Donald Grey Brownlow papers, 1944-2002 (bulk: 1960-1990).

Format:

Other

Author/Creator:

Brownlow, Donald Grey, 1924-2006, creator.

Language:

English

German

Subjects (All):

Auchinleck, Claude John Eyre, 1884-1981.

Auchinleck, Claude John Eyre.

Kimmel, Husband Edward, 1882-1968.

Kimmel, Husband Edward.

Riefenstahl, Leni.

United States. Navy.

United States.

Great Britain. Army.

Great Britain.

Military art and science.

Pearl Harbor (Hawaii), Attack on, 1941.

World War, 1939-1945.

Genre:

Audiocassettes.

Audiovisual materials.

Correspondence.

Photographs.

Research notes.

Tape reels.

Writings (document genre)

Penn Provenance:

Gifts of Donald Grey Brownlow, 1993; 1980; 2003

Physical Description:

13 boxes (11 linear feet)

Arrangement:

Organized into 3 series: I. Correspondence; II. Research material for writing; and III. Audio recordings.

Place of Publication:

1944-2002

Language Note:

In English and German.

Biography/History:

Donald Gray Brownlow (1924-2006) was an American author, educator, and World War II veteran. He was born in Germantown, Pennsylvania, graduated from Tredyffrin-Easttown High School, and attended the University of Pennsylvania for a year before enlisting in the Army in World War II. His intelligence detachment landed on Utah Beach during the D-Day invasion and later participated in the Battle of the Bulge, where he was briefly captured by the enemy. He received a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star for his service, as well as the Croix de Guerre from the French government. After his discharge, he returned to Penn to earn a bachelor's degree and master's degree in History. He joined the Haverford School as a history teacher in 1951, where he remained until his death. In summers he often took the students on tours of Europe, where they met with notable military and cultural figures. He also wrote ten books on military history, including The accused: the ordeal of Rear Admiral Husband Edward Kimmel, U.S.N. (1968), which investigated the culpability of various U.S. Navy personnel in the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and Checkmate at Ruweisat: Auchinleck's finest hour (1977), a book about the British North African campaign during World War II. Brownlow was married three times, to Louise Brownlow, Marian Brownlow, and Sandy Dobbs Brownlow. He died in 2006 of heart failure in his home in Elverson, Pennsylvania.

Summary:

This collection contains material related to Brownlow's published and unpublished writings, especially his historical work on World War II. It includes three series: "Correspondence;" "Research material for writing;" and "Audio recordings." The correspondence consists primarily of letters sent to Brownlow and his then-wife Marian from notable military figures and military historians; some of these relationships lasted for decades, becoming personal friendships, though the correspondence itself is not personally revealing. Brownlow was also a noted autograph seeker, and some of the more notable correspondents appear only in this context. "Research material for writing" contains scrapbooks which Brownlow created when working on particular manuscripts, as well as notes he received on his drafts from other WWII historians and retired military officers. Some of this material is related to his most well-known works, The Accused: the ordeal of Rear Admiral Husband Edward Kimmel, U.S.N. (1968) and Checkmate at Ruweisat: Auchinleck's finest hour (1977). The audio recordings consist of interviews with military and cultural figures: some, like Field Marshal Claude Auchinleck and Rear Admiral Husband E. Kimmel, were subjects of his books, while others were simply notable figures in the history of World War II, or cultural figures in whom Brownlow had an interest. These interviews have the highest research value of any part of the collection, as these first-person recollections from important wartime figures are of greater scholarly interest than Brownlow's own work; however, access to original audio/visual materials and computer files is restricted.

OCLC:

1288271319