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Stuart Gerry Brown Papers

An inventory of his papers at Syracuse University


Finding aid created by: MFA
Date: Apr 1969

Biographical History

Stuart Gerry Brown (1912-1991) was an American author, educator, and political consultant. He taught at Syracuse University for nearly twenty years.

Born April 13, 1912, in Buffalo, New York, to Charles H., Jr. and Edith (Brown) Brown, he received his A.B. degree from Amherst College in 1934 and his Ph.D. from Princeton University in 1937. In 1937 he became an English instructor at the University of Wisconsin. In 1940, he went to Grinnell College as an associate professor of English and was a full professor of English when he left Grinnell in 1947 to become a professor of Citizenship and American Culture at the Maxwell Graduate School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. During 1961-1962 and 1964-1965, he was visiting professor at the East-West Cultural Center at the University of Hawaii. In August of 1965, Mr. Brown resigned from Syracuse University to become graduate professor of American Studies at the East-West Center.

Brown was a Democratic state committeeman in Iowa, vice president of Americans for Democratic Action in New York State, a campaign aide to Adlai. E. Stevenson and founder of the Stevenson for President Movement in Onondaga County (N.Y.).

He is the author of The First Republicans (1954), Conscience in Politics (1961), Jefferson (1963); and (with C. Peltier) Government in Our Republic (1960). He is the editor of We Hold These Truths, 2nd edition (1948), Great Issues (1948), The Social Philosophy of Josiah Royce (1950), The Religious Philosophy of Josiah Royce (1952), The Autobiography of James Monroe (1959). With Wright Thomas he edited Reading Poems (1941) and Reading Prose (1952), and with H. Bragdon and S. McCutcheon he edited Frame of Government (1962). He also has contributed articles and book reviews to many educational reviews and journals.

Brown had one daughter, Antoinette Franchot, by his first marriage to Katharine Franchot, and two sons, Stuart Gerry and Thomas Stuart, by his second marriage to Mildred Kraus.

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Stuart Gerry Brown Papers collection is divided into five groups: correspondence, memorabilia, student records, writings, and Adlai E. Stevenson Papers on the 1960 Stevenson draft Movement.

Correspondence, 1934-1968, consisting of letters to and from friends, colleagues, publishers and students, The letters are concerned with the editing and publication of his writings and with politics, education, job offers, students' problems and personal matters. Significant correspondents include the Chautauqua Institution, Henry Steele Commager, Felix Frankfurter, Averill Harriman, Lyndon Johnson, John F. Kennedy, Archibald MacLeish, Patsy Takemoto Mink, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Frank Piskor, George Santayana, Arthur Schlesinger, Adlai Stevenson, William P. Tolley, Harry S. Truman, and Eleanor Roosevelt. Also of interest is Brown's correspondence in 1967-1968 with Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. with regard to the 1968 presidential campaign and the candidacy of Robert Kennedy.

There is additional correspondence of significance in the Adlai E. Stevenson Papers on the 1960 Stevenson draft Movement.

Memorabilia, 1947-1967, includes Aden and Middle East material, biographical material, brochures and catalogues, committees, course descriptions, expense accounts, miscellaneous printed material, photographs, dinner and round table programs, Adlai E. Stevenson mimeographed addresses and statements and news clippings about Adlai E. Stevenson, arranged in that order. There are a few news clippings about Brown's speeches.

Student records, 1958-1968 include individual student programs, papers written by students and covering letters.

Writings, 1940-1968, include addresses, articles, book reviews, books, a citation, a course description, a course outline, essays, lectures, letters to the editor, notes, a radio discussion, radio speeches, reports, short pieces about Adlai E. Stevenson, writings for Adlai E. Stevenson and writings of others. Most of the writings are in manuscript form. Research material is included for the book Conscience in Politics and for speeches of Adlai E. Stevenson. Among the writings by others, an untitled article on the 1960 campaign by Gerald W. Johnson, and Theodore Sands' article, "The Unfinished Business of the '52 Campaign: Foreign Policy" should be mentioned. One speech that Brown wrote for Robert Kennedy's use in the spring of 1968 is included in the addresses. The articles deal with both historical topics and contemporary political issues. There are seven book reviews, including reviews of biographies of Adlai Stevenson and Robert Kennedy. There is also one item by another author, S.C. Hsieh.

The Adlai E. Stevenson Papers on the 1960 Stevenson draft Movement include three folders of chronologically arranged correspondence and two folders of writings by Stuart Gerry Brown. The remaining material, in consecutively numbered folders, consists of transcripts of interviews, reports and correspondence. The first of the numbered folders contains a descriptive calendar of the contents of the numbered series. This part of the collection is maintained in original order, with the folders titled and numbered by Brown himself.

Arrangement of the Collection

Correspondence is arranged alphabetically by sender/recipient. Student records are arranged alphabetically by student name. Writings are subdivided by type, with material relating to Adlai Stevenson filed separately at the end in original order. Within each group, the writings are arranged alphabetically by title. Writings of others are arranged alphabetically by author.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions:

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advanced notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.

Use Restrictions:

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

Subject Headings

Persons

Brown, Stuart Gerry, 1912-1991.
Harriman, W. Averell (William Averell), 1891-1986.
Johnson, Lyndon B. (Lyndon Baines), 1908-1973.
Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963.
Mink, Patsy T., 1927-2002.
Roosevelt, Eleanor, 1884-1962.
Roosevelt, Franklin D., Jr. (Franklin Delano), 1914-1988.
Rossiter, Clinton, 1917-1970.
Schlesinger, Arthur M., Jr. (Arthur Meier), 1917-2007.
Stevenson, Adlai E. (Adlai Ewing), 1900-1965.
Tolley, William Pearson, 1900-1996.
Truman, Harry S., 1884-1972.
Vann, Carl Robert, 1930-

Corporate Bodies

Amherst College.
Democratic Party (U.S.)
Grinnell College.
Grolier Society.
Library of Congress.
Macmillan Publishing Company.
Syracuse University.
United States. -- Work Projects Administration.
University of Hawaii (Honolulu)

Subjects

Authors, American.
Educators -- United States.
Legislators -- United States.
Political campaigns.
Political consultants -- United States.

Genres and Forms

Articles.
Book reviews.
Clippings (information artifacts)
Correspondence.
Essays.
Manuscripts for publication.
Photographs.
Speeches (documents)

Occupations

Authors.
Educators.
Governors.
Political consultants.
Senators.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Stuart Gerry Brown Papers,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Gift of Stuart Gerry Brown, 1967-68.

Autobiography manuscript, gift of Robert J. Wilson, 2020.

Table of Contents

Correspondence

Memorabilia

Student records

Writings

Adlai E. Stevenson material

Inventory