Guide to the Henry Merritt Wriston files, 1915-1977

John Hay Library, University Archives and Manuscripts
Box A
Brown University
Providence, RI, 02912
Telephone: Manuscripts: 401-863-3723; University Archives: 401-863-2148
Email: Manuscripts: hay@brown.edu; University Archives: archives@brown.edu

Published in

Collection Overview

Title:	Henry Merritt Wriston files
Date range:	1915-1977
Creator:	Wriston, Henry M. (Henry Merritt), 1889-1978
Extent:	37.25 linear feet
Abstract:	The Henry Merritt Wriston papers are an extensive collection of correspondence (both professional and personal), speeches, articles, manuscripts and appointment books relating to Brown University's eleventh president. The material reflects all aspects of university administration as well as President Wriston's involvement in a range of professional organizations. Also included are numerous articles and publications by and about Wriston. The date range is 1915 through 1977.
Language of materials:	English
Repository:	John Hay Library, University Archives and Manuscripts
Collection number:	OF.1C.11

Scope & content

The Henry Merritt Wriston papers consist of correspondence; speeches; writings; manuscripts; drafts (documents); galley proofs; contracts; plans; and printed material, including clippings, reprints, pamphlets, and programs. The collection documents Wriston's career as president of Brown University and Lawrence College; his experiences at Wesleyan University; his work in foreign relations including activities with the Council on Foreign Relations and World War II related policy; his work for the American Assembly, and other political, social, and educational institutions; and his publications. The bulk of Wriston's Brown University-related papers are in series I and XV. Subjects documented in the Brown Files (I) include athletics; alumni and alumnae affairs; development of the applied mathematics program; commencements; the Corporation; budgets and finance; fund raising; the Graduate School; libraries; Pembroke College; student organizations; and various extra-University organizations such as the Association of American Colleges. Wriston created significant changes in student housing during his administration. Brown's buildings and grounds are well documented in the Brown Files series as well as the Buildings and Grounds (Real Estate) - Fraternities series (XV). Subjects in the latter series include the restoration of the original college edifice, general improvements to buildings and grounds, and the construction of student housing and other buildings. The Wesleyan Correspondence series (XIX) reflects Wriston's role as a professor of history and includes discussions of various issues such as athletics and the selection of the Wesleyan president. There is also correspondence related to the Williams College, Institute of Politics. Several other series contain Wesleyan and Lawrence related materials.

Access Points

Subject Names

• Wriston, Henry M. (Henry Merritt), 1889-1978
• Mussolini, Benito, 1883-1945.

Subject Organizations

• Brown University--Buildings
• Brown University--Curricula
• Brown University--Finance
• Brown University--Graduate work
• Brown University--History--20th century
• Brown University--Presidents
• Brown University--Sports
• Brown University--Student housing
• Brown University--Library
• Brown University. Department of Applied Mathematics
• American Assembly
• Council on Foreign Relations
• Lawrence College (Appleton, Wis.)
• Wesleyan University (Middletown, Conn.)
• Delta Tau Delta Fraternity
• Association of American Universities
• Williams College. Institute of Politics
• Brown University--Alumni and alumnae
• Universities and colleges--Administration
• Brown University. Corporation.
• Brown University. Office of the President.

Subject Topics

• College Buildings
• Dormitories
• World War, 1939-1945--Public opinion
• Universities and colleges--Rhode Island
• Universities and colleges--Presidents
• Speeches, addresses, etc.

Geographical Names

• United States--Foreign relations--20th century

Arrangement

This collection is arranged in 24 series.

• Series I. Brown Files
• Series II. Outside Organizations
• Series III. Correspondence about Articles and Books
• Series IV. Correspondence about Articles and Books
• Series V. Speeches
• Series VI. Publications
• Series VII. Speeches and Articles from August
• Series VIII. Greetings, Articles, Book Reviews
• Series IX. Correspondence, New York
• Series X. Book Manuscripts
• Series XI. Personal Correspondence
• Series XII. Wesleyan and Lawrence correspondence
• Series XIII. Material used for Armed Services Manual
• Series XIV. Gifts, Howard Foundation, etc.
• Series XV. Buildings and Grounds (Real Estate)-Fraternities
• Series XVI. President's Fellowship
• Series XVII. Articles
• Series XVIII. Correspondence
• Series XIX. Wesleyan Correspondence
• Series XX. Personal Correspondence
• Series XXI. American Assembly
• Series XXII. Proposal for College of American Studies in Switzerland
• Series XXIII. Articles
• Series XXIV. Appointment books

Biographical/Historical Note

Henry Merritt Wriston (1889-1978), eleventh president of Brown University, was born in Laramie, Wyoming, on July 4, 1889. His father, Henry Lincoln Wriston, born in West Virginia, had attended Ohio Wesleyan University for two years before moving to Texas and then to Colorado, where he was in the first class to graduate from the University of Denver. His mother, Jennie Amalia Atcheson, was the daughter of a New York ship carpenter who moved to Missouri and then to Colorado. At Wesleyan he majored in medieval history, edited the college newspaper, debated, and won the senior oratorial contest. After graduation in 1911, he pursued graduate study at Harvard for three years, but left without completing his dissertation to return to Wesleyan as an instructor in history. By 1919, he was a full professor at the age of 30, and still without his Ph.D. During the World War he was an assistant manager of the Connecticut State Council of Defense, and demonstrated administrative talent which led to his appointment in 1919 as executive secretary of the Wesleyan endowment fund campaign. Wriston then took a leave of absence to work for his doctorate, which he received from Harvard in 1922. His dissertation, which treated the extent of the use of personal executive agents by American presidents in conducting foreign relations, won him a reputation as an American diplomatic scholar, and when published in book form, became a standard text in the State Department. In 1925 he accepted the presidency of Lawrence College in Appleton, Wisconsin. He left to become president of Brown in 1937. The newly-elected president was as different as possible from his predecessors. He was the first who was not an ordained Baptist minister and the first non-graduate of Brown since Francis Wayland. William S. Learned 1897, who recommended him, wrote, “He would undoubtedly provide a series of shocks to the old college, but I believe it would survive and profit enormously.” In fact, he was like a breath of fresh air, injecting new life into the University, and he himself later commented that his selection signalled the Corporation’s determination to make substantial changes in the University. Among the accomplishments of Wriston’s administration were the integration of Brown and Pembroke classes, the growth of the Graduate School, the acquisition of new and younger faculty members, and the establishment of new departments such as Applied Mathematics and Egyptology. After his retirement in 1955, he was named executive director of the American Assembly, an organization to hold conferences on current national problems, which had been founded by Dwight D. Eisenhower while he was president of Columbia University. In 1960 Eisenhower named him chairman of the President’s Commission on National Goals, which produced a volume, Goals for Americans, which made recommendations concerning economics, government, education, foreign policy, and science. Wriston returned to Brown at Commencement in 1976 to receive the Susan Colver Rosenberger Medal. He died on March 7, 1978 in New York City.

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:
Contact information:	John Hay Library, University Archives and Manuscripts Box A Brown University Providence, RI, 02912 Telephone: Manuscripts: 401-863-3723; University Archives: 401-863-2148 Email: Manuscripts: hay@brown.edu; University Archives: archives@brown.edu

Administrative Information

ABOUT THE COLLECTION
ABOUT THE FINDING AID
Author:	Finding aid prepared by Raymond Butti
Encoding:	This finding aid was produced using the RIAMCO EAD spreadsheet,
Descriptive rules:	Finding aid based on Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)

Additional Information

Inventory

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