Charles Albert Browne Papers A Finding Aid to the Collection in the Library of Congress Manuscript Division, Library of Congress Washington, D.C. 2012 Contact information: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mss.contact Additional search options available at: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.ms012142 LC Online Catalog record: http://lccn.loc.gov/mm78014134 Prepared by Nicholas Newlin Collection Summary Title: Charles Albert Browne Papers Span Dates: 1783-1947 Bulk Dates: (bulk 1909-1945) ID No.: MSS14134 Creator: Browne, Charles Albert, 1870-1947 Extent: 20,000 items ; 36 containers plus 2 oversize ; 14.5 linear feet Language: Collection material in English Location: Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. Summary: Chemist, food technologist, and historian of science. Correspondence, writings, accounts of foreign travel, autographs of past luminaries, and research material relating primarily Browne's work in the history of chemistry and agriculture. Selected Search Terms The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Library's online catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically therein. People Agassiz, Louis, 1807-1873--Correspondence. Alembert, Jean Le Rond d', 1717-1783--Correspondence. Becquerel, Henri, 1852-1908--Correspondence. Bird, Maurice--Correspondence. Brown family--Correspondence. Browne, Charles Albert, 1870-1947. Bryant, Sophie (Sophie Willock), 1850-1922--Correspondence. Coates, Charles E. (Charles Edward), 1866-1939--Correspondence. Deerr, Noël, 1874- --Correspondence. Grotkass, Rudolf E. (Rudolf Eduard), 1886- --Correspondence. Harrison, John Burchmore, Sir, 1856-1926--Correspondence. Lamb, Arthur Becket, 1880-1952--Correspondence. Lippmann, Edmund O. von (Edmund Oskar), 1857- --Correspondence. Loeb, Morris, 1863-1912. Lyell, Charles, Sir, 1797-1875--Correspondence. McClellan, George Brinton, 1826-1885--Correspondence. Newell, Lyman C. (Lyman Churchill), 1867-1933--Correspondence. Niese, Henry E. 1848-1929--Correspondence. Priestley, Joseph, 1733-1804. Pugh, Evan, 1828-1864. Rillieux, Norbert, 1806-1894. Sarton, George, 1884-1956--Correspondence. Smith, Edgar Fahs, 1854-1928--Correspondence. Smith, Edgar Fahs, 1854-1928. Tollens, B. (Bernhard), 1841-1918--Correspondence. Waller, Elwyn, 1846- --Correspondence. Winthrop, John, 1714-1779. Organizations American Association for the Advancement of Science. American Chemical Society. History of Science Society. International Society of Sugar Cane Technologists. Massachusetts Historical Society--Correspondence. New York Sugar Trade Laboratory. Charles Albert Browne Papers 2 United States. Department of Agriculture. Subjects Agriculture. Autographs--Collections. Chemistry--History. Chemistry--Societies, etc. Food--Analysis. Science--Societies, etc. Sugar trade--Latin America. Sugar trade--Oceania. Sugar trade--United States. Sugar--Manufacture and refining. Sugar--Research. Sugar. Voyages and travels. Occupations Chemists. Food technologists. Science historians. Administrative Information Provenance The papers of Charles Albert Brown, chemist, food technologist, and historian of science, were given to the Library of Congress by Browne in 1939 and by his widow, Louise McDanell Browne, in 1948. Processing History The papers of Charles Albert Browne were preliminarily processed in 1949. The collection was reorganized and described in 2008. The finding aid was revised in 2012. Copyright Status The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of Charles Albert Brown is governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.). Access and Restrictions The papers of Charles Albert Browne are open to research. Researchers are advised to contact the Manuscript Reading Room prior to visiting. Many collections are stored off-site and advance notice is needed to retrieve these items for research use. Preferred Citation Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Container number, Charles Albert Browne Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. Biographical Note Date Event 1870, Aug. 12 Born, North Adams, Mass. circa 1888-1896 Attended Williams College, Williamstown, Mass. Charles Albert Browne Papers 3 circa 1895-1900 Instructor and assistant research chemist, Pennsylvania State College, State College, Pa. 1901 Ph.D., University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany 1902-1906 Research chemist, Louisiana sugar experiment station, New Orleans, La. 1906-1907 Chief, Sugar laboratory, Bureau of Chemistry, Department of Agriculture 1907-1923 Founded and served as chief chemist, New York Sugar Trade Laboratory 1912 Published A Handbook of Sugar Analysis. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 1918, Feb. 9 Married Louise McDanell 1923-1934 Chief, Bureau of Chemistry and Soils, Department of Agriculture 1929-1930 Traveled through Europe and Asia 1935 Representative to Congress of International Sugar Cane Technologists, Brisbane, Australia 1935-1940 Chief, Bureau of Agricultural Research and Engineering, Department of Agriculture 1943 Published Thomas Jefferson and the Scientific Trends of his Time. New York: G. E. Stechert & Co. 1944 Awarded Nicholas Appert Medal 1944 Published A Source Book of Agricultural Chemistry. New York: G. E. Stechert & Co. 1947, Feb. 3 Died, Washington, D.C. 1952 Posthumous publication with Mary Elvira Weeks, A History of the American Chemical Society. Washington, D.C.: American Chemical Society Scope and Content Note The papers of Charles Albert Browne (1870-1947) span the years 1783-1947, with the bulk of the material from 1909 to 1945. Much of the collection relates to his career at the New York Sugar Trade Laboratory and the United States Department of Agriculture. The papers include correspondence, writings and travel diaries, and research material related to the history of chemistry. As head chemist of the New York Sugar Trade Laboratory, Browne tested sugar purity for commercial producers and purchasers, and at the Agriculture Department he was engaged in sugar research and laboratory administration. The papers are arranged in four series: Correspondence, Subject File, Writings File, and Oversize. The Correspondence file pertains largely to technical or professional issues. Reference is often made to laboratory operation and equipment, particularly saccharometers. Also included is dialogue concerning professional conferences, chemistry education, and the historical role of chemistry in agricultural science, as well as correspondence with editors of scientific journals. Many of Browne's correspondents wrote to find references or library materials relating to the history of chemistry and to thank him for reprints of articles. Many also wrote to inquire about positions during the retrenchment of the economic depression in the 1930s. Among the correspondents are Maurice Bird, Charles E. Coates, Rudolf E. Grotkass, Sir John Burchmore Harrison, Arthur Becket Lamb, Lyman C. Newell, and Henry E. Niese. Charles Albert Browne Papers 4 A grouping of special correspondence in the Correspondence series consists of letters from individuals with whom Browne kept closer contact. Many were classmates at Williams College, colleagues from Pennsylvania State College, or from abroad. Included is correspondence with Noël Deerr, Edmund O. von Lippmann, Edgar Fahs Smith, George Sarton, and B. Tollens, as well as letters to and from family members. The Subject File includes autographs that Browne collected, documentation relating to professional organizations, historical committees, conference arrangements, and the establishment of scientific museums. Research material is largely in the form of photostats. Included are files relating to such pioneers of chemistry as Joseph Priestley, Evan Pugh, Norbert Rillieux, and John Winthrop. Browne's History of the New York Sugar Trade Laboratory is in the Writings File. Photographs and correspondence related to the laboratory are in the Subject File. Also in the Subject File is material concerning the American Chemical Society, the History of Science Society, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Browne's interest in museums and scientific collections, such as those of Morris Loeb, Joseph Priestley, and Edgar Fahs Smith, is evident in correspondence with curators. Also, Browne maintained an ongoing dialogue with the Massachusetts Historical Society. An autograph file consists of manuscript letters of prominent authors, military and elected officials, and natural philosophers in America and abroad. They include Louis Agassiz, Jean Le Rond d'Alembert, Henri Becquerel, Sophia Bryant, Sir Charles Lyell, George Brinton McClellan, Elwyn Waller. In the Writings File are travel diaries and laboratory journals containing personal and aesthetic commentary. The galley proofs of Browne's book on Thomas Jefferson are included, as are illustrations for his publication on the operation of sugar laboratories, A Handbook of Sugar Analysis. Also included are articles about the development of the sugar industry in the United States, Latin America, and the South Pacific. Several articles review the contributions of Justus Liebig, Edgar Fahs Smith, and John Winthrop. Browne authored obituaries for many of his contemporary chemists, which are filed by name of person in the Writings File and in the Correspondence. Browne's meticulous documentation of his international travels comprise a good part of the Writings File and include