippings and ephemera. Among the commercial papers are invoices and receipts for ships' outfits, merchants' records for repairs, freight, passengers, fuel, and taxes; Charter Party documents; as well as correspondence of a personal nature.

The books have been catalogued individually, and can be identified through JOSIAH. To pull up a title list, do an "author" search for "Morse Whaling." The manuscripts have been arranged and described as a collection, and an EAD finding aid is available. A link to the finding aid is provided below.

(NOTE: Two manuscript collections that arrived with the Morse materials are the papers of Malvina Pinkham Marshall and the Pinkham family and the Papers of Marshall Johnson. These have been arranged and described separately because they had no apparent connection to whaling.)

The Morse Collection, in combination with whaling collections at the Providence Public Library and the New Bedford Whaling Museum, provides an outstanding resource for studying the economic, historic and social influences exercised by whalers on the development of 18th and 19th century New England.

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Needmor Fund records, 1975-2005
The Needmor Fund is a family foundation established in Toledo, Ohio in 1956 by Duane and Virginia Stranahan with income from the Champion Spark Plug business. It focuses on funding community organizing efforts to create a more equitable and just society. The records document the activities of the Needmor Fund from the the 1970\'s to the early 21st century and include correspondence, grant applications, pamphlets, seminar brochures, notes from site visits, speeches, and publications. Within the Needmor Fund Collection, the Kathy Partridge papers include material related to gay and lesbian issues. ...more information
Pinkham family correspondence
The Pinkham family correspondence consists of letters between members of the Pinkham family, a prominent Nantucket family in the whaling business, and with their acquaintances. The letters, dating from 1855-1877, cover topics including family and social life in Nantucket, New Bedford, and Providence, with some discussion of national politics. This collection was originally part of a larger collection on whaling donated by Carleton D. Morse (Brown University Class of 1913). ...more information
Providence Medical Association Milk Commission records
The records of the Providence Milk Commission consist of financial and business records related to the Commission’s activities from 1931 to 1985. The series concerning Hillside Farms contains reports on the health of its employees and the results of tests to determine the quality of the milk produced there. ...more information
Reynolds family correspondence, 1863-1871 (bulk 1864-1865)
Collection consists almost entirely of personal letters written by Alfred C., Charles E., and James W. Reynolds to sisters and parents detailing Civil War experiences in the 128th Regiment, New York Volunteers and the 11th Light Artillery Regiment, New York. Of particular interest are accounts of the capture of Fort Morgan (1864, Aug.-Sept.), reflections on the Copperheads, Afro-American troops, General Lee, and slavery. ...more information
Rhode Island College miscellaneous papers, 1763-1804
A collection of early historical documents of Brown University from the petition for a charter in 1763 to the change of name from Rhode Island College to Brown University in 1804. Titles of the papers and folder numbers are taken from the two volumes in which the papers had previously been mounted. ...more information
Rhode Island Society for the Collegiate Education of Women records, 1895-1971
The records of the Rhode Island Society for the Collegiate Education of Women (RISCEW) consist of the organization's meeting minute records, correspondence, news clippings, organizational histories, membership lists and financial ledgers from 1895-1971. Additional materials within the collection are reports by various committees, such as the Building Committee, Evaluation Committee, and the War Service Committee of 1918-1919. ...more information
Robert S. and Margaret A. Ames Collection of Illustrated Books
The Robert S. and Margaret A. Ames Collection was assembled over a thirty year period and built around three distinct but related ideas; the history of illustration, particularly nineteenth century books illustrated with woodcuts, wood or steel engravings or by lithography; the literature of travel and exploration, with a preference given to the North American continent; and pictorial representations of areas in which the Ames family lived before their arrival in Providence in 1970. The Ames Collection is notable for the degree to which it adds new titles to the Brown Library, the extent to which it complements other Brown holdings both in the John Hay Library and in Government Documents, and for its superb physical condition. ...more information
Robinson (James J.) papers, 1930-1977 (bulk 1945-1950)
The James J. Robinson papers consist of legal documents, manuscripts, notes on legal cases, speeches, and research and drafts of a published book. The bulk of the collection pertains to the International Military Tribunal for the Far East (IMTFE). ...more information
Rodney (Thomas) papers, ca. 1774-1810
Personal papers and records of Thomas Rodney, including letters, essays, notes on court cases in Mississippi and Delaware (1791 to 1810), a journal about personal matters and Delaware politics (1792-1800), and manuscript poetry. ...more information
Schirmer Collection on Anti-Imperialism

This collection, assembled by Daniel Boone Schirmer, currently numbers 964 titles dealing with the Anti-Imperialist movement of 1898 and its repercussions in United States, Cuban, Puerto Rican, and Filipino history. It deals with the debate within the United States during and after the Spanish-American War over the appropriate relationship between the English-speaking and Spanish speaking Americas.

Searching for AUTHOR "Schirmer Collection" in JOSIAH pulls up a complete list of titles in the collection.

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Scholarship America records, 1960-2006
This collection consists of the records of Scholarship America (formerly known as the Citizens' Scholarship Foundation of America) from 1960-2006. ...more information
Sears (Barnas) papers, 1833-1879
Barnas Sears graduated from Brown University in 1825 and served as the fifth president of Brown from 1855-1867. This collection primarily consists of correspondence from Sears' service as president of Brown University. ...more information
Selle (Earl Albert) papers
The collection consists of correspondence, newspaper articles, photographs, scrapbooks and other memorabilia from the life and career of Earl Albert Selle, a journalist who covered the Pacific theatre during and after World War II, focusing particularly on China and Hawaii. A significant component of the collection consists of materials Selle obtained from fellow journalist William Henry Donald, a friend and advisor to Generalissimo and Mme. Chiang Kai-shek, that document Donald's own career in China. These contributed to the publication of Selle's book Donald in China in 1948, shortly after Donald's death. ...more information
Sherman (Stuart C.) papers, 1947-1977
These papers consist of correspondence spanning his career and beginning with his time spent as Librarian at the Providence Public Library, and materials generated while he was Librarian in the John Hay Library, including President’s reports, Albert E. Lownes bibliography and personal library, notes on Lownes’ History of Science Collection, and correspondence on Herman Melville (his bibliography and first printings). Also includes papers from the period when Sherman was Vice President of the Rhode Island Historical Society and later Trustee. His interest in whaling is well-represented by the papers, which include related correspondence from around the world, checklist of Whalemen, whaling records from the Island of Madeira, and notes on logbooks. The papers also include some personal material dealing with his resignation from Providence Public Library, as well as speeches and reviews. ...more information
Sidney S. Rider Collection

The Sidney S. Rider Collection on Rhode Island history, the largest private collection of materials related to Rhode Island, was presented to the library in 1903 by Marsden Perry. Rider was a leading Providence bookseller, publisher and antiquarian who had amassed a collection of manuscript and printed materials from the 18th through the early 20th centuries. The collection includes books, pamphlets, manuscripts, broadsides, ephemera, scrapbooks and newspapers compiled over 50 years of collecting. Notable among the ephemera are posters, cartoons, playbills, ballots, carrier's addresses, theater programs, tax bills, lottery tickets, death notices, and funeral invitations. Significant sections of the collection pertain to the Dorr Rebellion of 1842 and to the life and career of Rhode Island lawyer and Congressman Thomas Allen Jenckes.
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Smith (Augustus William) papers
Augustus William Smith was a school teacher, university professor (astronomy and mathematics), president of Wesleyan University and professor of Natural Philosophy at the United States Naval Academy. Smith's papers contain extensive correspondence with contemporary astronomers, mathematicians and meteorologists, along with several manuscripts. There is also correspondence between Smith and others concerning affairs of the Methodist-Episcopal Church. ...more information
Smith (Robert Holbrook, Dr. Bob) papers
The collection consists of over five thousand items, including two hundred books, dozens of pieces of memorabilia, and several hundred manuscripts (original and photocopied) and photographs once the property of "Dr. Bob," the legendary co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. The collection was purchased in November 1999 from Sue Smith Windows, Dr. Bob's daughter and donated by Esmond Harmsworth, James Abernathy, Christopher Ohrstrom, Mark Ohrstrom, and Richard Ohrstrom. Books, all from Dr. Bob's personal library, deal with religious and spiritual topics as well as the problems of addiction and recovery. Manuscripts include the notes of Dr. Bob's wife, Anne, who jotted down the spiritual principles that eventually influenced the AA movement's twelve steps; a looseleaf binder containing the mimeographed instructions on how to set up an AA meeting sent out to chapter secretaries; and some pages of Dr. Bob's letters and notes. Among the notable items in this collection are the coffee pot that Dr. Bob and Bill W. first used to sober up in 1935.

Visitors should note that there is no permanent display of materials from the Dr. Bob Collection, although the memorabilia can be paged upon request.

NOTE: Researchers using this collection are asked to abide by the Anonymity Guidelines for the Brown University Library AA Collections. ...more information
Sorrentino (Mary Ann) papers regarding her excommunication, 1974-1989
The Mary Ann Sorrentino papers about her excommunication from the Catholic Church consist of correspondence, clippings, and other materials. These papers relate to the practice of abortion, the authority of the Catholic Church over its members, and general discussion of religion and morality with respect to abortion. The correspondence with Sorrentino (who was Executive Director of Planned Parenthood of Rhode Island from 1977 to 1987) includes responses from proponents of both the pro-choice and pro-life movements, Catholics, non-Catholics, public officials, and others. ...more information
Starred Book Collection
Hay Star is the general rare book collection of the Brown University Library, covering a wide range of topics. The Hay Star collection is particularly strong for 18th and 19th century materials, as well as for 20th century ephemera, and includes occasional transfers from the general collections. Travel literature and historical narratives are particular strengths.

Researchers should note that many "named" collections of printed books are subsumed in Hay Star, including the following:

H. P. Lovecraft collection
Damon Collection of Fantasy and Imaginative Literature
Ames Collection of Illustrated Books
Brown-Ives Shakespeare Collection
Dated Books
Egyptology Collection
Author collections of works by Grotius, Machiavelli, Wells and Orwell
Kirk Collection on Alcoholism and Alcoholics Anonymous
Pillar Collection of Children's Literature
Schirmer Collection on Anti-Imperialism
Swan Antarctica Collection
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Tefft (Thomas Alexander) Architectural Drawings, 1844-1859
Architectural drawings by Thomas Alexander Tefft, Brown University Class of 1851. ...more information
Thatcher (Henry Knox) papers
The Henry Knox Thatcher papers comprise three journals kept by Thatcher while he was on active duty as an officer of the U.S. Navy between 1839 and 1863, and cover his service on board the U.S.S. Brandywine (1839-1841), the U.S.S. Jamestown (1847-1849), the U.S.S. Shore Ship Relief (1851-1852) and the U.S.S. Constellation (1862-1863). The collection also includes Thatcher's naval commissions, a pamphlet that details his naval service, Thatcher's military insignia (including dress sword, admiral's hat and epaulets), and an 1862 painting of the Constellation by Italian artist Tomaso de Simone.
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Theodore Francis Green Papers, [ca. 1907-1938]
T.F. Green (class of 1887) was at different times a lawyer with Green, Hinckley and Allen and with Green, Curran, and Hart. He was an instructor in law at Brown University and served as Governor of Rhode Island. The collection consists of personal and professional correspondence; legal case files; financial files; family history; political files ...more information
Turner (William Mason) papers, 1857-1877
Contains personal correspondence, legal documents, poetry, photographs, and sketches of William Mason Turner, a graduate of Brown University (1855), physician, Confederate surgeon, traveler and author. ...more information
Watson (John Brown) collection
John Brown Watson (Class of 1904) was among the earliest African American alumni of Brown University and had a distinguished career in the historically Black colleges of the South. After a teaching stint at Morehouse College, Watson moved into a career as an administrator. He became founding President of Leland College in Baker, Louisiana, in 1923, and later ascended to the presidency of Arkansas Agricultural, Mechanical and Normal School, later known as Arkansas A&M University (now: University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff).

The Watson papers cover, among other topics, African American education; the role of the African American woman as Christian homemaker and as community leader in education; land reform (creation of farms and rental of property to poor African Americans); African American business; African American leadership of the early 20th century; and African American missions in Africa.
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White (William Wurts) family papers, 1857-1933
The William Wurts White family papers are comprised of correspondence and legal and financial documents related to settling the estates of William Wurts White (1841-1911), his sister, Ella C. White (-1904), and his son, Merwin White (1877-1920). ...more information
Whiting (Kenneth P.) papers, 1925-1926
Kenneth P. Whiting was employed from 1925 to 1926 at Thomas A. Edison Inc. in disc record manufacturing and development and distribution of demonstrating sample records. The Kenneth P. Whiting papers include a series of memoranda from Whiting to Edison himself, with Edison's replies. ...more information
Wyllys (Samuel) papers, 1638-1757
Annmary Brown Hawkins inherited from her father, Nicholas Brown, a collection of papers compiled by Samuel Wyllys (1631-1709), a Connecticut magistrate and public official who served from 1654 to 1684, along with papers of other members of the Wyllys family. The collection, covering the period from 1638 to 1757 (bulk 1663-1698), comprises half of the original collection; the other portion (covering 1694-1726) was acquired some time ago by the Connecticut State Library from the Estate of John Carter Brown. These early papers pertain to Indian affairs, colonial wars, civil and criminal cases. The witchcraft trials of 1692 to 1693, as revealed in the testimony of witnesses in the Oyer and Terminer Courts, are of particular interest. ...more information
Yatman Family Papers, 1814-1959
The Yatman Family papers include correspondence, diaries (including travel diaries), Republican campaign and other material, church subscription books, photographs, etc. The collection primarily consists of the papers of Thomas Laurie, reflecting his work as a missionary and minister; Martha Ellen Laurie Yatman, especially documenting her daily life and trips abroad; and Marion Fay Yatman, providing a cursory view of her work for the Republican Party in the 1940s and 1950s. The papers provide some information about other family members and document a variety of familial and spousal relationships as well as life in the Boston and Providence areas ...more information
Young (John) papers, 1859-1903
These papers contain personal correspondence, business papers, writings by John Young and his daughter Harriet, maps and hand drawn diagrams of the Blackfeet Agency and it surroundings in Montana Territory. The personal correspondence from 1876 to 1884 provides firsthand accounts of life on the reservation during a crucial time in the tribe's history. ...more information

Image Source: Thomas Nast. Civil War Scrapbook. 1861 - 1866. McLellan Lincoln Collection. Gift of John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Class of 1897. see catalog record

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