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Theodore Brinton Hetzel papers and graphics
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Held at: Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections [Contact Us]370 Lancaster Ave, Haverford, PA 19041
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
Theodore Brinton Hetzel (1906-1990) was born in Germantown, Pennsylvania and attended Westtown School and Haverford College, graduating Phi Beta Kappa in 1928. He completed graduate studies in mechanical engineering at the University of Pennsylvania, the Technical University of Munich (Germany), and Pennsylvania State University. He returned to Haverford College in 1936 as a member of the faculty and later chair of the department of engineering, remaining on the faculty until 1972. While at Haverford, he also served on the Committee of Arts and Service, as a member of the Corporation, on the Eighth Dimension Advisory Committee, and as advisor to the Social and Technical Assistance Program. He was secretary of the faculty from 1965 to 1971.
Hetzel served on the Indian Committees of the American Friends Service Committee and Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. In 1955, the Indian Rights Association asked him to join its board of directors. In 1969, the Association appointed him its executive director and editor of its publication, Indian Truth. In 1971, he was named general secretary. Adopted by the Seneca Nation of Indians, he was given the Seneca name Ong Gwa Dao, meaning "our friend." An avid photographer, Hetzel was contracted by Haverford College for a number of years. His photographs were also used for Friends' periodicals and for projects with which he was affiliated.
Hetzel was a member of Quaker organizations which worked with Native Americans, perhaps especially American Friends Service Committee. Among the projects with which he was connected was the Friends Kinzua Dam Project. In the 1950s, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers planned a dam named Kinzua on the Allegheny which would flood nearly the entire Seneca reservation, but would protect the city of Pittsburgh. However, there was an alternative: by utilizing a naturally occurring glacier hole to create a reservoir, the Conewango dam would produce three times as much flood water at less cost than Kinzua. The Seneca asked that this alternative be investigated prior to final decision, though the Corps of Engineers was adamant. The Friends group worked to alleviate this situation.
Sources:
Information from internal evidence and the Dictionary of Quaker Biography.
Theodore Brinton Hetzel papers and graphics include newsletters, correspondence, memos, and minutes from the American Friends Service Committee and Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, as well as records of the Indian Program Subcommittee and the Associated Committee of Friends on Indian Affairs. From Haverford College, the collection includes faculty minutes, engineering department correspondence, minutes and correspondence of the Committee on Graduate Curriculum and the Social and Technical Assistance program, photographs of Haverford buildings, sporting events, and groups and individuals, occasionally well-known, such as Bayard Rustin. The collection includes photographs related to the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, photographs related to Native American programs of the American Friends Service Committee, and printed materials from organizations involved in Native American affairs, such as the Alaska Conservation Society and American Indian Development. A significant portion of the papers is concerned with the Friends Kinzua Dam Project.
Letter writers include: Hugh Borton, John Coleman, Ada Deer, Elihu Grant, Fritz Janschka, George McGovern, Arthur E. Morgan, Walter Taylor, and Gilbert White.
All correspondence dates are standardized rather than transcribed, viz: yr mo/day.
Though not all letters are listed individually, those that are highlighted are done so on the basis of content of the letter or historical importance of the letter writer.
An addition to the Hetzel papers is in boxes 1-17 & 20-26. Boxes 18 & 19 were received earlier and their accession numbers are not recorded.
The Theodore Brinton Hetzel papers and graphics were donated to Special Collections, Haverford College by Rebecca Wills Hetzel through Janet Hetzel Henderson.
The creation of the electronic guide for this collection was made possible through generous funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, administered through the Council on Library and Information Resources's "Cataloging Hidden Special Collections and Archives" Project.
Finding aid entered into the Archivists' Toolkit by Garrett Boos; completed October, 2010.
People
- Borton, Hugh
- Coleman, John Royston
- Deer, Ada Elizabeth
- Grant, Elihu, 1873-1942
- Janschka, Fritz
- McGovern, George S. (George Stanley), 1922-
- Morgan, Arthur E. (Arthur Ernest), 1878-1975
- Rustin, Bayard, 1912-1987
- Hetzel, Theodore Brinton, 1906-1990
- Taylor, Walter
- White, Gilbert F.
Organization
- American Friends Service Committee
- Associated Committee of Friends on Indian Affairs
- Haverford College
- Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends. Indian Committee
- Society of Friends
- Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends Library
- Haverford College -- Buildings
- Haverford College -- Pictorial works
- Haverford College -- Sports
Subject
- Quaker church buildings
- Indians of North America
- Seneca Indians
- Indians of North America -- Government relations
- Society of Friends -- Indian Affairs
Place
- Publisher
- Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections
- Finding Aid Author
- Haverford College Library Special Collections
- Finding Aid Date
- October, 2010
- Sponsor
- The creation of the electronic guide for this collection was made possible through generous funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, administered through the Council on Library and Information Resources's "Cataloging Hidden Special Collections and Archives" Project. Finding aid entered into the Archivists' Toolkit by Garrett Boos.
- Access Restrictions
-
The collection is open for research use.
- Use Restrictions
-
Standard Federal Copyright Laws Apply (U.S. Title 17).
Collection Inventory
Theodore Brinton Hetzel was a member of several committees under the direction of American Friends Service Committee. Any of the papers either by Theodore Brinton Hetzel or to him directly have been retained. Historical information in notes under folder heading is taken directly from the materials within that folder. The materials assembled here should give the researcher a sense of the direction and scope of the committee, but the researcher interested in more complete information is directed to the archives of American Friends Service Committee
The land of Seneca Nation of Indians reservation along the Allegheny River in New York was granted to them by federal treaty signed by George Washington. In the 1950s, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers planned a dam named Kinzua on the Allegheny which would flood nearly the entire reservation, but would protect the city of Pittsburgh. However, there was an alternative: by utilizing a naturally occurring glacier hole to create a reservoir, the Conewango dam would produce three times as much flood water at less cost than Kinzua. The Seneca asked that this alternative be investigated prior to final decision, though the Corps of Engineers was adamant.
Includes correspondence of Theodore Brinton Hetzel, reports and clippings and is divided by date. There are also copies of letters/ reports of other people relevant to the topic.
Theodore Brinton Hetzel was a member of the Community Relations Committee of American Friends Service Committee. Many of the letters are copies to Theodore Brinton Hetzel as a member of the committee, particularly by Walter Taylor. A number of the copies are letters to members of Congress requesting their help in the matter, and to Lee White, Assistant Special Counsel to the President, as well as letters to the editor of the New York Times, Saturday Evening Post, etc. Divided by months.
Includes:
A continuation of the issues mentioned above, including copies of letters of Walter Taylor, and especially to Philleo Nash, Commissioner of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and a continuation to win support from legislature for a review of the Project, and exposure via television and the press about the Kinzua Dam issue. Some published relevant materials included. During this time, Taylor left American Friends Service Committee to work entirely on the Kinzua Project in Salamanca, New York. Divided into months.
Includes:
Continuation of the Kinzua Dam issues; primarily copies of letters of Walter Taylor. Arranged by months.
Includes:
Continuation of the Kinzua Dam issues; primarily copies of letters of Walter Taylor, as well as information for U.S. Congress by various Quaker groups, newspaper clippings and some other printed material. Arranged by months.
Including:
See above for information on the issues. Included here are copies of letters, primarily by Walter Taylor, Representative to the Seneca Nation, a few of which are directed to Theodore Brinton Hetzel, a member of the Project Steering Committee, including requests for photographs; also, clippings. Issues relating to the other Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Nations as well as Seneca. Arranged by months.
Including:
Continuation of above, but also more emphasis on the responsibilities of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting Indian Committee, now that the issue comes to a close.
Including:
Points made by various groups regarding the Kinzua Dam project and the welfare of the Seneca Indians on the Allegany Reservation in New York and Cornplanter, Pennsylvania Groups include: Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, the Indian Rights Association, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting Indian Committee, Corps of Engineers et al. The title "Kinzua Dam Project Summary" was provided by Theodore Brinton Hetzel, and appears to reiterate much of what appears above. Arranged by year.
A note in the top of the box in Theodore Brinton Hetzel's hand states that the October 21, 1963 issue of the Friends Journal reports his adoption by the Seneca Nation of Indians.
As a member of the engineering faculty at Haverford College and involved with the Social & Technical Assistance Program (Theodore Brinton Hetzel signed letters as "convener" in 1950 and as chair of the graduate curriculum committee of the S&TA program in 1955, but his leadership spanned a greater period), and Chair of the Arts and Service Committee (at least 1962-63), this box represents some of the issues that were of importance to Theodore Brinton Hetzel.
Letters of inquiry about S&TA at Haverford or programs like S&TA, requests from Theodore Brinton Hetzel for letters of recommendation from some former S&TA students or detailing their current situations. There are also letters from Theodore Brinton Hetzel on topics related to S7TA, such as social service work available at other locations (e.g. the Sicangu Lakota Oyate (Rosebud Sioux) Reservation).
Of special significance is a group of letters related to the Committee on the 1950 Mental Health Unit of Bryn Mawr, Cheyney, Haverford and Swarthmore Colleges (under "STA Program"). Letter writers include Theodore Brinton Hetzel, Katherine McBride, Frederick Tolles, Gilbert White and others.
This was a regional meeting of Native American leaders toward a meeting of the American Indian Charter Convention to take place that summer in Chicago. The publicity includes a newspaper clipping describing the conference.
In addition to Theodore Brinton Hetzel, letter writers include:
These are 4" x 6" photographs. While many of the photographs are identified by the name of a Meeting or organization, the main subject is people. Photographs of Meetinghouses without people are filed separately. In some instances only some individuals within the group are identified and the photo is filed by the name of that individual, even while some others in the photograph may be identified. In a number of instances, there are multiple photographs of one individual, even while the name is only recorded once.
Information as supplied by Theodore Brinton Hetzel (labels pasted on the photograph were removed & recorded on the verso) or as appears on the image (if possible, a title is supplied in parentheses where none is given); where it is used, the date is taken from the photographer's stamp. These are 8" x 10" format. There may be more than one copy of an image, but information is only cited once.