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John Beer Collected Papers

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Held at: Swarthmore College Peace Collection [Contact Us]500 College Avenue, Swarthmore 19081-1399

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Swarthmore College Peace Collection. 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

John Joseph Beer was born in 1927, Saarbrucken, Germany and died Oct. 2, 2021 in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. He received his Ph.D. in the history of science from the University of Illinois in 1956. He taught the history of science and the history of chemistry at the University of Delaware, until his retirement in 1992. He was a Quaker peace and antinuclear activist.

Collection includes correspondence and notes about Beer's work for peace and social justice including: a typescript account of conscientious objector David Emerson's hearing in 1954 in Danville, Illinois; peace involvements in Delaware, 1960s-1980s, including opposition to the Vietnam War and to nuclear weapons; accounts of Western Quarterly Friends (Quakers) visits to the Pentagon to protest the arms race, 1979-1981, including correspondence with Brig. General Richard T. Boverie; opposition to ROTC at the University of Delaware; and, evaluation of nuclear warfare films by Beer and his students. The papers include Beer's reference files.

Papers regarding John Beer's academic and professional work are deposited at the Hagley Museum and Library in Delaware.

The Swarthmore College Peace Collection is the official repository for the papers of John Beer.

Gift of John Beer, 1996, 2002 [96A-064, 02A-050].

Processed by Anne M. Yoder, Archivist.

Publisher
Swarthmore College Peace Collection
Access Restrictions

The collection is open for research use.

All or part of this collection is stored off-site. Contact Swarthmore College Peace Collection staff at peacecollection@swarthmore.edu at least two weeks in advance of visit to request boxes.

Use Restrictions

None.

Collection Inventory

Archival Resource Key. Miscellaneous notes and correspondence.
Box 1 [offsite SCPC-5666]
Archival Resource Key. Miscellaneous courses taught.
Box 1 [offsite SCPC-5666]
Archival Resource Key. Account of hearing of David Emerson, 1954.
Box 1 [offsite SCPC-5666]
Scope and Contents

[Beer was his C.O. counselor]

Archival Resource Key. Peace involvements in Delaware, 1960s-1980s.
Box 1 [offsite SCPC-5666]
Archival Resource Key. Opposition to Vietnam War at University of Delaware, 1970s.
Box 1 [offsite SCPC-5666]
Archival Resource Key. Opposition to nuclear arms race; peace projects, 1979-1980s.
Box 1 [offsite SCPC-5666]
Archival Resource Key. Visits to Pentagon by Western Quarterly Friends Meeting to protest arms race, 1979-1981.
Box 1 [offsite SCPC-5666]
Archival Resource Key. Opposition to ROTC at University of Delaware, 1981-1982.
Box 1 [offsite SCPC-5666]
Archival Resource Key. Testimony re: ROTC before University of Delaware Faculty Senate, 1982 (February 1).
Box 1 [offsite SCPC-5666]
Archival Resource Key. Miscellaneous notes etc. re: ROTC.
Box 1 [offsite SCPC-5666]
Archival Resource Key. Evaluation of nuclear arms / war films by Beer and students.
Box 1 [offsite SCPC-5666]
Scope and Contents

[2 folders]

Archival Resource Key. Evaluation of films for class "The Best of Times..." taught by Beer.
Box 2 [offsite SCPC-5667]
Scope and Contents

[3 folders]

Archival Resource Key. Evaluation of nuclear arms / war films by students, 1978-1979.
Box 2 [offsite SCPC-5667]
Archival Resource Key. Evaluation of films by students, 1978.
Box 2 [offsite SCPC-5667]
Archival Resource Key. Evaluation of nuclear arms / war films by Beer and students, undated.
Box 2 [offsite SCPC-5667]
Scope and Contents

[3 folders]

Archival Resource Key. Reference material: A-Bomb testing and its effects -- atomic veterans / Pacific Islanders.
Box 3 [offsite SCPC-5668]
Archival Resource Key. Reference material: Chernobyl (Russia) nuclear disaster.
Box 3 [offsite SCPC-5668]
Archival Resource Key. Reference material: Civil defense.
Box 3 [offsite SCPC-5668]
Scope and Contents

[2 folders]

Archival Resource Key. Reference material: Cold War -- U.S.-USSR relations, 1945-.
Box 3 [offsite SCPC-5668]
Archival Resource Key. Reference material: Cost of defense/weapons.
Box 3 [offsite SCPC-5668]
Archival Resource Key. Reference material: Course syllabi re: nuclear politics and nuclear history.
Box 3 [offsite SCPC-5668]
Archival Resource Key. Reference material: Disarmament.
Box 3 [offsite SCPC-5668]
Archival Resource Key. Reference material: Effects of A-Bomb on Hiroshima nad Nagasaki.
Box 3 [offsite SCPC-5668]
Archival Resource Key. Reference material: Effects of nuclear war (physical/emotional, etc.).
Box 3 [offsite SCPC-5668]
Scope and Contents

[includes the effect fear of a nuclear war has on people]

Archival Resource Key. Reference material: Foreign nuclear proliferation / activity.
Box 3 [offsite SCPC-5668]
Archival Resource Key. Reference material: Fusion.
Box 4 [offsite SCPC-5669]
Archival Resource Key. Reference material: History of atomic science.
Box 4 [offsite SCPC-5669]
Archival Resource Key. Reference material: History of nuclear science / nuclear research policy.
Box 4 [offsite SCPC-5669]
Archival Resource Key. Reference material: Nuclear power plant problems and accidents.
Box 4 [offsite SCPC-5669]
Archival Resource Key. Reference material: Nuclear power plants and peaceful uses.
Box 4 [offsite SCPC-5669]
Archival Resource Key. Reference material: Peace advocacy -- peace and disarmament groups.
Box 4 [offsite SCPC-5669]
Scope and Contents

[2 folders]

Archival Resource Key. Reference material: Peaceful uses of nuclear energy.
Box 5 [offsite SCPC-5670]
Archival Resource Key. Reference material: Pro- and anti- nuclear power advocacy.
Box 5 [offsite SCPC-5670]
Archival Resource Key. Reference material: Radiation -- hazards / terrorism / safety.
Box 5 [offsite SCPC-5670]
Archival Resource Key. Reference material: Radiation / nuclear waste.
Box 5 [offsite SCPC-5670]
Archival Resource Key. Reference material: SDI / Star Wars.
Box 5 [offsite SCPC-5670]
Archival Resource Key. Reference material: Teaching nuclear history.
Box 5 [offsite SCPC-5670]
Archival Resource Key. Reference material: Three Mile Island (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania) nuclear disaster.
Box 5 [offsite SCPC-5670]
Scope and Contents

[3 folders]

Archival Resource Key. Reference material: Weapons research / systems / strategy.
Box 5 [offsite SCPC-5670]

Archival Resource Key. Correspondence, 1984-1985.
Box 6 [offsite SCPC-5671]
Archival Resource Key. Holocaust Victim Claim Resolution (for father, Otto Beer).
Box 6 [offsite SCPC-5671]
Archival Resource Key. Transcript of speech "The Role of Peace in the Development of Techology", 1981.
Box 6 [offsite SCPC-5671]
Archival Resource Key. Transcript of speech "A Yankee for Gandhi's Spinning Wheel: Richard B. Gregg and the Mahatma's Renewal of Village Industries", 1985.
Box 6 [offsite SCPC-5671]
Archival Resource Key. Research notes on Gandhi and technology.
Box 6 [offsite SCPC-5671]
Scope and Contents

[2 folders]

Archival Resource Key. Research notes on Gandhi and technology related to book Mahatma Gandhi: The Last Phase by Pyarelel.
Box 6 [offsite SCPC-5671]
Archival Resource Key. Research notes on Richard B. Gregg (biographer of Gandhi).
Box 6 [offsite SCPC-5671]
Archival Resource Key. Reference material: Gandhi and technology.
Box 6 [offsite SCPC-5671]
Archival Resource Key. Reference material: Paper "Herbicides in Vietnam: Peace or Plague" by Karen Hyatt, 1974.
Box 6 [offsite SCPC-5671]
Archival Resource Key. Reference material: Peace movement.
Box 6 [offsite SCPC-5671]

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