This collection consists of mostly letters that center around William Garrott Brown's literary work and friends; the efforts of so-called Southern liberals to make the Republican party respectable in the South; the attempts of liberals of the nation to halt the imperialistic policies of Theodore Roosevelt by supporting Woodrow Wilson; and maneuvering behind the passing of the Aldrich monetary bill, which formed the basis of the Federal Reserve System. Also included are letters to John Spencer Bassett giving biographical information on Brown, Brown's diploma from Harvard, a copy of his will and letters from editors of Harper's Weekly and the Youth's Companion.
Additional papers include copies of Brown's letters collected by Bruce Clayton while writing his dissertation. They are in part reproduced from the Charles William Eliot Papers, Harvard University Library, and relate to Brown's career, the Harvard Guide to American History, Southern feelings toward Harvard and Massachusetts, and race relations. Other Brown letters reproduced by Clayton from the Edward Mandell House Papers, Yale University Library, concern Woodrow Wilson's presidential campaign, 1912.
Among the correspondents are: Charles Francis Adams, Edwin A. Alderman, Frederic Bancroft, J. S. Bassett, Gamaliel Bradford, William Garrott Brown (including some copies), W. L. Courtney (of the English Fortnightly Review), William A. Dunning, William Preston Few, W. W. Finley, Walter L. Fleming, Richard W. Gilder, Carter Glass, Edmund W. Gosse, Gilliam Grissom, Norman Hapgood, T. P. Harrison, Harper and Brothers, A. B. Hart, Hamilton Holt, A. E. Holton, E. M. House, D. F. Houston, J. F. Jameson, J. N. Lamed, Henry Cabot Lodge, Hamilton W. Mabie, S. W. McCall, A. C. McLaughlin, Shailer Mathews, John M. Morehead, John T. Morgan, David A. Munro, S. N. D. North, Charles E. Norton, Walter Hines Page, Bliss Perry, Herbert Putnam, James Ford Rhodes, Theodore Roosevelt, D. C. Roper, H. E. Scudder, Ellery Sedgwick, Thomas Settle, James T. Shotwell, H. L. Stimson, Moorfield Storey, F. W. Taussig, William R. Thayer, Frank B. Tracy, Oscar W. Underwood, Booker T. Washington, and Woodrow Wilson (copies).
