Spencer Brown was born in 1909 in Hartford, Connecticut. He graduated from Harvard University with an A.B in 1930 and an A.M. in 1932, and he taught at the Loomis School (1930-1931), Taft School (1932-1934), and Fieldston School (1938-1971), where he also served as principal (1965-1971). Brown died in Croton-on-Hudson, New York in 1989.

His published collections of poetry include: My Father’s Business and Other Poems (1956), Looking into the Fire (1967), and Child’s Game, On a Journey (1979).

The collection of Spencer Brown’s work acquired by the Beinecke consists of writings, correspondence, printed material, scattered business records, and personal papers relating to aspects of Brown’s career as an educator and poet. Writings include typescripts of articles, lectures, and poems, some of which are annotated. Correspondence includes letters from friends, family, writers, editors, and admirers, as well as copies of outgoing correspondence and letters to Margaret Brown. Correspondents include Felix Stefanile, The Sewanee Review, Jack Stillinger, Dana Gioia, and Howard Moss, among others.

Records for Brown’s books can be found through Yale’s online Orbis database. A related collection of James Weil’s papers can be found online: James Weil Finding Aid