David Tilden Brown Papers
Scope and Content of the Collection
Manuscript journal kept by physician David Tilden Brown when a medical student in New York City, 1841-1847. Also, a few pencil sketches, architect’s drawings of the Sheppard Asylum in Baltimore, an Asylum Fifth Annual Report in 1897, two clippings relating to the Asylum, and a photo of Dr. Brown, approximately 1865-1870.
Dates
- Creation: 1841-1897
Creator
Language
Materials are in English.
Conditions Governing Access
The David Tilden Brown Papers are open for research in the Special Collections Reading Room; 1 box at a time (Priority III).
Ownership and Literary Rights
The David Tilden Brown Papers are the physical property of the Newberry Library. Copyright may belong to the authors or their legal heirs or assigns. For permission to publish or reproduce any materials from this collection, contact the Roger and Julie Baskes Department of Special Collections.
Biography of David Tilden Brown
Illinois physician, explorer and businessman.
A graduate of medical school in New York City, Brown practiced psychiatry from 1844-1849 in various asylums in eastern United States. When gold was discovered in California, Brown traveled to Central America in 1849, planning to establish a cheaper and faster commercial route west from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans across the isthmus of Nicaragua. He and his associates formed the Compania de Vapores de Nicaragua, but the company eventually was absorbed by Cornelius Vanderbilt’s American Atlantic and Pacific Ship Canal Company.
Brown returned to the practice of medicine from 1852-1877. He was the medical advisor along with the architect Calvert Vaux, for plans to build the Sheppard Asylum, a modern hospital for mental patients, in Baltimore, Maryland, which opened in 1891.
Brown suffered poor health and retired to his home in Batavia, New York. It was there that he committed suicide in 1889.
Extent
0.2 Linear Feet (1 box)
Abstract
Manuscript journal of physician David Tilden Brown, April 1, 1841-Nov. 22, 1847, with partial transcription, kept while Brown was in medical school in New York City. Also, a few pen sketches, three architect’s drawings of Sheppard Asylum in Baltimore, MD, a Sheppard Asylum Fifth Annual Report, 1897, two clippings, and a photo of Dr. Brown ca. 1865-1870.
Arrangement
The papers are arranged by type of material.
Collection Stack Location
1 7 6
Provenance
Gift of Mrs. Barton S. Snow (Cornelia B. Snow), 1973.
Processed by
Virginia Hay Smith, 2007.
Subject
- Sheppard Asylum (Organization)
- Brown, D. Tilden (David Tilden), 1822-1889 (Person)
Genre / Form
- Architectural drawings -- Baltimore (Md.) -- 1851-1900
- Journals (notebooks) -- New York (State) -- New York -- 1801-1850
Occupation
- Medical students -- New York (State) -- New York -- 19th century
- Physicians -- Illinois -- 19th century
- Physicians -- New York (State) -- New York -- 19th century
Topical
- Title
- Inventory of the David Tilden Brown Papers, 1841-1897
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Virginia Hay Smith
- Date
- ©2007.
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the The Newberry Library - Modern Manuscripts and Archives Repository
60 West Walton Street
Chicago Illinois 60610 United States
312-255-3512
reference@newberry.org