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Chamberlain and Lyman Brown Papers Sub-series 2 – General, 1849 – 1960 and undated 2.5 boxes Arrangement: Alphabetical by Topic This series contains papers belonging to each of the Brown brothers individually, as well as to both of them, and documents relating to the Brown and Chamberlain families. Included are agent licenses, bios, medical records, school records, invitations, portrait drawings, and clippings. Programs range from those documenting Chamberlain Brown’s early appearances on the stage to appearances later in life at professional events. Other programs are probably from plays, films, and concerts they attended or those in which their clients appeared; some are autographed. Of special note are two programs for Clark Gable’s appearances in Anna Christie and Sinner at the Palace Theatre in Houston (1928). Datebooks kept by Lyman Brown from 1928 - 1930, contain a description of the day of their mother’s death in 1929. The Brown and Chamberlain Family Papers include some correspondence between family members and correspondence from outside institutions regarding family history. There is also a drawing, probably by General Samuel Emery Chamberlain, of Maple Hall, a family home. Of particular interest is correspondence regarding the donation of the illustrated diary kept by General Samuel E. Chamberlain during the Mexican War (1846-1848). (The diary was donated to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1956). Family wills and trusts are filed with Legal and Financial Papers. Series II: Correspondence, 1858 – 1961 and undated 107.5 boxes This series is comprised of agency correspondence, largely to and from both professional and aspiring performers, but also from, producers, directors, managers, stock companies playwrights, and professional organizations such as Actors’ Equity Association. Chamberlain Brown’s correspondence to a number of soldiers and sailors during World War II and also to prisoners is also included in this series. Autographs collected and/or purchased by the Brown brothers are also contained in this series. Sub-series 1 – General Sub-series 2 – Actors’ Equity Association Sub-series 3 – Soldiers and Sailors Sub-series 4 – Prisoners Sub-series 5 – Autographs 1
Chamberlain and Lyman Brown Papers Sub-series 1 – General, 1884 – 1961 and undated 96.5 boxes Arrangement: Alphabetical This series encompasses the voluminous correspondence of the Brown brothers’ agency files. The bulk of the correspondence is to and from Chamberlain Brown and dates between 1915 and 1955 (his death). Since the Brown brothers either represented, booked, or discovered a staggering array of performers, correspondence with virtually every performer of note from those decades can be found in these files. Although far too many to list, some of the most notable are Spencer Tracy, Dorothy Gish, Don Ameche, Tallulah Bankhead, Ethel Barrymore, Ralph Bellamy, Milton Berle, Yul Brynner, John Carradine, George M. Cohan, Ann Corio, Joseph Cotton, George Cukor, Glenda Farrell, Preston Foster, Sydney Greenstreet, Jack Haley, Otto Kruger, Claire Boothe Luce, Bela Lugosi, Guthrie McClintic, Helen Menken, Ward Morehouse, Alla Nazimova, Clifford Odets, Lee Shubert, Gloria Swanson, Laurette Taylor, Sophie Tucker, Rudy Vallee, Peggy Wood, Fay Wray, and Ed Wynn. There is a large amount of correspondence with Mrs. Leslie Carter and Edward Everett Horton, among others. Of particular note is an undated letter from Carlotta Monterey in Me. mentioning seeing a lot of Eugene O’Neill and family and liking them. Also of interest is a 1937 letter from Fredric March in which he declares he is not a communist. Playwright Clifford Odets’ correspondence file includes an eleven-page profile of Chamberlain Brown, “The Great God Brown,” written in 1928. A fair amount of the correspondence with theater and film greats such as Ronald Reagan, Joan Crawford, Nancy Davis, Gregory Peck, Vincent Price, and John Wayne (to name only a few), consists of annual queries from Lyman Brown about appearing in summer stock, usually with regrets from the star or his or her staff. Correspondence with stock theater managers is also included. There are also numerous invitations to notables in various fields from Chamberlain Brown to attend his programs. Many letters concern commission payments to the Brown agency by actors while on the road in stock, and so provide insight into the itinerant actor’s life. There is also correspondence from aspiring performers, some of whom became disillusioned when Chamberlain Brown’s promises failed to materialize. Autographs and contracts for individuals are also filed with their correspondence. Correspondence with attorneys is filed at the end of the alphabet. 1
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