Main content
Dwight S. Large and Frances K. Large Collected Papers
Notifications
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
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.
This archival collection was formerly named DG 114, Amnesty Information and Action Center.
The Swarthmore College Peace Collection is the official repository for these papers.
This collection of papers was designated the Amnesty Information and Action Center Records (AIAC) (DG 114) in 1981. However, because the AIAC only lasted two years and these papers go well beyond that scope, in 2015 the collection was changed to the Dwight S. and Frances K. Large Collected Papers (CDG-A).
Gift of Dwight S. Large, 1977-1978 [accs. 77A-099, 77A-111, 77A-122, 78A-004, 78A-072].
For the catalog record for this collection, and to find materials on similar topics, search the library's online catalog.
Processed by Anne M. Yoder, Archivist, August 2015; finding aid updated by Wendy Chmielewski, May 2016.
Removed: Oversized document (reprint of newspaper ad): "There are 1210 names in this advertisement...." [see Oversized Document #0849]
People
Organization
- Amnesty Information and Action Center
- National Interreligious Service Board for Conscientious Objectors
- American Civil Liberties Union Foundation. Project on Amnesty
- National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Emergency Ministeries Concerning the War
- National Council for Universal and Unconditional Amnesty
- United Methodist Church (U.S.)
Subject
- Vietnam War, 1961-1975 -- Moral and ethical aspects -- Sources
- War -- Moral and ethical aspects -- History -- Sources
- Amnesty -- United States -- History -- Sources
- Conscientious Objectors -- United States -- History -- Sources
- Amnesty -- Congresses -- History -- Sources
- Conscientious objection -- United States -- History -- Sources
- Amnesty -- Societies, etc. -- History -- Sources
- Vietnam War, 1961-1975 -- Religious aspects -- Sources
- War -- Religious aspects -- History -- Sources
- Draft -- United States -- History -- Sources
- Draft resisters -- United States -- History -- Sources
- 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.
- Copyright may have been transferred to the Swarthmore College Peace Collection or may have been retained by the creators/authors (or their descendants), in this collection, as stipulated by United States copyright law. Please contact the SCPC Curator for further information.
- Use Restrictions
-
None.
Collection Inventory
[with other versions]