Brown University Library Collections
Manuscript Collections
Return to Collections A to Z Index
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Barker (Sarah Elizabeth Minchin)
Sarah Elizabeth Minchin Barker (also known as Sally Barker) was an actress and director whose career was highlighted by the work with The Players at the Talma Theatre and the Barker Playhouse Theatre. She was active in dramatic events at Pembroke, where she taught theatre. Her husband, Henry Ames Barker, 1861-1929 (Brown class of 1893) was a guiding influence and a director of the Players. He was the son of Mayor Harry Barker of Providence and active himself in the civic and cultural affairs of the city.
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Bornstein (Kate)
This collection consists of the papers of Kate Bornstein, performer, playwright, author, and transgender activist who graduated from Brown University as Albert Bornstein in 1969. The collection documents Bornstein's personal and professional life and trans activism, and includes biographical information, correspondence, diaries, conference material, draft writings, writings by other authors, subject files, print material, ephemera, photographs, and electronic records dating from 1910-2018. The Bornstein papers were curated by the Nancy L. Buc '65 Pembroke Center Archivist on behalf of the Christine Dunlap Farnham Archive and the John Hay Library.
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Brown Alumnae Club of Kent County
This collection contains administrative and historical records of the Brown Alumnae Club of Kent County. Materials date from 1987-2018 and include bylaws, Presidents' binders, secretary's books, photographs from events, and a scrapbook.
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Brown University women's athletics ephemera
The Brown University women's athletics ephemera dates from 1970-1979 and contains calendars, booklets, pamphlets, a poster, and a t-shirt, for women's intercollegiate basketball, field hockey, ice hockey, softball, swimming, and tennis.
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Buc (Nancy L.)
This collection consists of the papers of Nancy L. Buc, a 1965 graduate of Brown University, an attorney and the first woman Chief Counsel for the Food the Drug Administration. The collection documents Buc's personal and professional life with a particular focus on her career in government in Washington, DC, and her service on the Corporation of Brown University. Materials include biographical information, correspondence, conference material, speeches, writings, subject files, print material, photographs, and electronic records dating from 1950-2015.
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Canner (Carol)
This collection contains 18 black and white photographs of Pembroke College students on campus and a copy of "Pembroke Magazine" which belonged to Carol Canner, Brown University class of 1959. Materials date from 1956-1959.
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Chace (Elizabeth Buffum)
This collection includes correspondence, Elizabeth Buffum Chace’s commonplace book and diary, family albums, scrapbooks, photographs, an album of familial hair locks, needlework (cross stitch samplers), newspaper clippings, and other material relating to the Buffums, the Chaces, the Cheneys, and the Tolmans. The papers also contain letters in response to Chace’s book "Anti-Slavery Reminiscences." Elizabeth Buffum Chace was an activist for prison reform, the rights of orphans, peace, and temperance.
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Clements (Dawn)
This collection consists of the personal and professional papers of Dawn Clements (1958-2018), a 1986 graduate of Brown University and a contemporary artist who was known for her work with Sumi ink and ballpoint pen on small to large-scale paper panels. The collection includes personal correspondence, diaries, photos, research notes, paintings and sketches with the bulk dating from 1970-2018.
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COYOTE Rhode Island
This collection contains the organizational records of COYOTE Rhode Island, a group of sex workers, former sex workers, trafficking victims, and allies, who advocate for policies that promote the health and safety of people involved in the sex industry. Materials include administrative records; special project files such as the COYOTE-RI Impact Survey and Sex Workers Outreach Project pen pal letters; subject files regarding other advocacy organizations; public records of court cases, arrests, and legislation relating to prostitution; and informational zines and booklets. The collections dates from 1990 to 2021.
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Crosby (Christina)
This collection consists of the personal and professional papers of Christina Crosby, lesbian and feminist scholar, social justice activist, and co-founder of Sojourner House – a non-profit dedicated to supporting those affected by domestic and sexual violence in Rhode Island. Crosby worked as a Professor in the English Department and a Professor of Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Wesleyan University. Her scholarship focused on women in 19th-century British literature but turned toward disability studies after a near-fatal bicycle accident in 2003. In 2016, Crosby published "A Body Undone: Living on After Great Pain" documenting this experience. The collection documents Crosby's personal life, academic career, research, and writing, and includes photographs, correspondence, syllabi, handwritten notes, research articles, and writing drafts. The collection spans from 1949 to 2023.
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Crost (Lyn)
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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Cserr (Helen F.)
This collection contains the personal and professional papers of Helen F. Cserr, Brown University Professor of Physiology from 1970 to 1993 and scholar of the anatomy and mechanism of the human brain. A notable woman in science, Cserr also made history in 1975 when she joined Lamphere v. Brown University - a class action sex discrimination suit - when she was unjustly denied tenure. In a landmark settlement, Cserr and fellow plaintiffs prevailed and Cserr was awarded retroactive tenure in 1978. The collection includes biographical information, personal and professional correspondence, teaching materials, writings, laboratory research, and legal files stemming from the case and dating from 1965 to 1994.
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Dirt Palace ephemera
This collection consists of the ephemera of Dirt Palace a feminist artist-run non-profit arts space and artist collective located in Providence, Rhode Island. The collection includes articles, zines, posters, pamphlets, and newsletters related to the activities of Dirt Palace’s space and affiliated artists. The collection spans from 2011 to 2018.
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duCille (Ann)
This collection contains the personal and professional papers of Ann duCille, Professor of English, Emerita at Wesleyan University and Inaugural Distinguished Professor in Residence for the Black Feminist Theory Project at the Pembroke Center, Brown University. DuCille is a scholar of African-American literature, cultural studies, and Black feminist theory. Materials include family photographs, personal and professional correspondence, draft writings, research materials, and annotated books. Materials date from 1945 to 2020, but the bulk of the materials date from 1965 to 2020. ...more information
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Ekstrom (Ruth B.)
This collection consists of the papers of Ruth B. Ekstrom, education testing researcher and early woman member of the Brown Corporation. The collection documents Ekstrom's student life, career, and participation in establishing the Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women at Brown University. Materials include correspondence, clippings, Pembroke College ephemera, subject files, and published works by Ekstrom, dating from 1924-1988.
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Farnham
The Christine Dunlap Farnham Archives records contains office files arranged by topic and correspondence, which is arranged alphabetically. The topical files include materials related to women's history sources, oral histories, various women's organizations and conferences, newsletters and reports. The files are dated from circa 1973 to 1993.
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Fausto-Sterling (Anne)
This collection consists of the professional papers of Anne Fausto-Sterling, Brown University Professor Emerita of Biology and Gender Studies and scholar of the biology of gender development and gender differences. The collection documents Fausto-Sterling’s academic career, research, and writings, and includes correspondence, teaching materials, lab notebooks and slides, subject files, and print materials dating from 1961-2020.
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Glass (Jodi L.)
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.
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Green (Eleanor Burges)
These papers contain correspondence relating to Eleanor Burges Green's support of Pembroke College, her role in organizing a memorial service to Dean Lida Shaw King who died in 1932, and the publication and distribution of two books paying tribute to Dean King. Additional materials include a draft of a Rhode Island Society for the Collegiate Education of Women resolution and correspondence with the Association of Collegiate Alumnae.
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Greenfield Review Press
The Greenfield Review Press Papers contain materials related to the publication of The Greenfield Review, COSMEP Prison Project Newsletter, Prison Writing Review, and various other single author works and anthologies published by the Greenfield Review Press. The collection also contains author files that include published and unpublished poetry and prose manuscripts along with extensive correspondence that features a variety of black American and black African poets, Canadian, Chicano, West Indies/Caribbean, Arab American, American Indian and Asian American poets, as well as many incarcerated authors.
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Gund (Catherine)
This collection contains the professional and activist files of Catherine Gund, film and television producer, director, writer, and activist whose work focuses on AIDS and the LGBTQIA+ community. Gund is the founder of Aubin Pictures, a nonprofit documentary film company, and a member of the Brown University class of 1988. Materials include correspondence, clippings, and handwritten notes from Gund’s consultancy and board work; research, production, and post-production materials for various films and television shows by Gund; and magazines, newspapers, journals and zines. Materials date from 1971 to 2020.
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Harrison (Jane Fiske)
Jane Fiske Harrison graduated from Pembroke College, the women's college in Brown University until 1971, in 1965 with an AB in American literature. This collection contains Fiske Harrison's Pembroke College beanie and green wool blazer, "Blueprint 1965" face book, correspondence from her high school English teacher and fellow Pembroke College alumna, and a special section of The Providence Sunday Journalhonoring Brown University's 200th anniversary. Materials date from 1961 – 1964.
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Hartland-Thunberg (Penelope)
This collection consists of the papers of Penelope Hartland-Thunberg '40, economist, expert on international trade and finance, and member of the United States Tariff Commission (1965-1969) and Central Intelligence Agency (ca.1954-1978). The collection documents Hartland-Thunberg's professional life and scholarship. Materials include biographical information, correspondence, files pertaining to her role at the Georgetown Center for Economic and Strategic Studies, writings, speeches, and photographs dating from 1950-2004.
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Hinrichs (Albert Ford)
This collection consists primarily of letters describing the USSR in 1930 and 1932 as it appeared to an American economist. Also included is miscellaneous biographical information relating to the author.
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Hughes (Donna M.)
This collection consists of the personal and professional papers of Donna M. Hughes. She is Professor Emeritus and was the Eleanor M. and Oscar M. Carlson Endowed Chair in Women's Studies at the University of Rhode Island. Throughout her career, Hughes worked closely with women survivors of violence and sexual exploitation where her research centered the experiences of women and girls, which was a pioneering approach in the field. Many consider Hughes to be the founder of the academic study of sex trafficking. Materials in the collection document Hughes’ academic career, research, writing, and advocacy work and is composed of dossiers, legal files, teacher evaluations, personal and professional correspondence, handwritten notes, conference materials, research articles, and writing drafts, dating from 1971-2024.
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Kahn (Coppelia)
Papers of Coppelia Kahn, Professor Emerita of English at Brown University and scholar of Shakespeare, Early Modern English literature, and feminist literary theory. Papers consist of administrative files, conference materials, teaching materials, and draft writings dating from 1971 to 2019.
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Kenvin (Helene Schwartz)
This collection was donated by Helene Schwartz Kenvin, Brown University class of 1962. Materials are a book titled Women on the Cusp: Social Upheaval and the Class of 1962 at Pembroke College in Brown University; a CD titled "The 'We're Tired of Being Cooped Up and Need Some Loving Contact' Pembroke '62 Newsletter" featuring missives from fellow alumnae during the COVID-19 pandemic; and a piece of correspondence detailing alumnae activities during the COVID-19 pandemic. This collection dates from 2018-2021.
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Krongelb (Malana)
The Malana Krongelb zine collection consists of administrative files and zines that focus on social justice and marginalized identities, dating from 1974 to 2018. Areas of strength include zines by and about people of color, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and other queer peoples, disabled people, interpersonal violence, sex and relationships, sex work, the prison industrial complex, self-care, feminism, and punk.
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Laviolette (Marie Louise)
This collection consists of the personal papers of Maria Louise Laviolette, Pembroke College alumna from the class of 1905. Papers document events at Pembroke and include Class Day, commencement, and Ivy Day programs, as well as a formal graduation photo of Laviolette and a photo book of Brown University. The collection spans from 1905-1906 with the exception of one piece of correspondence from 2018.
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Lovell family
The Lovell family papers were compiled by Malcolm R. Lovell, Jr. They range in date from 1790 to 1911, with the primary focus being the period between 1800 and 1860. The range of subjects covered is equally broad, including religion and spirituality, slavery, family life, and student life at Brown University.
Religion is at the core of this collection. The story depicted in the collection of nearly 850 letters, journals, clippings, sermons and other materials is that of a family struggling with its convictions about religion. These convictions are apparent in nearly all portions of the collection, from the sermons of Shubael Lovell to the letters and journals of his children.
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Medieval and Early Modern Manuscripts
Brown University Library holds some 50 manuscript codices as well as numerous manuscript documents and fragments, all housed in the John Hay Library. Most of these items were acquired as gifts over the past two centuries, some of them coming as parts of other named collections such as the Harry Lyman Koopman Collection, the Annmary Brown Memorial Collection, and the Albert E. Lownes Collection of Significant Books in the History of Science. Most are from western Europe and date from the 11th through the 17th centuries, and are in Latin, Greek, French, German, Italian, and other European languages, although we also hold three Ethiopic manuscripts in Ge'ez, and several in Arabic. The Minassian Collection of Persian, Mughal, and Indian Miniatures is also relevant to this collection.
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Nicholson (Nellie B.)
This collection contains a scrapbook compiled by Nellie B. Nicholson, Brown University class of 1911. Nicholson is believed to be the fifth Black woman graduate from Pembroke College, the women's college in Brown University, and was a leading advocate for Black women's right to vote. She was an educator in Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania, for over 40 years. The scrapbook includes 172 photographs of friends and family members, Pembroke College campus buildings and women's athletics, house mates at 45 East Transit Street in Providence, and post-graduation travels and work. Many of these include handwritten captions. The scrapbook also includes programs for various events primarily at Brown, ribbons from events, and dried flowers and stems. Materials in this scrapbook date from 1906 to 1917, but the bulk of the items date from 1910 - 1911.
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Society for Women in Philosophy
This collection consists of the records of the Society for Women in Philosophy, an organization established in 1972 to support and promote women in philosophy. The collection includes newsletters, correspondence, and conference materials, dating from 1971 to 2024 and documents the organization on international, national, and regional levels.
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Webber (Gail Frances)
This collection contains undergraduate notebooks from Gail Frances Webber, Brown University class of 1960. Webber graduated with an A.B. in Spanish. Notebooks contain handwritten notes from economics, English, political science, psychology, Russian, and Sociology courses from 1957 through 1960.
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