Charles S. Braden (1887-1970) Papers

The Charles S. Braden papers fill fourteen boxes and are arranged in three principal groups: biographical materials, correspondence, and publications. Also included is a small amount of material pertaining to speeches and other addresses given by Braden.

The biographical materials include curricula vitae, the first three pages of an autobiography apparently never completed (see also: Box 12, Folder 4 and Box 14, Folder 18), diaries, financial records, estate records, and wills. Biographical materials are foldered topically.

Correspondence, forming the bulk of the collection, pertains largely to Braden's teaching and writing, to his talks before lay and church groups, and to personal matters. The Bradens were a close-knit family and many letters found here are between Braden and his brother Clyde and between Braden and his two sons, George William and Charles McMurray. Other correspondence of interest includes three folders of letters between Braden and Arthur Corey pertaining to research on Christian Science.

A small amount of Speech texts and related notes for talks, lectures, and sermons are filed together after the correspondence.

Material relating to publications, which fills slightly more than three boxes, consists primarily of correspondence and business documents. (Braden left most of his publications manuscripts to the Bridwell Library of the Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University. During much of his retirement Braden maintained an office at Perkins.) Of special note is a folder (Box 13, Folder 7) of material relating to the work of the Methodist Church in Bolivia and Chile.

Addition, Boxes 15-17

The addition to the Charles S. Braden Papers fills two and one-half boxes and dates between 1926-1970. The papers include financial records, correspondence, and publications files. The bulk of the financial records consists of correspondence, records, and policies pertaining to Braden's life, house, and car insurance; correspondence, charges, and certificates for his investments; bills and other records related to Medicare expenses for Braden and his second wife. LaVenia Craddock Ulmer Braden.

The general correspondence relates primarily to Braden's research. Most of the subject correspondence is between Braden and his second wife. They were married on June 16, 1956, and she died on February 24, 1964.

The major item in the publications files is a typescript of Bradaen's unpublished biography of Bishop A. Frank Smith. A draft of a letter to an unspecified recipient, probably written in 1969 or 1970, gives the history of Braden's authorship and explains the reasons for why the manuscript was never published.