Guide to the Hubert W. Brown and Wilma Jacobs Brown Papers

Descriptive Summary

Title

Hubert W. Brown and Wilma Jacobs Brown Papers

Inclusive Dates

1860-1941

Call Number

RG 458

Creator(s)

Brown, Hubert W. (Hubert William), 1858-1906.

Brown, Wilma Jacobs, 1861-

Quantity

2.00 cubic feet (2 boxes)

Language

Materials in English and Spanish

Restrictions on Access

Collection open for research

Repository

Presbyterian Historical Society, 425 Lombard Street, Philadelphia, PA 19147-1516 USA

Biographical Note / Administrative History

Biographical Note

Hubert W. and Wilma Jacobs Brown were Presbyterian missionaries in Mexico City from the 1880s to 1906. Hubert W. Brown was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1858. He earned a B.A. and M.A. from the University of Michigan in 1879, and served briefly as principal of Ypsilanti High School before attending Princeton Theological Seminary, graduating in 1883. He served as Stated Supply in Point Pleasant, New Jersey, 1883-1884, and was ordained as an evangelist in 1884 by the Monmouth Presbytery. In 1884, Brown was appointed by the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Board of Foreign Missions to the Southern Mexico Mission. In 1886, he married his fellow missionary, Mary Wilma Jacobs, who had been posted to the Northern Mexico Mission in 1883. Following their marriage, the two worked together at the Mexico Mission in Mexico City. Wilma Jacobs Brown was engaged in educational work. Hubert W. Brown taught at the Presbyterian College and Theological Seminary at Coyoacan and was editor of the newspaper El Faro. He also wrote and translated works on the history of the church in Mexico. The Browns returned to the United States when Hubert W. Brown became ill in 1906. He died the same year, and Wilma Jacobs Brown retired from missionary work.

Collection Overview

The Hubert W. Brown and Wilma Jacobs Brown Papers document the couple’s experiences as PCUSA missionaries in Mexico City from 1884 to 1906 and, to a lesser extent, their personal lives from 1870 to 1941. The collection includes incoming and outgoing correspondence of Hubert W. and Wilma Jacobs Brown; manuscript and typescript writings by both of the Browns; foreign and home mission pamphlets and publications; diaries of Hubert W. Brown, 1870-1893; and diaries of Wilma Jacobs Brown, 1889-1892. Included in the correspondence are two letters to Hubert W. Brown from Porfirio Diaz, President of Mexico, and letters from Brown’s sister, Charlotte H. Brown, documenting her work for the Syria Mission from 1911 to 1915. Other materials in the collection include a volume titled "Copies of Letters and Other Documents Secured for the Preparation of a History of Presbyterianism in Mexico," including several biographical sketches; bound copies of Hojas de Lecciones Dominicales and Cuaderno de Lecciones Dominicales, newspapers edited by Brown; a scrapbook of Hubert W. Brown’s published letters from Mexico, 1884-1898; and Wilma Jacobs Brown’s notes on Brown family history.

Organization and Arrangement

Summary of Box Contents

Box 1: Hubert W. and Wilma Jacobs Brown correspondence, 1882-1941; essays; speeches; clippings; Hojas de Lecciones Dominicales, 1894; and research files, including a bound book of manuscript copies of letters and other documents used in Brown’s research on the history of Presbyterianism in Mexico

Box 2: Diaries of Hubert W. Brown and Wilma Jacobs Brown, 1870-1893; scrapbook of clippings of published letters from Mexico by Hubert W. Brown, 1884-1898; supplements to El Faro, 1899-1940; Cuaderno de Lecciones Dominicales, 1903-1906; historical sketches of Presbyterians in Mexico and home and foreign mission pamphlets and books, 1884-1940

Administrative Information

Acquisition Information

Received from Mrs. Wilma Brown between 1937 and 1942 and from Dr. F.L. Brown in 1967.

Processing Information

This collection is minimally processed: materials may not have been ordered beyond their original condition. A preliminary inventory is provided in this guide. Guide revised in 2009 by Jennifer Barr, Archives Intern.

Preferred Citation

Hubert W. Brown and Wilma Jacobs Brown Papers, RG 458, Presbyterian Historical Society, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Catalog Headings

The following headings have been used to index the description of this collection in the society’s electronic catalog.

Personal Name Subject

Brown, Hubert W. (Hubert William), 1858-1906.

Brown, Wilma Jacobs, 1861-

Brown, Charlotte H. (Charlotte Hays), 1862-1951.

Corporate Subject

Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Mexico Mission.

Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Board of Foreign Missions.

Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Syria Mission.

Topical Subject

Missionaries--Mexico.

Women missionaries--Mexico.

Women missionaries--Syria.

Presbyterian Church--Missions--Mexico.

Presbyterian Church--Missions--Syria.

Missions--Mexico.

Missions--Syria.

Genre-form

Correspondence. aat

Diaries. aat

Writings (documents) aat

Pamphlets. aat

Personal Added Name

Brown, Hubert W. (Hubert William), 1858-1906.

Brown, Wilma Jacobs, 1861-

Brown, Charlotte H. (Charlotte Hays), 1862-1951.

Collection Inventory

Box	Folder	Description

1	1	Correspondence to Hubert W. Brown, 1885-1900
1	2	Correspondence to Hubert W. Brown, 1900-1940
1	3	Correspondence from President Porfirio Diaz, 1886 Aug. 23
1	4	Correspondence from Paul M. Clayton (U.S. Embassy), 1901 Sept.
1	5	Correspondence from President Porfirio Diaz, 1901 Nov. 5
1	6	Correspondence to Wilma Jacobs Brown, 1885 July 15-1941 Oct.
1	7	Correspondence from Wilma Jacobs Brown, 1882 Mar.-1884 Dec.
1	8	Correspondence from Wilma Jacobs Brown, 1885 Jan.-1895 Dec.
1	9	Correspondence from Charlotte H. Brown, 1911 Sept.-1912 Dec.
1	10	Correspondence from Charlotte H. Brown, 1913 Jan.-1915 Sept.
1	11	Correspondence to Lida Clark, 1884 Apr. 12-1884 June 13
1	12	Correspondence of other missionaries to Mexico, 1901-1937
1	13	Writings of Hubert W. Brown, 1887-1902 and undated
1	14	Writings of Hubert W. Brown, 1890-1905 and undated
1	15	Writings of Wilma Jacobs Brown and clippings, 1933 and undated
1	16	Writings and other papers of Wilma Jacobs Brown, 1880-1937 and undated
1	17	Clippings and articles, 1872-1935 and undated
1	18	Miscellaneous papers, 1885-1937 and undated
1	18	Bound volume of Hojas de Lecciones Dominicales, 1894
1	19	Miscellaneous papers, 1860-1941 and undated
1	20	Miscellaneous papers, 1872-1938 and undated

2	1	Diaries of Hubert W. Brown, 1870-1878
2	2	Diaries of Hubert W. Brown, 1879-1888
2	3	Diaries of Hubert W. Brown, 1888-1893
2	4	Diaries of Wilma Jacobs Brown, 1889-1892
2	5	Scrapbook of clippings of Hubert W. Brown letters from Mexico, 1884-1898
2	6	Miscellaneous papers, 1885-1905 and undated
2	7	Pamphlets and memorabilia, 1884-1904
2	8	Supplements to El Faro, 1899-1940
2	9	Publications of PCUSA Women’s Board of Home Missions, PCUS Executive Committee of Foreign Missions, and the Methodist Episcopal Church, 1889-1902
2	10	Bound volume of Cuaderno de Lecciones Dominicales, 1903-1906
2	11	Clippings and publications, 1889-1908
2	12	Pamphlets, 1885-1925
2	13	Pamphlets, 1900-1940
2	14	Programs, mission pamphlets, and hymnals, 1900-1940

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Guide to the Hubert W. Brown and Wilma Jacobs Brown Papers

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