The Activism series contains files devoted to general social justice and organizations that embraced several aspects of activism. It is not unusual for groups such as the Christic Institute or the Friends Committee on National Legislation to be devoted to anti-war activism, environmental protection, alternative energy, feminism, etc., at the same time. Some of the files in this series are essentially collections of mass mailings kept and sometimes annotated by Mary Bye. Files related to the Greensboro Five and the migrant farm workers contain more Bye original content. The Movement for a New Society was a network of social activist collectives that grew out of a group originally called A Quaker Action Group, but that was no longer exclusively a Friends organization. It was active locally and was related to two projects that Bye was closely involved with: Turning Point Life Center Community and Wonderful Older Women. Moon Ark, or Moon Ark Ecology House, though not well represented, seems to have been a local organization supported by Bye that initially espoused ecological concerns but later became more general in focus. Mobilization for Survival, also with local affiliation, was an activist group that embraced several causes and encouraged direct action. The Bucks County Free Library file relates to efforts by Bye to amend the policy of the library in determining what material was permitted to be posted by outside groups at library facilities. The political correspondence files, notably with Congressman Peter H. Kostmayer and Senator Arlen Specter, are files that Bye maintained in their present condition; subject matter varies and complements topics in other series of the collection, which also contains correspondence with these and other government officials.

The Native Americans series is primarily concerned with Bye’s efforts on behalf of the American Indian Movement, cofounded by Dennis Banks, and supported by activist and Native American actor Russell Means. One file concerns support for Leonard Peltier, a Native American activist who was convicted and sentenced to prison in the shooting deaths of two FBI agents in what was known as the 1977 Pine Ridge conflict. Other files relate to local Native American organizations.

Mary Bye continued to be active in the anti-war movement after the Vietnam War, but her concern shifted to American military activity in general, especially in relation to Central America. The organizations represented here frequently support several causes, but peace activism is their focus as represented in this series. Friends groups and concerns are well represented. Jonah House was a pacifist organization based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Plowshares Eight were a group of activists, including Father Philip Berrigan of the Harrisburg Seven and his brother, Father Daniel Berrigan, who were convicted of destroying two nuclear warheads in 1980 at a General Electric facility in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. Mary Bye corresponded extensively with John Schuchardt and also with Father Carl Kabat, two of the convicted activists, however, there is no personal correspondence in this collection with Fathers Philip or Daniel Berrigan. This series also contains a record of Mary Bye’s resistance to paying federal income tax in opposition to American military activity. This resistance spanned many years prior to the files in this collection, here restricted mainly to her activities from 1980 to 1982.

The Anti-Nuclear Activism series includes files related to Mary Bye’s efforts to draw awareness to the hazards of nuclear energy and nuclear waste. It includes important documentation of direct action and political lobbying through local groups such as Central Bucks Clean Energy Collective, as well as files dealing with nuclear hazards in general. This series is especially useful in documenting how local and national groups conducted political and direct action. The Barnwell, South Carolina rally file demonstrates how an operation of this nature was carried out in 1978. The greater portion of this series is relates to local efforts to stop or curtail further development of the nuclear facility at Limerick, Pennsylvania and its related facility at the Point Pleasant Pumping Station. Several rallies and vigils are documented, along with ongoing correspondence intended to apply political pressure. One file records a court case ( Mary Bye v. Philadelphia Electric Company) which involved Bye as a complainant and her decision to withhold a portion of her electric bill that she considered relative to the generating capacity of Limerick. The Point Pleasant Pumping Station conflict relates to concerns involving environmental pollution as well as nuclear energy. There are also files relating to the Peach Bottom nuclear facility, and others such as Three Mile Island. Several large files contain general mailings and related information from large national organizations such as Union of Concerned Scientists and Public Citizen-Critical Mass Energy Project, to which Bye offered her services. Local groups include Limerick Ecology Action and CLEAR (Citizens’ League for Environmental Awareness Resources). Another local organization, though not well represented, was the Silkwood Reactors, in which Bye was an active participant.

The Energy series contains files related to alternative sources of energy, especially solar, as well as files pertaining to local organizations, utilities and regulatory agencies. The Philadelphia Electric Company file, in addition to energy matters, contains documents relating to PECO’s efforts toward environmental protection in building a fish ladder at the Conowingo Dam in Maryland. Several files relate to the efforts of Mary Bye to convert her house to solar energy with support from the local organization Moon Ark Ecology House.

The Environment series contains files related to environmental protection, air and water pollution, greenhouse effect, recycling, rainforests, and habitat restoration. The Friends Environmental Working Group (FEWG), originally the Working Group on Stewardship of the Environment, for which Bye was a Convener, is especially well represented. FEWG worked closely with the Pacific Yearly Meeting’s Friends Committee on Unity with Nature and activist Marshall Massey. Many local environmental groups are represented; among the more significant are the Bucks County Conservancy and the Clean Air Council (Delaware Valley Citizens’ Council for Clean Air). National groups include the Sierra Club, with its local affiliates, and EcoJustice Working Group, an interdenominational activist group sponsored by the National Council of Churches. Of special interest is an effort by Mary Bye to protect a stand of oak trees in Buckingham Township, Bucks County, from being cut down in 1988. Bye coordinated with local activists in rallying support for the trees. She was arrested on one occasion for trespassing while literally hugging one of the trees. The oaks were eventually cut down, but not before Bye became a local celebrity, drawing attention to the need for habitat preservation. Bye’s efforts were well documented in local media; published articles include insights into her personal life and activist career. A similar action documented here relates to efforts by activist Stephen Redding to protect a stand of trees in Chalfont, Bucks County. Another file relates to the “Celebration of Water,” an event held at Mary Bye’s home in 1979.

Mary Bye received and collected an enormous amount of documentation related to wildlife and animal protection. It seems that her activity in this area was limited largely to donations to various societies and causes. She was somewhat more active in her concern for seals, in particular the North Pacific fur seal. She was the official protector of a Humpback whale named “Tassle.” Most of the documents in this series are limited to general mailings and related publications.

This series relates to the general and spiritual activity of Quakers and other religious groups. The Philadelphia Quaker Women’s Workshop file represents the earliest documentation (1974) in this collection related to Mary Bye. She and a group of Quaker women were expressing their concern and support for a group of Episcopal women priests whose ordination had been declared invalid by the Episcopal House of Bishops. A large file concerns a movement called Creation Spirituality, developed by Matthew Fox, a Dominican priest who had been expelled from his order in 1993 for disobedience, denying the doctrine of original sin. Creation Spirituality was influenced by the teachings of medieval Catholic visionaries, and came to espouse a message that was strongly in support of ecological and environmental activism.

This brief series contains items related to Mary Bye of a personal nature, papers unrelated in any way to topics in other series, and some notes and writings of an indeterminate nature. A newspaper article (Shultes, Anne, “Still an Activist” in The Intelligencer/The Record [Doylestown, Pa.] 12 November 1992) is the last reference to Mary Bye in this collection, a personal portrait written after she had moved to a retirement home in Newtown. Included in this series are papers related to Bye’s activity as an alumna of Swarthmore and Temple University.