Caroline Brown Bourland was born in Peoria, Illinois on June 4th, 1871. She was an 1893 graduate of Smith College, and continued to study at Bryn Mawr and the Sorbonne, earning her Ph. D. from Bryn Mawr in 1902. Between graduating from college and studying for her doctorate, Caroline Brown Bourland accepted a position teaching English Literature and General History at Pueblo High School in 1893-1894, and another teaching French and Latin at Peoria High School in 1896-1897.

Bourland returned to Smith in 1902, as a professor of French and Spanish. She helped to build the reputation of the Spanish Department, and was instrumental in establishing it as a separate department. In 1913, Bourland switched to teaching Spanish full time, and did so until her retirement in 1939. She hoped that her American students would learn to love Spain as much as she did, and orchestrated an exchange program between Smith and a school in Madrid. Bourland was at least trilingual (not including Latin), and could comfortably read in at least five languages. Caroline Brown Bourland died on February 28, 1956 in Wisconsin.

The Caroline Brown Bourland Papers contain biographical materials, correspondence, lecture notes, information on the Hispanic Society of America, article written for the National Encyclopedia, photographs, poetry, publications, tributes and student recommendations spanning her career as a faculty member at Smith College.