Richard D. Brown was born in New York City on October 31, 1939, the son of Alvyn Adolph and Dorothy Kruskal Brown. His preparatory education was at Devereux Manor , Devon, Pennsylvania and the Fieldstone School, Riverdale, New York. In 1957 he enrolled at Oberlin College where he was active in Musical Union and at the radio station, WOBC. He graduated (AB cum laude) in 1961 and won a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship for study at Harvard University where he earned an M.A. (1962) and a Ph.D. (1966). During the academic year of 1965-1966, he was a Fulbright lecturer at the University of Toulouse in France. He returned to Oberlin College where he was a tenured assistant professor of history until 1971, before he joined the faculty at the University of Connecticut at Storrs. There he served as an associate professor, 1971-75, until being promoted to professor in 1975. He served as head of the history department from 1974-80 and as interim head during 1994-95. Since 2002, he has directed the University of Connecticut Humanities Institute, and in that same year (2002), he was named the Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor.

A student of American history specializing in the American Revolution, 1763-1790, and American social and cultural history, 1600-1865, he has published extensively but not exclusively in these fields. Currently, he is the author of five books: The Strength of a People: The Idea of an Informed Citizenry in America, 1650-1870 (1996); Knowledge is Power: The Diffusion of Information in Early America, 1700-1865 (1989); Massachusetts: A Bicentennial History (1978); Modernization: The Transformation of American Life, 1660-1865 (1976); and Revolutionary Politics in Massachusetts: The Boston Committee of Correspondence and the Towns, 1772-1774 (1970). A sixth book, Deliver Us From Evil: A Story of Rape, Incest and the Gallows in the Early Republic, (with Irene Quenzler Brown) is forthcoming from Harvard in 2003. In addition, Professor Brown has edited several anthologies and texts, including an online, interactive textbook; authored over 35 articles and 65 reviews; and since 1967 delivered more than 90 papers or critiques at professional meetings and conferences. A full bibliography is filed in the Series 1 Biographical file of this collection.

Numerous foundations, councils and societies have recognized and supported Professor Brown's scholarly achievements including the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Philosophical Society, and the Social Science Research Council. A complete list follows the appended bibliography.

Professor Brown's service to professional organizations is extensive and varied: President of the New England Historical Association (1990-91); member of the Board of Trustees of Old Sturbridge Village (1984-87); Chair, Editorial Board of The William and Mary Quarterly (1996-98); member of the Advisory Board of Editors, Common-Place: An Online Journal of American History (2001-). Additional information is filed in the Series 1 Biographical file of this collection.

Mr. Brown has made time for public service as a member of the board of the Hampton Antiquarian and Historical Society (1973-85), chair (1983-85); a tutor with the Literary Volunteers of America (1990-1992); a tutor at the Parish Hill High School (1992-1995); and clerk for the Early Massachusetts Records, Inc., a non-profit project to microfilm local records (1970-77).

On June 10, 1962, Richard David Brown married Irene Quenzler, who specializes in early modern French history. The couple has a son, Josiah Henry Brown (b. January 17, 1970). They reside in the Town of Hampton, Connecticut.