Carl Milton Brewster (1881-1961) was Professor of Organic Chemistry at Washington State University from 1912 to 1950. He was born in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, the son of Milton Brewster and Mary (Lambert) Brewster. He received his A.B. degree from Oberlin College in 1903, and then taught high school science for two years at Two Harbors, Minnesota. He then pursued graduate study in organic chemistry, receiving his A.M. degree from Harvard University in 1906. He was Francis Parkman Fellow at Harvard from 1908 to 1909. Brewster continued his studies at Heidelberg University prior to becoming professor of chemistry at Mount Union College (1910-1912). After his marriage to Alfhild Nordby, he joined the faculty of the State College of Washington.
During his career at Washington State University, and in his retirement, Dr. Brewster was an active donor of books and manuscripts to the Washington State University Libraries.
This collection is comprised of American and European autographs. United States Presidents are represented, as are Members of Congress, officers of the Confederate army, United States military officers, Members of Parliament and other English nobility, soldiers, authors, and others. Some autographs (Folders 12-16, and possibly others as well) were previously part of the collection of Sir Thomas Phillips.
Most of the autographs are clipped and mounted; many have been labeled with brief descriptive information. In most cases, the names of individuals represented in the autograph album (Folder 1) are listed below. Other autographs are described by general category.
This collection of approximately 250 autographs was donated to the Washington State University Libraries by Carl Milton Brewster during the 1940s.
Initial processing was completed shortly after the collection was received, and the collection was reprocessed by Cheryl Gunselman, Manuscripts Librarian, in 2005.