Search

Papers of the Rev. James A. Brown, Michigan Methodist minister, and his wife Winifred Croel Brown. Correspondence, diaries, sermons, photographs and other materials relating in part to their pastorate in Elsie, Michigan, life during the depression; include comments on farming conditions, politics, and the effects of prohibition.

The James Brown collection consists of papers of James Brown, his wife Winifred Croel Brown and several relatives of James Brown. It includes correspondence, diaries, sermons, photographs and other materials relating in part to their pastorate in Elsie, Michigan, life during the depression. In addition to information on family and church matters, the papers include comments on farming conditions, politics, and the effects of prohibition. The collection has been arranged into three series: the papers of James A. Brown, Winifred Croel Brown, and the extended Brown Family.

Construction engineer and Michigan Democratic politician; served terms as Oakland County Drain Commissioner, Michigan State Highway Commissioner, and as Governor, 1941-1942; include correspondence, scrapbooks, appointment books, and assorted miscellanea.

The series in the Van Wagoner collection are Correspondence (1933-1945); Newspaper clippings/Scrapbooks (1930-1933 and 1940-1949); Miscellaneous/Political; and Visual Materials. The collection is largely an accumulation of personal materials from his career as a public service. There is very little of these papers that might be classified as administrative or office files from his years as highway commissioner or his term as governor.