Call Number:

CDG-A.Beer, John

Repository:

Swarthmore College Peace Collection

Extent:

2.08 linear ft. (25 linear in.)

Preferred Citation:

[Identification of item], in the John Beer Collected Papers (CDG-A), Swarthmore College Peace Collection.

Date:

1954-1985 (bulk)

Creator:

Beer, John Joseph, 1927-

Abstract:

John Beer was a professor of the history of science and chemistry, as well as a Quaker peace and antinuclear activist.

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.