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Tracy D. Mygatt and Frances Witherspoon Papers, 1835-1973 (inclusive) 1911-1974 (bulk)

Extent:

3.125 linear ft. ((9 containers))

Abstract:

Tracy Dickinson Mygatt (1885-1973) and Frances May Witherspoon (1886-1973) were prolific writers and absolute pacifists who worked together in movements for women's rights, world peace, civil liberties, and civil rights. Both women authored plays, articles, poems, sermons, and stories, individually and in collaboration. They were founders of the War Resisters League and later served as honorary chairs. Frances Witherspoon was a co-founder and Executive Secretary of the New York Bureau of Legal Advice. Tracy Mygatt was very active with the Campaign for World Government from 1941 to 1973.

Held at: Swarthmore College Peace Collection [Contact Us]

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New York Peace Society Records, 1818-1940 (inclusive) 1906-1940 (bulk)

Extent:

7.25 linear ft. (18 boxes)

Abstract:

The New York Peace Society was the first peace society in the United States beginning in 1815, and lasting in various incarnations until 1940.

Held at: Swarthmore College Peace Collection [Contact Us]

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Emergency Peace Campaign Records, 1936-1937 (inclusive)

Extent:

88.75 linear ft. (88.75 linear ft.)

Abstract:

Initiated in late 1935 by the American Friends Service Committee and other pacifists; originally planned as a two-year campaign to rally peace, religious, labor, African-American and student groups; aim was to organize a national campaign to promote peace principles in the face of preparation for war in Europe, and to keep the United States out of war; may have been preceded by the Emergency Peace Committee (1931-1933), though this has not been documented. The first EPC office opened in February 1, 1936. Ray Newton served as Executive Director; other staff members were Baruch Braunstein, Harold Chance, and Kirby Page. The EPC disbanded at the end of 1937, its work continued by the National Peace Conference.

Held at: Swarthmore College Peace Collection [Contact Us]

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Devere Allen Papers, 1809-1978 (inclusive) 1910-1955 (bulk)

Extent:

138 linear ft. (138 linear ft.)

Abstract:

Author, editor, journalist and lecturer; advocate of internationalist pacifism; influential member of the Socialist Party in the 1930s; genealogist; recorder of Rhode Island history and lore; named Harold Devere Allen.

Held at: Swarthmore College Peace Collection [Contact Us]

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War Resisters League Records, 1923-2013 (inclusive)

Extent:

35.4 linear ft. (series a = 37 boxes and 15.22 linear feet; series b = 49 boxes and 20.22 linear feet)

Abstract:

The War Resisters League is a pacifist organization whose members are against all war. Witnessing the establishment of the War Resisters' International in Europe in 1921, and sensing a need for a similar organization in the United States, Dr. Jessie Wallace Hughan established the War Resisters League as an independent organization. The War Resisters League membership pledge, which has remained essentially unchanged since its inception, reads: "The War Resisters League affirms that war is a crime against humanity. We therefore are determined not to support any kind of war, international or civil, and to strive non-violently for the removal of all causes of war." The League seeks to end war and social injustice through pacifist and nonviolent tactics.

Held at: Swarthmore College Peace Collection [Contact Us]

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Mohandas K. Gandhi Collected Papers, 1919- (bulk)

Extent:

0.25 linear ft. (3 inches)

Abstract:

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born in 1869 in Porbandar in Gujarat, India. He trained as a barrister and worked in Durban, South Africa. Influenced primarily by Hinduism, but also by elements of Jainism and Christianity as well as writers including Tolstoy and Thoreau, Gandhi developed the satyagraha ('devotion to truth'), a new nonviolent way to redress wrongs. Gandhi returned to India and in 1919, he announced a new satyagraha which attracted millions of followers. By 1920, Gandhi was a dominant figure in Indian politics. He transformed the Indian National Congress, and his program of peaceful non-cooperation with the British included boycotts of British goods and institutions, leading to arrests of thousands. For the next 20 years he led nonviolent protests against British policies and colonial power in India. In 1945, the British government began negotiations which culminated in the Mountbatten Plan of June 1947, and the formation of the two new independent states of India and...(see more)

Held at: Swarthmore College Peace Collection [Contact Us]

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Eichel Family Papers, 1918-2008 (inclusive)

Extent:

4.16 linear ft. (4.16 linear feet)

Abstract:

The Eichel Family papers provide a unique glimpse into the lives of conscientious objectors and peace activists from one family over two generations, from 1916 onward. Julius Eichel, David Eichel and Albert Eichel were all C.O.s during WWI. Julius Eichel and his wife Esther Eichel protested WWII. Their son Seymour Eichel also served time in prison for his refusal to serve in the military in the 1950s.

Held at: Swarthmore College Peace Collection [Contact Us]

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Anna Melissa Graves Papers, 1919-1953 (inclusive)

Extent:

8.5 linear ft. (8.5 linear ft.)

Abstract:

Anna Melissa Graves was a writer, teacher, world traveler, and internationalist. From the 1920s to the 1940s Graves traveled through Africa, Central and South America, China, Europe, and the Middle East. She taught school in many of these places and maintained a voluminous correspondence with the teachers, acquaintances, and former students she met on her travels.

Held at: Swarthmore College Peace Collection [Contact Us]

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Lydia G. Wentworth Papers, 1902-1947 (inclusive) 1918-1947 (bulk)

Extent:

4.5 linear ft. (4.5 linear ft.)

Abstract:

Lydia G. Wentworth, was a writer and ardent peace advocate who lived most of her life in Brookline, Massachusetts. Despite illness which confined her to bed for over thirty years, she carried on a prolific correspondence and contributed hundreds of articles to newspapers and magazines. Wentworth was on the advisory committee of the Women's Peace Society, and was a member of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, the Fellowship of Reconciliation, the Association to Abolish War, and the Boston League of Women Voters.

Held at: Swarthmore College Peace Collection [Contact Us]

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Homer A. Jack Papers, 1930-1995 (inclusive)

Extent:

85 linear ft. (85 linear ft.)

Abstract:

Homer A. Jack (1916-1993) was a Unitarian Universalist clergyman and denominational official who sought to apply religious values to national and international affairs. Jack was executive secretary of the Chicago Council Against Racial and Religious Discrimination (1943-1948), executive director of SANE (1960-1964), and secretary general of the World Conference on Religion and Peace (1970-1983). He had been minister of churches in Lawrence, Kansas (1942-1943), Evanston, Illinois (1948-1959), and Winnetka, Illinois (1984-1987) and served as director of the Division of Social Responsibility of the Unitarian Universalist Association (1964-1970). Jack also chaired the NGO Committee on Disarmament (at UN Headquarters) from 1973-1984. Homer Jack "retired" to Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, in Januaryuary 1987. He published a history of the World Conference on Religion and Peace in 1993, and continued to be active in various peace and human rights organizations, speaking and traveling...(see more)

Held at: Swarthmore College Peace Collection [Contact Us]