Charles Henry Brent
A Register of His Papers in the Library of
Congress
Prepared by Elinor Betts, Audrey M.
Cahill, Kate Stewart, Allan Teichroew, and A. Thompson
Revised and
expanded by Joseph Sullivan
Manuscript Division,
Library of Congress
Washington, D.C.
2008
Contact information:
http://lcweb.loc.gov/rr/mss/address.html
Finding aid encoded by Library of Congress Manuscript Division,
2008
Finding aid URL: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.ms008040
Title: Charles Henry Brent
Papers
Span Dates: 1860-1991
Bulk Dates: (bulk 1901-1929)
ID No.: MSS23564
Creator:
Brent, Charles Henry,
1862-1929
Extent: 14,740
items;
72 containers;
32 linear feet
Language: Collection material in
English
Repository:
Manuscript Division, Library of
Congress,
Washington, D.C.
Abstract: Clergyman and
missionary. Correspondence, diaries, sermon notes, speeches and articles,
reports, memoranda, family and personal correspondence, obituaries, Bibles,
printed matter, memorabilia, scrapbooks, and photographs documenting Brent's
career as a clergyman and missionary.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this
collection in the Library's online catalog. They are grouped by name of person
or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed
alphabetically therein.
Personal Names
Abbott,
Lyman, 1835-1922--Correspondence.
Brent
family.
Brent,
Charles Henry, 1862-1929.
Brent,
Helen C. C.
Bryce,
James Bryce, Viscount, 1838-1922--Correspondence.
Butler,
Nicholas Murray, 1862-1947--Correspondence.
Chamberlain, Austen, Sir, 1863-1937--Correspondence.
Coolidge,
Calvin, 1872-1933--Correspondence.
Davidson,
Randall Thomas, 1848-1930--Correspondence.
Drury,
Samuel S. (Samuel Smith), 1878-1928--Correspondence.
Forbes, W.
Cameron (William Cameron), 1870-1959--Correspondence.
Hoover,
Herbert, 1874-1964--Correspondence.
Knox,
Philander C. (Philander Chase), 1853-1921--Correspondence.
Lang,
Cosmo Gordon, 1864-1945--Correspondence.
Morgan, J.
Pierpont (John Pierpont), 1837-1913--Correspondence.
Mott, John
Raleigh, 1865-1955--Correspondence.
Northcliffe, Alfred Harmsworth, Viscount,
1865-1922--Correspondence.
Ogilby,
Remsen B., d. 1943.
Page,
Walter Hines, 1855-1918--Correspondence.
Peabody,
Francis Greenwood, 1847-1936--Correspondence.
Pepper,
George Wharton, 1867-1961--Correspondence.
Pershing,
John J. (John Joseph), 1860-1948--Correspondence.
Reid,
Whitelaw, 1837-1912--Correspondence.
Roosevelt,
Theodore, 1858-1919--Correspondence.
Root,
Elihu, 1845-1937--Correspondence.
Taft,
William H. (William Howard), 1857-1930--Correspondence.
Willcox,
Reginald N.--Correspondence.
Wood,
Leonard, 1860-1927--Correspondence.
Organizations
Episcopal Church--Missions--Philippines.
Episcopal Church. Diocese of
Western New York.
United
States. Army.
American Expeditionary
Forces--Chaplains.
World
Conference on Faith and Order.
Subjects
Ecumenical
movement.
Military
chaplains.
Narcotics--Congresses.
Opium.
World War,
1914-1918--Religious aspects.
Occupations
Clergy.
Missionaries.
Provenance:The papers of Charles Henry Brent, clergyman and missionary, were
deposited in the Library of Congress in 1954 by Helen C. C. Brent who converted
the deposit to a gift in 1955. Further gifts were received from Frederick W.
Kates in 1957 and 1958. Two other groups of papers were received and organized
later. An addition of 1979 was given in installments between 1971 and 1979 by
Whitney Hale, Frederick W. Kates, Roger W. Drury, and W. Scott Brent. An
addition of 1996 was given in installments between 1989 and 1992 by Elizabeth
Willcox Thomson, Douglas B. Thomson, and Philippiniana Sacra, Fathers'
Residence, University of Santo Tomas, Manila, Philippines.
Processing History:The Brent Papers were processed in 1959 and revised and expanded in
1979 and again in 1996. Further revisions were made to the finding aid in 2008.
The papers are the subject of a press release issued by the Library of Congress
on 7 March 1955. Published notes appeared in the Library's
Information Bulletin, vol. 14 (28 Feb. 1955), pp. 1-2, and
vol. 16 (16 Aug. 1957), pp. 410-411. In addition, the material was described in
the Library of Congress
Quarterly Journal of Current Acquisitions, vol. 12 (May
1955), p. 122, and vol. 15 (May 1958), pp. 190-191.
Copyright Status:Copyright in the unpublished writings of Charles Henry Brent in these
papers and in other collections of papers in the custody of the Library of
Congress has been dedicated to the public.
Preferred Citation:Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the
following information: Container number, Charles Henry Brent Papers, Manuscript
Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
| Date |
Event |
| 1862, Apr. 9 |
Born, Newcastle, Ontario, Canada |
| 1884 |
A.B. with honors in classics, Trinity College, University of
Toronto, Canada
|
| 1885-1987 |
Undermaster, Trinity College School, Port Hope, Canada |
| 1886 |
Ordained deacon, Protestant Episcopal Church |
| 1887 |
Ordained priest |
| 1889 |
A.M., Trinity College, University of Toronto, Canada |
| 1891 |
Became an American citizen |
| 1891-1901 |
Assistant rector, St. Stephen's Church, Boston, Mass. |
| 1899 |
Published
With God in the World. New York: Longmans,
Green
|
| 1901-1918 |
Missionary bishop to the Philippine Islands |
| 1903-1914 |
Member of committee appointed by the Philippine government for
investigation of the opium question
|
| 1904 |
Paddock lecturer, General Theological Seminary, New York,
N.Y.
|
| 1907 |
William Belden Noble lecturer, Harvard University, Cambridge,
Mass.
|
| 1908-1919 |
Chief commissioner for the United States and president of the
first International Opium Commission, Shanghai, China
|
| 1910 |
Attended International Missionary Conference, Edinburgh,
Scotland
|
| 1911-1912 |
Chairman, U.S. delegation to the International Opium
Conference, Hague, Netherlands (president of the conference, 1912)
|
| 1916 |
Published
A Master Builder, Being the Life and Letters of Henry Yates
Satterlee, First Bishop of Washington. New York: Longmans,
Green
|
| 1918 |
Published
The Mount of Vision, Being a Study of Life in Terms of the
Whole. New York: Longmans, Green
Elected Bishop, Diocese of Western New York, Protestant
Episcopal Church
|
| 1918-1919 |
Chief, Chaplain Service, American Expeditionary Forces,
France
|
| 1919-1929 |
Bishop, Diocese of Western New York, Protestant Episcopal
Church
|
| 1920 |
Chairman, Geneva meeting to plan the World Conference on Faith
and Order
|
| 1921 |
Duff lecturer, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Aberdeen universities,
Scotland.
|
| 1923 |
Appointed by President Warren G. Harding to the Advisory
Committee on Narcotics of the League of Nations
|
| 1924 |
Last attendance at opium conference |
| 1926-1928 |
Bishop in charge of American Episcopal churches in
Europe
|
| 1927 |
President, first World Conference on Faith and Order |
| 1928 |
Represented the Protestant Episcopal Church of America at the
installation of Cosmo Gordon Lang as Archbishop of Canterbury; last public
appearance
|
| 1929, Mar. 27 |
Died, Lausanne, Switzerland |
The papers of Charles Henry Brent span the years 1860-1991, but are
concentrated in the period 1901-1929. The papers document Brent's service as
first missionary bishop to the Philippine Islands representing the Protestant
Episcopal Church in America, 1901-1918; his term as chief of the Chaplain
Service of the American Expeditionary Forces, 1918-1919; his activities as a
bishop of the church and as a member of various conferences on the opium
problem; and his presidency of the World Conference on Faith and Order, 1927.
The papers consist of
correspondence, chiefly 1908-1929,
sermon
notes,
diaries,
manuscripts of
books and articles, speeches, a
subject file on
the opium conferences,
scrapbooks, and
printed
material. There is also a related group of papers assembled by Remsen B.
Ogilby, who died in 1943 before he had completed his planned
biography of
Bishop Brent.
Additions
contain family and personal correspondence, obituaries, articles, speeches,
photographs and miscellaneous material concerning his church missions,
conference work, and personal relationships.
Prominent correspondents include Lyman Abbott, James Bryce, Nicholas
Murray Butler, Austen Chamberlain, Calvin Coolidge, Randall Davidson, W.
Cameron Forbes, Herbert Hoover, Philander Chase Knox, Cosmo Gordon Lang, Jr.,
Pierpont Morgan, John R. Mott, Alfred C. W. H. Northcliffe, Walter Hines Page,
Francis G. Peabody, George Wharton Pepper, John J. Pershing, Whitelaw Reid,
Theodore Roosevelt, Elihu Root, William Howard Taft, and Leonard Wood.
The
1979
Addition spans the years 1888-1976, with the bulk of the material
concentrated in the period 1888-1929. Brent corresponded fairly regularly with
his sisters, and letters to them as well as those to his mother comment on
subjects such as his missionary work in the Philippines, attendance at various
religious and political international conferences, and the Protestant Episcopal
diocese of Western New York.
The diary in this addition, dated 1907, relates to diaries in the
original collection. The general correspondence is strictly of a personal
nature. One folder, consisting of letters to Samuel W. Drury and his family, is
composed entirely of copies of originals not included in this collection. The
Writings include notes of sermons given in 1902 and several poems and talks.
The Miscellany is comprised of biographical data presented at an American
bicentennial ceremony honoring Brent in 1976.
Correspondents among this additional material include Brent's sisters
Evelyn, Edith S, and Helen C. C. Brent, and his mother Frances Sophia Cummings
Brent. Other individuals to whom he wrote were Mrs. John Markoe and Edith Eaton
(Mrs. William B. Cutter).
The
1996
Addition spans the years 1919-1991, but is concentrated in the period
1919-1929. It consists of correspondence, articles and addresses by Brent,
obituaries, memorials, photographs, and miscellaneous material. The
correspondence dates from 1919-1929 and contains letters written almost
exclusively to Reginald N. Willcox and family, rector of Saint Luke's Church,
Jamestown, N. Y., a parish in Brent's diocese of Western New York. The issues
mentioned chiefly concern parish financial problems and Willcox's family.
Speeches and writings are predominantly addresses before the conventions of the
diocese of Western New York, 1922-1925, and the articles by Brent concern
religious matters.
The collection is arranged in eleven series:
-
Diaries,
1901-1929
-
General
Correspondence and Other Papers, 1886-1949
-
Sermon Notes and
Related Material, 1890-1929
-
Book, Article,
and Speech File, 1908-1928
-
Material
Relating to Brent's Death, 1929-1930
-
Miscellany
-
Subject File:
Conferences on Opium, 1860-1931
-
Scrapbooks,
1896-1928
-
Printed
Matter
-
Biographer's
Papers, circa 1890-1943
-
Additions,
1888-1991
| Container |
Series |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| BOX 1-3
|
|
|
Bound diaries. |
|
Arranged chronologically. |
|
| BOX 4-20
|
|
|
Letters sent and received. |
|
Arranged chronologically by month. |
|
| BOX 21-32
|
|
|
Bound and loose notes and related material. |
|
Arranged chronologically by year. |
|
| BOX 33-34
|
|
|
Holograph and typewritten drafts and galley proofs. |
|
Arranged by type of material and alphabetically by title. |
|
| BOX 35-36
|
|
|
Letters received chronologically arranged by month. Also material
concerning the Bishop Brent Memorial Fund.
|
|
| BOX 37
|
|
|
Memorabilia, commissions, licenses, passports, poems, fragments,
financial papers, photographs, and Bibles.
|
|
Arranged by type of material. |
|
| BOX 38-41
|
|
|
Correspondence, memoranda, reports, and printed and near-printed
matter relating to Brent's service on various conferences on opium.
|
|
Arranged largely by conference. |
|
| BOX 42-43
|
|
|
Clippings and typed copies of Brent's articles and editorials
mounted in scrapbooks.
|
|
Chronologically arranged. |
|
| BOX 44-48
|
|
|
Pamphlets, clippings, and near-printed and miscellaneous
material.
|
|
Arranged by subject. |
|
| BOX 49-67
|
|
|
Correspondence, notes, and manuscripts assembled by Remsen B.
Ogilby, including typed copies of Brent's letters and transcripts of excerpts
from Brent's diaries, 1901-1929, and drafts of Ogilby's biography.
|
|
A collection of holograph Brent letters is chronologically
arranged by month. Most of the Ogilby correspondence has been reassembled into
an alphabetical arrangement.
|
|
| BOX 68-72
|
|
|
| BOX 68-71
|
1979 Addition,
1888-1976 |
|
A diary, family and general correspondence, speeches and
writings, and miscellany.
|
|
Organized by type of material and further arranged
alphabetically or chronologically where possible.
|
|
| BOX 72
|
1996 Addition,
1919-1991 |
|
Correspondence, speeches and writings, biographical material,
photographs, and printed items.
|
|
Organized by type of material and chronologically therein where
possible.
|
| Container |
Contents |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| BOX 1-3
|
Diaries,
1901-1929
|
|
Bound diaries. |
|
Arranged chronologically. |
|
| BOX 1
|
1901-1906 |
|
| BOX 2
|
1909-1917 |
|
| BOX 3
|
1918-1919 |
|
|
1921 |
|
|
1923-1926 |
|
|
1929 |
|
| BOX 4-20
|
General Correspondence and
Other Papers,
1886-1949
|
|
Letters sent and received. |
|
Arranged chronologically by month. |
|
| BOX 4
|
1886-1900 |
|
| BOX 5
|
1901 |
|
| BOX 6
|
1902-1907 |
|
| BOX 7
|
1908, Jan.-Aug. |
|
| BOX 8
|
1908, Sept.-1909-Dec. |
|
| BOX 9
|
1910-1911 |
|
| BOX 10
|
1912-1914 |
|
| BOX 11
|
1915, Jan.-Sept. |
|
| BOX 12
|
1915, Oct.-1916, Oct |
|
| BOX 13
|
1916, Nov.-1917, May |
|
| BOX 14
|
1917, June-1918, Feb. |
|
| BOX 15
|
1918, Mar.-Sept. |
|
| BOX 16
|
1918, Oct.-1925, Dec. |
|
| BOX 17
|
1926-1928 |
|
| BOX 18
|
1929, n.d. |
|
|
Brent, Helen C. C.,
correspondence, 1931-1949, n.d.
|
|
| BOX 19
|
Gardiner, Robert H.,
correspondence, 1908-1924
|
|
| BOX 20
|
Brown, Ralph W., correspondence,
1924-1929
|
|
| BOX 21-32
|
Sermon Notes and Related
Material,
1890-1929
|
|
Bound and loose notes and related material. |
|
Arranged chronologically by year. |
|
| BOX 21
|
Bound |
|
|
1890-1897 |
|
(6 vols.)
|
|
| BOX 22
|
1893-1898 |
|
(7 vols.)
|
|
| BOX 23
|
1896-1898 |
|
(7 vols.)
|
|
| BOX 24
|
1897-1901 |
|
(10 vols.)
|
|
| BOX 25
|
1901-1909 |
|
(17 vols.)
|
|
| BOX 26
|
1910-1917 |
|
(14 vols.)
|
|
| BOX 27
|
1918-1928, n.d. |
|
(14 vols.)
|
|
| BOX 28
|
Undated |
|
(15 vols.)
|
|
| BOX 29
|
Unbound |
|
|
1917-1922 |
|
| BOX 30
|
1923-1927, n.d. |
|
| BOX 31
|
Undated |
|
| BOX 32
|
Miscellaneous notes, 1897-1929,
n.d.
|
|
(15 vols.)
|
|
| BOX 33-34
|
Book, Article, and Speech
File,
1908-1928
|
|
Holograph and typewritten drafts and galley proofs. |
|
Arranged by type of material and alphabetically by title. |
|
| BOX 33
|
Books |
|
|
"Adventures in
Prayer"
|
|
|
"The Commonwealth" |
|
|
"The Mystic Sense" |
|
|
Untitled, chapter III ("Our
Opportunities")
|
|
| BOX 34
|
Articles and speeches |
|
|
Articles |
|
|
"European Nations and
Christian Statesmanship"
|
|
|
"On `Peril' Among
Robbers"
|
|
|
Speeches |
|
|
Edinburgh, Scotland,
lectures, 1921
|
|
|
Various, 1908-1928,
n.d.
|
|
| BOX 35-36
|
Material Relating to
Brent's Death,
1929-1930
|
|
Letters received chronologically arranged by month. Also material
concerning the Bishop Brent Memorial Fund.
|
|
| BOX 35
|
Letters received,
1929
|
|
| BOX 36
|
Bishop Brent Memorial Fund,
1929-1930
|
|
| BOX 37
|
Miscellany
|
|
Memorabilia, commissions, licenses, passports, poems, fragments,
financial papers, photographs, and Bibles.
|
|
Arranged by type of material. |
|
| BOX 37
|
Bibles |
|
|
Memorabilia |
|
|
Commissions, licenses, passports,
and fragments
|
|
|
Photographs |
|
|
Financial papers |
|
| BOX 38-41
|
Subject File: Conferences
on Opium,
1860-1931
|
|
Correspondence, memoranda, reports, and printed and near-printed
matter relating to Brent's service on various conferences on opium.
|
|
Arranged largely by conference. |
|
| BOX 38
|
Conferences on opium |
|
|
1909-1912 |
|
| BOX 39
|
1923, May-June |
|
| BOX 40
|
1924, Nov.-1925,
Jan.
|
|
| BOX 41
|
1909-1925 |
|
|
Personal conference file,
1923-1929
|
|
|
Printed matter,
1860-1931
|
|
|
State Department, correspondence,
1923
|
|
|
Miscellany, 1921-1924 |
|
| BOX 42-43
|
Scrapbooks,
1896-1928
|
|
Clippings and typed copies of Brent's articles and editorials
mounted in scrapbooks.
|
|
Chronologically arranged. |
|
| BOX 42
|
1896-1901 |
|
(2 vols.)
|
|
| BOX 43
|
1901-1928 |
|
(3 vols.)
|
|
| BOX 44-48
|
Printed
Matter
|
|
Pamphlets, clippings, and near-printed and miscellaneous
material.
|
|
Arranged by subject. |
|
| BOX 44
|
By and about Brent |
|
| BOX 45
|
Clippings |
|
| BOX 46
|
Geneva Convention, Geneva,
Switzerland
|
|
|
Lanman-Orient |
|
|
New York Diocese
publications
|
|
|
Peace movement |
|
| BOX 47
|
Philippine Islands |
|
|
St. Stephen's Church, Boston,
Mass.
|
|
|
"Why the Church?" |
|
|
World Conference on Faith and
Order
|
|
| BOX 48
|
Miscellany |
|
| BOX 49-67
|
Biographer's Papers,
circa 1890-1943
|
|
Correspondence, notes, and manuscripts assembled by Remsen B.
Ogilby, including typed copies of Brent's letters and transcripts of excerpts
from Brent's diaries, 1901-1929, and drafts of Ogilby's biography.
|
|
A collection of holograph Brent letters is chronologically
arranged by month. Most of the Ogilby correspondence has been reassembled into
an alphabetical arrangement.
|
|
| BOX 49
|
Holograph letters by
Brent
|
|
|
1890-1903 |
|
| BOX 50
|
1904-1910 |
|
| BOX 51
|
1911-1915 |
|
| BOX 52
|
1916-1929, n.d. |
|
| BOX 53
|
Transcript of excerpts from
Brent's diaries
|
|
|
Vol. 1, 1901-1910 |
|
| BOX 54
|
Vol. 2, 1911-1929 |
|
| BOX 55
|
Draft of "The Impatient
Crusader"
|
|
| BOX 56
|
Correspondence |
|
|
A-B |
|
| BOX 57
|
C-G |
|
| BOX 58
|
H-L |
|
| BOX 59
|
Ma-Mi |
|
| BOX 60
|
Mo-Pepper |
|
| BOX 61
|
Pepper, George W. |
|
| BOX 62
|
Ph-R |
|
| BOX 63
|
S-V |
|
| BOX 64
|
W-Z and unarranged |
|
| BOX 65-67
|
Miscellaneous
material
|
|
| BOX 68-72
|
Additions,
1888-1991
|
|
| BOX 68-71
|
1979 Addition,
1888-1976 |
|
A diary, family and general correspondence, speeches and
writings, and miscellany.
|
|
Organized by type of material and further arranged
alphabetically or chronologically where possible.
|
|
| BOX 68
|
Diary, 1907 |
|
|
Family correspondence,
1889-1929, n.d.
|
|
|
Brent, Frances Sophia
Cummings (mother), 1897-1900
|
|
|
Brent, Edith S.
(sister)
|
|
|
1901-1917 |
|
(3 folders)
|
|
| BOX 69
|
1918-1929, n.d.
|
|
(2 folders)
|
|
|
Brent, Evelyn (sister),
1889-1929, n.d.
|
|
(3 folders)
|
|
|
Brent, Helen
(sister)
|
|
|
1910-1911 |
|
| BOX 70
|
1912-1929, n.d.
|
|
(3 folders)
|
|
|
"Dear Sisters"
letters
|
|
|
1911-1928 |
|
(3 folders)
|
|
| BOX 71
|
1929, n.d., and fragments
|
|
(2 folders)
|
|
|
General correspondence,
1888-1929, n.d.
|
|
|
Drury, Samuel W. and family,
1905-1921
|
|
|
Eaton, Edith (Mrs. William B.
Cutter), 1888-1893
|
|
|
Markoe, Mrs. John, 1910-1921,
n.d.
|
|
|
Miscellaneous,
1918-1929
|
|
|
Miscellany, American
Bicentennial memorial service honoring Brent, 1976
|
|
|
Speeches and writings,
1902-1928, n.d.
|
|
|
"A National Memorial to Our
Soldier Dead," 1928
|
|
|
Notes |
|
|
Poems and other writings,
n.d.
|
|
| BOX 72
|
1996 Addition,
1919-1991 |
|
Correspondence, speeches and writings, biographical material,
photographs, and printed items.
|
|
Organized by type of material and chronologically therein where
possible.
|
|
| BOX 72
|
Correspondence, Reginald N.
Willcox and family, 1919-1929
|
|
(2 folders)
|
|
|
Miscellany |
|
|
Obituaries, memorials, and
articles concerning Brent, 1929-1991, n.d.
|
|
|
Photographs, n.d. |
|
|
Printed and near-printed
items, 1919-1988, n.d.
|
|
|
Speeches and writings,
1922-1926, n.d.
|
|
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