William Adams Brown (December 29, 1865 – December 15, 1943) was an American minister, professor and philanthropist.

Early life

Brown was born in New York City on December 29, 1865, and named after his maternal grandfather, the Rev. William Adams. He was the eldest son of

John Crosby Brown John Crosby Brown (May 22, 1838 – June 25, 1909) was a senior partner in the investment bank Brown Bros. & Co., founded by his family. Early life Brown was born on May 22, 1838 in New York City. He was the son of banker James Brown (1791–18 ...

and

Mary Elizabeth Adams Brown Mary Elizabeth Adams Brown (1842–1918) was an American writer, collector, and curator of musical instruments. She is best known for her collection of musical instruments that she donated to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She worked together wit ...

. His siblings were Eliza Coe Adams, Mary Magoun Brown, James Crosby Brown, Thatcher Magoun Brown, and Amy Brighthurst Brown (1878–1960). His father was a merchant banker and partner in Brown Bros. & Co., an investment bank founded by his grandfather and grand-uncles, including

George Brown George Brown may refer to: Arts and entertainment * George Loring Brown (1814–1889), American landscape painter * George Douglas Brown (1869–1902), Scottish novelist * George Williams Brown (1894–1963), Canadian historian and editor * G ...

and Sir William Brown, 1st Baronet. Brown graduated from St. Paul's School in

Concord, New Hampshire Concord () is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Hampshire and the seat of Merrimack County. As of the 2020 census the population was 43,976, making it the third largest city in New Hampshire behind Manchester and Nashua. The village of ...

before attending

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

where he received an A.B. degree in 1886, an A.M. degree in 1888 and a PhD in 1901. He also graduated from Union Theological Seminary in 1890 and was ordained in the

Presbyterian Church Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

in 1893. He also studied with

Adolf von Harnack Carl Gustav Adolf von Harnack (born Harnack; 7 May 1851 – 10 June 1930) was a Baltic German Lutheran theologian and prominent Church historian. He produced many religious publications from 1873 to 1912 (in which he is sometimes credited ...

at the

University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...

from 1890 to 1892.

Career

After returning to the United States in 1892, Brown joined the faculty of Union Theological Seminary as an instructor of Church History. Less than a year later, he was asked him to shift fields and teach Systematic Theology. Within five years, he was named Roosevelt Chair of Systematic Theology. He retired in 1936. Brown served as chairman of the Presbyterian Church's Home Missions Committee, through which he organized and ran the American Parish on the

Upper East Side The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 96th Street to the north, the East River to the east, 59th Street to the south, and Central Park/Fifth Avenue to the wes ...

and the Labor Temple in the East Village neighborhoods of

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. He was also instrumental in the founding of Union Settlement in

East Harlem East Harlem, also known as Spanish Harlem or and historically known as Italian Harlem, is a neighborhood of Upper Manhattan, New York City, roughly encompassing the area north of the Upper East Side and bounded by 96th Street to the south, F ...

where he was largely responsible for fundraising. Union Settlement is one of the oldest

settlement houses The settlement movement was a reformist social movement that began in the 1880s and peaked around the 1920s in United Kingdom and the United States. Its goal was to bring the rich and the poor of society together in both physical proximity and s ...

in New York City and is East Harlem's largest social service agency serving the poor. He was a member of the

Yale Corporation The Yale Corporation, officially The President and Fellows of Yale College, is the governing body of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Assembly of corporation The Corporation comprises 19 members: * Three ex officio members: the Presiden ...

from 1917 to 1934, and was acting president of Yale University from 1919 to 1920.

Personal life

In 1892, Brown was married to Helen Gilman Noyes (1867–1942), a daughter of Daniel Rogers Noyes and Helen Abia (née Gilman) Noyes. The family lived at 49 East 80th Street in New York City and had a summer home on

Mount Desert Island Mount Desert Island (MDI; french: Île des Monts Déserts) in Hancock County, Maine, is the largest island off the coast of Maine. With an area of it is the 52nd-largest island in the United States, the sixth-largest island in the contiguous ...

in Maine where they befriended many prominent people, including

Charles W. Eliot Charles William Eliot (March 20, 1834 – August 22, 1926) was an American academic who was president of Harvard University from 1869 to 1909the longest term of any Harvard president. A member of the prominent Eliot family of Boston, he transfo ...

, president of Harvard,

Seth Low Seth Low (January 18, 1850 – September 17, 1916) was an American educator and political figure who served as the mayor of Brooklyn from 1881 to 1885, the president of Columbia University from 1890 to 1901, a diplomatic representative of t ...

, president of Columbia and later

Mayor of New York The mayor of New York City, officially Mayor of the City of New York, is head of the executive branch of the government of New York City and the chief executive of New York City. The mayor's office administers all city services, public property ...

, and

John D. Rockefeller Jr. John Davison Rockefeller Jr. (January 29, 1874 – May 11, 1960) was an American financier and philanthropist, and the only son of Standard Oil co-founder John D. Rockefeller. He was involved in the development of the vast office complex in M ...

They had four children: * John Crosby Brown (1892–1950), the president of Tamblyn & Brown, a public relations counsel and managers of fund-raising campaigns. * William Adams Brown Jr. (1894–1957) * Winthrop Gilman "Bob" Brown (1907–1987), who served as

United States Ambassador to Laos This is a list of United States ambassadors to Laos. The United States established full diplomatic relations with Laos in 1955, following its full independence from France in 1954. On 29 December 1961, during the Laotian Civil War, President Jo ...

and

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

. * Helen Adams Brown (1910–1928), who contracted

infantile paralysis Poliomyelitis, commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 70% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe sym ...

just before she was to begin college at

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely follo ...

and died six days later. Brown died in New York City on December 15, 1943.

References

External links

William Adams Brown Papers, 1865–1938
at The Burke Library Archives of Union Theological Seminary {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, William Adams 1865 births 1943 deaths St. Paul's School (New Hampshire) alumni Yale University alumni Union Theological Seminary (New York City) alumni Free University of Berlin alumni Clergy from New York City Presbyterian Church in the United States of America ministers 20th-century American clergy