Sterling Allen Brown (May 1, 1901 – January 13, 1989) was an African-American poet, professor of English, folklorist, and literary critic. A graduate of Dunbar High School in Washington, D.C., he graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Williams College in 1922 and received his master’s degree from Harvard University in 1923. Brown taught for most of his career at Howard University until his retirement in 1968 to focus on poetry.
For access and use of any materials in Special Collections, please contact us.
The Sterling A. Brown papers documents Brown's professional life as a writer and educator with additional materials related to his personal life. As of February 2025, Special Collection staff are processing the collection. Please see the finding aid for more details on the materials in the collection.
Materials include:
Along with his archive, Special Collection is home to Brown's personal library. Totaling over 8000 monographs, items are being cataloged as of February 2025. Catalogued items can be viewed through the Library Catalog.
Notable themes in Brown's Library include:
Special Collections is also home to Brown's personal record collection. Totaling over 1000 records, items are being cataloged as of February 2025. Enjoy listening to the entire LP collection through our Spotify playlist. Please email us at specialcollections@williams.edu for in-person access and use.
The following institutions have materials pertaining to projects Brown worked on and collections from close friends and family.
In a new initiative for the 2025-2026 academic year, Williams Special Collections has established a fellowship to support research activity in the Sterling A. Brown papers and library. For more information, please email specialcollections@williams.edu.