Robert E. Brown Papers

Collection

Identifier: RG 30-040

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The papers of Robert E. Brown document his career as a minister, member of the Oberlin College Board of Trustees, and as a Professor of Practical Theology and Human Relations at the Oberlin Graduate School of Theology. The collection consists of very little biographical material.

The collected works include notebooks containing lecture notes for “Preacher’s Philosophy,” as well as “Hymnology,” courses taught by Brown while a professor at the Oberlin Graduate School of Theology from 1930 until his death in 1938. The collection also consists of a notebook containing the records of weddings, funerals, and baptisms performed by Brown. These records span the years 1924-38 and contain the service date, name(s) of involved parties, location of the service, as well as the monetary compensation received.

A selection of writings is also contained within the collection, including published articles, published sermons, a student paper titled “The History of Carols,” written by Frances N. Hutchinson in 1936, and a work entitled, “In Praise of British-American Friendship...” ca. 1935 compiled by Brown.

Dates

Creation: 1922-1938, undated
Other: Date acquired: 10/26/1966

Creator

Brown, Robert E. (Brown, Robert Elliott) (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Unrestricted.

Biographical Sketch

Robert Elliott Brown was born in Middleville, Ontario, Canada, on December 17, 1873, the son of Rev. Robert (1831-1893) and Anna Haselden Unsworth Brown (1836-1923). He attended the Oberlin Academy, graduated from Oberlin College (B.A.) in 1901, from Yale Divinity School (B.D.) in 1904, and in 1921 he received the D.D. degree from Carleton College.

While he served pastorates as a Congregational minister in Waterbury and New Haven, Connecticut, and in Oakland, California, he was appointed to the Oberlin College Board of Trustees in 1920. His service as a trustee ended in 1929 when he joined the Oberlin Graduate School of Theology as a Professor of Practical Theology and Human Relations, a position he held until his sudden death on November 25, 1938. He was buried at Westwood Cemetery in Oberlin.

He participated actively on Executive Committees of the National Council of the Congregational-Christian Churches and the Congregational World Movement. During World War I, he served in France in 1917 and 1918 in YMCA work.

His wife, Mabel Aurelia Millikan (1877-1970, O.C. 1901), whom he married June 24, 1904, was the sister of Nobel Prize winning physicist, Robert Andrews Millikan (1868-1953), class of 1891. They had two children, Edward Southard (1917-2003) and Elizabeth A. (1921-2000).

Sources Consulted:

Faculty and Student file of Robert E. Brown (RG 28).