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COLLECTION Identifier: Mss:36 1940-1989 B877

Charlotte Browne-Mayers papers

Overview

The Charlotte Browne-Mayers papers document Browne-Mayers time as the director of the Adult Education Department at the Standard Oil Company from 1940 to 1969 as well as her work with the National Council of Churches from 1963 to 1969 and the World Council of Churches from 1961 to 1971 and 1989. The collection also contains a few personal records compiled during this time.

Dates

  • Creation: 1940-1971, 1989

Creator

Language of Materials

Materials entirely in English.

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research. Materials stored onsite. Please contact specialcollectionsref@hbs.edu for more information on access procedures and reproduction services.

Extent

18.75 linear feet (45 boxes)

The collection contains records documenting Charlotte Browne-Mayers’s work as the director of the Adult Education Department at the Standard Oil Company from 1940 to 1969 and includes records about the creation and development of the Jersey Round Table, various conferences and discussion groups she organized and was involved in, the Humanities Center, reports from the Adult Education Department, and various speeches given by Browne-Mayers. The collection also contains correspondence with various associations, professors, and educators as part of her role in the Adult Education Department as well interoffice and general correspondence with staff members and associates. The collection also includes personal records, such as correspondence and meeting minutes, documenting Browne-Mayers’s work with the National Council of Churches from 1963 to 1969 and her work with the World Council of Churches from 1961 to 1971, including her resignation from the organization in 1969. Lastly, the collection contains personal files Browne-Mayers kept, including newspaper articles, personal correspondence, and photographs about her and her involvement in various Standard Oil Company and personal projects, such as the Harvard-Newton Project.

Biographical / Historical

Charlotte Browne-Mayers was the Director of the Adult Education Department within the Public Relations Department at the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey. During her time as director, Browne-Mayers organized a conference called the Jersey Round Table. The Jersey Round Table was designed to allow executives at Standard Oil and professors from various fields to meet with one another and discuss various issues about the company’s problems and to brainstorm about new insights and new ideas. Topics included social implications of rise of big business, nationalism, the technical and nontechnical aspects of supplying energy, government’s place in competitive business abroad, and human resources within the corporation. The round table was met with great success, including recognition from her alma mater Boston University. Browne-Mayers also organized various discussion seminars and groups on national and international issues through the Adult Education Department. Outside of Standard Oil, Browne-Mayers was actively involved in a number of adult education programs as well, including directing adult education programs for the YWCA and serving on the Board of Directors of the Business History and Economic Life Program, an organization that worked with the Harvard Business School and Newton Public School System to develop business case materials for secondary schools. In addition to her work at Standard Oil, Charlotte Browne-Mayers was also an active member within the Christian community and worked as a committee member with the National Council of Churches for many years. In 1968 she was appointed associate general secretary of the World Council of Churches, and was the first woman to hold the post. She was in this position until 1969 until she was forced to resign.

Arrangement

There are four series in the collection: World Council of Churches, National Council of Churches, Adult Education Department, and Personal. Within the Adult Education Department series, there are nine subseries: Jersey Round Table, Associations, Conferences, Correspondence, Discussion groups, Humanities Center, Reports, Speeches, and Miscellaneous.

Physical Location

MANU

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The Charlotte Browne-Mayers papers were received by Baker Library Special Collections as a donation from Charlotte Browne-Mayers in 2002.

Processing Information

Rusty paper clips were removed from pages, and archival paper was folded around the documents to maintain groupings in March 2020.

Processing Information

Processed: July 2021 By: Charissa Pincock and Mary Samouelian

Processing Information

The materials in the collection are in the original order in which they came to Baker Library Special Collections.

Author
Baker Library
Description rules
dacs
Language of description
und
EAD ID
bak01118

Repository Details

Part of the Baker Library Special Collections and Archives, Harvard Business School Repository

Baker Library Special Collections and Archives holds unique resources that focus on the evolution of business and industry, as well as the records of the Harvard Business School, documenting the institution's development over the last century. These rich and varied collections support research in a diverse range of fields such as business, economic, social and cultural history as well as the history of science and technology.

Contact:
Baker Library | Bloomberg Center
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Boston MA 01263 USA
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