Fonds F0271 - George Williams Brown fonds

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Title proper

George Williams Brown fonds

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  • Textual record

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Fonds

Reference code

F0271

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Physical description

0.14 m of textual records

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Archival description area

Name of creator

(1894-1963)

Biographical history

George Williams Brown (1894-1963) was a Canadian historian, educator, and editor. Born in Glencoe, Ontario, Brown received his B.A. from Victoria College, University of Toronto in 1915 and a M.A. and PhD from the University of Chicago in 1924. After teaching at the University of Michigan in 1924, he returned to the University of Toronto the following year and remained as a professor in the Department of History until his retirement in 1962, and became Professor Emeritus in 1963. Brown served as editor of the 'Canadian Historical Review' (1930-1946), and the University of Toronto Press (1946-1953). He was the founding general editor of the 'Dictionary of Canadian Biography', remaining in this position until his death in 1963. He also served as honorary editor of the Royal Society of Canada, where he was also elected a fellow in 1945, and as honorary editor on the editorial committee of the Canadian Social Science Research Council.

Brown was also a prolific writer and the author of several books and articles dealing with Canadian history, Canadian-American relations and Canada's role in the world. Among his titles were, 'Readings in Canadian History' (1941), 'Building the Canadian Nation' (1942), and 'Canada' (1950), for which he served as general editor.

Custodial history

The entire fonds was received as part of the purchase of Ducharme Book Room by York University in 1968. The Brown material was transferred to York University Archives from Rare Books, Scott Library, in two lots: Accession 1 was transferred in 1973, and Accession 2 was transferred in January 1983.

Scope and content

The fonds consists of George Williams Brown’s correspondence, speeches, research material, and papers of the Montebello Conference.

Notes area

Physical condition

Immediate source of acquisition

Arrangement

Arranged into the following series:
S 1. Correspondence, 1940. Consists of a single letter from Charles W. Jefferys to Brown concerning a quote from Conrad's 'Prince Roman,'.

S 2. Speeches, 1945-1946. Contains three speeches by the Quebec historian Abbe Arthur Maheux, concerning French-English relations, as well as manuscript notes for a speech by Brown relating to French Canada.

S 3. Research materials. Consists of copies of articles and reports by Brown and others (including the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Tidewater Association) relating to the St. Lawrence Seaway. There is also a copy of the Report and minutes of the Special Committee on the Beauharnois Power Project, House of Commons, 1931.

S 4. Papers of the Montebello Conference, 1943. Contains correspondence, a list of participants, copy of the opening statement, agendas, bibliographies and memoranda, relating to the Montebello Conference sponsored by the Canadian Institute for International Affairs, on the topic, 'Canada and the building of peace,' which took place in Montebello, Quebec, 4-12 December, 1943. Brown was a participant.

Language of material

  • English

Script of material

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Restrictions on access

No restrictions on access.

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Accruals

The fonds comprises the following accessions: 1973-001, 1983-006. Further accruals may be expected.

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Status

Final

Level of detail

Full

Dates of creation, revision and deletion

2002/04/03 Marie-Josee Levesque:. WordPerfect (Creation)
2002/04/03 Awaiting review by the Data Collection Archivist.
2003/04/15 Shannon MacDonald. Added URL for online finding aid. Updated wording on accruals, extent.
2014/07/22 Migrated to AtoM.
2020/04/01 Elizabeth Corbett-Nicholson. Post-migration metadata clean-up. Addition of GMD and accession numbers. Published description and generated finding aid.

Language of description

  • English

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