Holdings Information

Bibliographic Record Display

• Author/Creator:Brown, Ella Barksdale, 1871-1966.
  
• Title:Ella Barksdale Brown papers, 1885-1952 (bulk 1906-1926).
  
• Physical Description:2.98 linear feet (9 boxes)
  
• Links:View a description and listing of collection contents in the finding aid
  View a selection of digital images in the Beinecke Library's Digital Images Online database
  

• Yale Holdings

  Holdings Record Display

  • Location:BEINECKE (Non-Circulating)
    To request for use in the Beinecke Reading Room select a box in the finding aid
    
    
  • Call Number: JWJ MSS 41
    
  • Status:Not Checked Out
    
  • Library Has: Boxes 8-9.
    

  • Location:LSF- BEINECKE
    To request for use in the Beinecke Reading Room select a box in the finding aid
    
    
  • Call Number: JWJ MSS 41
    
  • Status:Not Checked Out
    
  • Library Has: Boxes 1-7.
    

   
• Notes:In English.
  Purchased from William Reese Company on the Edwin J. Beinecke Book Fund, 2007.
  
• Organization:Organized into three series: I. Correspondence, 1885-1952. II. Printed Material, 1906-1931. III. Personal Papers, 1906-1924.
  
• Access and use:This material is open for research.
• Biographical / Historical note:Ella Barksdale Brown, anti-lynching activist, educator, suffragist and journalist, was born in Milledgeville, Georgia and was a member of the first graduating class of Spelman Seminary (later Spelman College) in 1887. She married John M. Brown in Georgia in 1898 and the two moved to Jersey City, New Jersey in 1901 where John worked for the Pullman Company. Among Ella Barksdale Brown's many interests and activities, she was best known as an educator, journalist and anti-lynching activist. She wrote for well-known African American newspapers of the early twentieth century including the Chicago Defender and the New York Amsterdam News. She also lectured at Jersey City high schools and community organizations on African American history. Her national activism included involvement with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Circle for Negro War Relief and the National Association of Colored Women.
  
• Summary:The Ella Barksdale Brown Papers document her life as an educator, suffragist and anti-lynching activist and span the dates 1885-1952 although the bulk of the papers are from 1906-1926. The papers consist of printed material, correspondence and financial papers documenting her involvement with war relief efforts, teaching, women's rights, civil rights and other social issues, mostly pertaining to African Americans during the early twentieth century. The correspondence documents Brown's personal acquaintance with several leaders and civil rights pioneers in the African American community including W.E.B. Dubois, Booker T. Washington and Paul Robeson. The printed materials document her interest in education and particularly her interest in teaching African American history. Brown's personal writings include two speeches/essays entitled "The Negro's Burden" and "The Negro's Contribution" (both undated) in addition to other short writings that document some of her work as an activist. A group of financial papers document Brown's and her family's ownership of property in New Jersey and Georgia.
  
• Format:Archives or Manuscripts
• Indexes/Finding aids:Finding aid available.
  
• Cite as:Ella Barksdale Brown Papers. Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
  
• Subjects:Brown, Ella Barksdale, 1871-1966.
  Brown, John Marcus, 1872-1952.
  Butler, H. R.
  Cannon, George Epps, 1869-1925.
  Du Bois, W. E. B. (William Edward Burghardt), 1868-1963.
  Robeson, Paul, 1898-1976.
  Washington, Booker T., 1856-1915.
  American Bar Association.
  American Jewish War Relief and Welfare Board.
  Atlanta University.
  Circle for Negro War Relief.
  Fisk University.
  Lincoln University (Jefferson City, Mo.)
  National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
  National Medical Association (U.S.)
  Spelman College.
  Atlantic monthly.
  Chicago defender.
  Crisis.
  Dispatch.
  New York age (New York, N.Y. : 1887)
  New York Amsterdam news.
  African Americans--Education.
  African American newspapers--History--20th century.
  African American women journalists.
  African American women--Civil rights--History--20th century.
  African American women.
  African Americans--Civil rights.
  African Americans.
  Civil rights--New Jersey.
  Civil rights.
  Lynching.
  Suffrage.
  Jersey City (N.J.)--Social life and customs--20th century.
  
• Occupation:Educators.
  Journalists.
  Suffragists.