Call Number:

CDG-A.Large, Dwight S. and Frances K. Large

Repository:

Swarthmore College Peace Collection

Extent:

2 linear ft. (2 linear feet.)

Preferred Citation:

Cite as : [Identification of item], in the Dwight S. Large and Frances K. Large Collected Papers (CDG-A), Swarthmore College Peace Collection.

Date:

1969-1976 (inclusive)

Creator:

Large, Dwight S., Large, Frances K., Colton, Kenneth R., Hosman, Glenn B., Jordan, John E. (John Edward), 1934-, Schwarzschild, Henry, and Will, Herman, 1915-

Abstract:

Papers of a Frances K. and Dwight S. Large, who worked for legal amnesty for Vietnam War resisters.

Dwight Large graduated from Albion College in Michigan, and from Yale University Divinity School. He also studied at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. During World War II Dwight Large was one of the first Methodist ministers to take a public stand by filing as a religious conscientious objector to war. He directed the American Friends Service Committee's relief operations in Palestine in 1949, later held several administrative posts with Amnesty International, and was a United Methodist Church pastor in Germantown, Pennsylvania, and in Lansing, Michigan, among many other churches. Large's last appointment was as minister at Central Methodist Church in Detroit which was very well-known for its strong pacifism. His concern, as well as his wife's, for conscientious objectors to the Vietnam War -- as well as the draft evaders and draft resisters -- led to their efforts to promote amnesty for these men. The Amnesty Information and Action Center was established in 1972 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, to assist those Americans who refused to participate in the Vietnam War obtain legal amnesty. The organization was founded and run by the Larges; they distributed material to and coordinated networks on all aspects of amnesty and reconciliation. The AIAC was sponsored by the Methodist Church and ceased operation in 1973. Dwight Large spent the last few years of his life in Adelaide, Australia, where he died in 1982. Frances Large also graduated from Albion College (where she met Dwight) and was like her husband a committed pacifist. This led her to be an active member of the Womens International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) and the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR). Frances joined Dwight in his work with conscientious objectors. In 1978 she and Dwight moved to Adelaide, Australia to be near their son Stephen and his family (I was teaching Japanese history at the University of Adelaide at the time, before moving to Cambridge). After Dwight died, Frances eventually returned to the U.S. where she became a Quaker. She died in Ann Arbor, Michigan in 2004.

This collection of papers reflects the Large's efforts to bring amnesty to Vietnam war resisters. Much of the correspondence is with United Methodists concerning the setting up and maintenance of The Amnesty Information and Action Center. Correspondents include Kenneth R. Colton, Glenn B. Hosman Jr., John E. Jordan, Henry Schwarzchild, and Herman Will, Jr.

The papers are arranged first by material produced by or about Dwight and Frances Large, followed by reference material that they gathered on amnesty from individual authors, organizations, and religious entities. This collection was sent to offsite storage in February 2016.