Guide to the W.C. Bronson papers , circa 1885-1928

(bulk 1900-1928)

John Hay Library , Special Collections
Box A
Brown University
Providence, RI 02912
Tel: 401-863-2146
email: hay@brown.edu

Published in 2013

Collection Overview

Title:	W.C. Bronson papers
Date range:	circa 1885-1928, (bulk 1900-1928)
Creator:	Bronson, Walter C. (Walter Cochrane), 1862-1928
Extent:	5.5 Linear feet
Abstract:	The W.C. Bronson papers comprise the professional and personal records of Professor Walter Cochrane Bronson from his time as a student at Brown University through his career as a professor of English at Cornell University, West Virginia University, and Brown University, from which he retired in 1927.
Language of materials:	English
Repository:	John Hay Library , Special Collections
Collection number:	MS-1UF-B4

Scope & content

The W.C. Bronson papers comprises the professional and personal records of Professor Walter Cochrane Bronson from his time as a student at Brown University through his career as a professor of English at Cornell University, West Virginia University, and Brown University, from which he retired from in 1927. The collection consists of writings from the full span of his career; research, lecture and teaching material; and a small component of personal papers.

The first series, Research and writing, is divided between four subseries: Writings of Walter Cochrane Bronson, Authors, Subjects, and Notes and fragments. Writings consist of personal writings from his time as a student at Brown University through 1926. Authors consist of notes on predominantly British and American authors, arranged in alphabetical order. Named authors are followed by thirteen folders of research notes on multiple authors that have not been separated out. The third subseries consists of research and notes on literary subjects, in particular, these materials focus on period and genre. These notes are similar to those on authors and there is some overlap between the two. The fourth subseries consists of largely unsorted notes and fragments covering a host of authors and topics and includes a personal notebook of W.C. Bronson.

Series 2, consists of lecture and teaching materials. This series includes lecture notes of W.C. Bronson from the range English courses he taught t Brown University as well as materials from courses taught at Cornell University and West Virginia University. This series includes class schedules and notes of W.C. Bronson for English 16-English 160. Also included within the series are limited student assignments and student work from courses taught by Professor Bronson.

The third and smallest series contains personal papers of W.C. Bronson. The series includes limited correspondence, articles and clippings, postcards, and other printed ephemera. Correspondents include students and professinoal colleagues. A significant component of the correspondence is addressed to Bronson at the time of his retirement.

Access Points

Subject Organizations

• Brown University

Subject Organizations

• Brown University--Faculty.

Subject Topics

• English literature--Criticism, Textual
• English literature--Study and teaching (Higher)

Occupations

• College teachers

Document Types

• Ephemera
• Lecture notes
• Postcards
• Research notes

Subject Topics

• Education

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in 3 series: 1. Research and writing, 2. Lecture and teaching materials, 3. Personal papers.

Biographical note

Walter Cochrane Bronson (1862-1928), professor of English and author of The History of Brown University, 1764-1914, was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts, on August 17, 1862. His mother was the daughter of Jeremiah Chaplin 1799, the first president of Waterville (Colby) College. He postponed entering college because of illness and graduated from Brown in 1887. He studied at Harvard Divinity School the next year and did graduate work at Cornell from 1888 to 1890. He was appointed Fellow in English Literature at Cornell in 1889 and professor of English at DePauw University in 1890. He became associate professor of English literature at Brown in 1892, and full professor in 1895. The Dictionary of American Biography said of him: "His creative tendencies were restrained ... by an acute critical sense, a liking for research, and his genius for teaching. He held it finer to teach great literature than to produce a middling sort." He edited Poems of William Collins and volumes of English and American poetry and prose, and was the author of A Short History of American Literature in 1900, and The History of Brown University, 1764-1914, written in the sesquicentennial year of the University. Bronson retired in 1927 and traveled to the south of France for his health. He died in Oxford, England, on June 2, 1928.

The above entry appears in Encyclopedia Brunoniana by Martha Mitchell, copyright ©1993 by the Brown University Library. It is used here by permission of the author and the University and may not be copied or further distributed without permission.

Access & Use

Access to the collection:	There are no restrictions on access, except that the collection can only be seen by prior appointment. Some materials may be stored off-site and cannot be produced on the same day on which they are requested.
Use of the materials:	Although Brown University has physical ownership of the collection and the materials contained therein, it does not claim literary rights. Researchers should note that compliance with copyright law is their responsibility. Researchers must determine the owners of the literary rights and obtain any necessary permissions from them.
Preferred citation:	W.C. Bronson papers, Ms-1UF-B4, Brown University Archives.
Contact information:	John Hay Library , Special Collections Box A Brown University Providence, RI 02912 Tel: 401-863-2146 email: hay@brown.edu

Administrative Information

ABOUT THE COLLECTION
ABOUT THE FINDING AID
Author:	Finding aid prepared by Caroline Hogan
Encoding:	This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit 2013 January 23
Descriptive rules:	Finding aid based on Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)
Sponsor:	Processing funded by a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.

Additional Information

Inventory

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