Scope and Content Note
The papers of Charles Henry Brent span the years 1860-1991, but are concentrated in the period 1901-1929. The papers document Brent's service as first missionary bishop to the Philippine Islands representing the Protestant Episcopal Church in America, 1901-1918; his term as chief of the Chaplain Service of the American Expeditionary Forces, 1918-1919; his activities as a bishop of the church and as a member of various conferences on the opium problem; and his presidency of the World Conference on Faith and Order, 1927. The papers consist of correspondence , chiefly 1908-1929, sermon notes , diaries , manuscripts of books and articles, speeches , a subject file on the opium conferences , scrapbooks , and printed material . There is also a related group of papers assembled by Remsen B. Ogilby, who died in 1943 before he had completed his planned biography of Bishop Brent. Additions contain family and personal correspondence, obituaries, articles, speeches, photographs and miscellaneous material concerning his church missions, conference work, and personal relationships.
Prominent correspondents include Lyman Abbott, James Bryce, Nicholas Murray Butler, Austen Chamberlain, Calvin Coolidge, Randall Davidson, W. Cameron Forbes, Herbert Hoover, Philander Chase Knox, Cosmo Gordon Lang, Jr., Pierpont Morgan, John R. Mott, Alfred C. W. H. Northcliffe, Walter Hines Page, Francis G. Peabody, George Wharton Pepper, John J. Pershing, Whitelaw Reid, Theodore Roosevelt, Elihu Root, William Howard Taft, and Leonard Wood.
The 1979 Addition spans the years 1888-1976, with the bulk of the material concentrated in the period 1888-1929. Brent corresponded fairly regularly with his sisters, and letters to them as well as those to his mother comment on subjects such as his missionary work in the Philippines, attendance at various religious and political international conferences, and the Protestant Episcopal diocese of Western New York.
The diary in this addition, dated 1907, relates to diaries in the original collection. The general correspondence is strictly of a personal nature. One folder, consisting of letters to Samuel W. Drury and his family, is composed entirely of copies of originals not included in this collection. The Writings include notes of sermons given in 1902 and several poems and talks. The Miscellany is comprised of biographical data presented at an American bicentennial ceremony honoring Brent in 1976.
Correspondents among this additional material include Brent's sisters Evelyn, Edith S, and Helen C. C. Brent, and his mother Frances Sophia Cummings Brent. Other individuals to whom he wrote were Mrs. John Markoe and Edith Eaton (Mrs. William B. Cutter).
The 1996 Addition spans the years 1919-1991, but is concentrated in the period 1919-1929. It consists of correspondence, articles and addresses by Brent, obituaries, memorials, photographs, and miscellaneous material. The correspondence dates from 1919-1929 and contains letters written almost exclusively to Reginald N. Willcox and family, rector of Saint Luke's Church, Jamestown, N. Y., a parish in Brent's diocese of Western New York. The issues mentioned chiefly concern parish financial problems and Willcox's family. Speeches and writings are predominantly addresses before the conventions of the diocese of Western New York, 1922-1925, and the articles by Brent concern religious matters.