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National Committee on Food for the Small Democracies Collected Records
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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
At the outbreak of World War II, the potential for food shortages in five democracies (Belgium, Norway, Poland, Holland and Finland) whose combined population in 1940 was about 37 million, of which 15 million were children, presented a moral challenge to America. With former President Herbert Hoover as spokesperson and honorary chairman of the National Committee on Food for the Small Democracies, efforts were focused on swaying public opinion toward the necessity of food shipments to those countries, despite their being under German control. Critics of the plan contended that all food shipped abroad to occupied countries would further the German cause, and draw the U.S. into the conflict. The Committee's offices were in New York City.
The Swarthmore College Peace Collection is not the official repository for the records of this organization.
Organization
- National Committee on Food for the Small Democracies
- National Committee on Food for the Five Small Democracies
Subject
- Publisher
- Swarthmore College Peace Collection