Call Number:

DG.018

Repository:

Swarthmore College Peace Collection

Extent:

13.75 linear ft. (13.75 linear ft.)

Preferred Citation:

[Identification of item], in the Henry Ford Peace Expedition Records (DG 018), Swarthmore College Peace Collection

Date:

1915-1916 (inclusive)

Creator:

Blake, Katherine Devereux, 1858-1950, Leckie, Katherine, d. 1930, Lloyd, Lola Maverick, 1875-1944, Maverick, Lewis A. (Lewis Adams), 1891-, Plantiff, Gaston, Pogany, Frances, Sewall, May Wright, 1844-1920, Wales, Julia Grace, 1881-, and Kraft, Barbara S.

Abstract:

On December 4, 1915, Henry Ford and over one hundred delegates and reporters left Hoboken, New Jersey, aboard the steamship Oscar II bound for Norway, and an itinerary of peace meetings in nonbelligerant Europe. The purpose of the Henry Ford Peace Expedition was the establishment of a conference of neutral nations which would seek to implement peace proposals through continuous mediation. Although Ford left the expedition at Christiana (Oslo) for health reasons, the delegation visited European pacifists in Stockholm and The Hague before returning to the United States in January 1916.

On December 4, 1915, Henry Ford (1863-1947) and over one hundred delegates and reporters left Hoboken, New Jersey, aboard the steamship Oscar II bound for Christiana, Norway, the first port of call on an itinerary of peace meetings in nonbelligerant Europe. Less than a month before the Oscar II sailed, Rosika Schwimmer (1877-1948), who became the expedition's "general secretary," persuaded Ford to finance the voyage. The purpose of the Henry Ford Peace Expedition was the establishment of a conference of neutral nations which would seek to implement peace proposals through continuous mediation.

Although Ford left the expedition at Christiana (Oslo) for health reasons, the delegation visited European pacifists in Stockholm and The Hague before returning to the United States in January 191 In late February, representatives from the European neutral nations met with a remnant of the Ford Peace Expedition to establish the Neutral Conference for Continuous Mediation (NCCM) at Stockholm. Several months later, the site of the sessions was transferred to The Hague. Work on proposals continued until the end of 1916, with Louis P. Lochner playing a key role in this attempt to encourage peace overtures and establish principles which could serve as the basis for an equitable peace settlement.

The collected records of the Henry Ford Peace Expedition in the Swarthmore College Peace Collection are neither the official records of the Expedition nor those of the Neutral Conference for Continuous Mediation. The bulk of the materials were donated by various members of the expedition and include scattered correspondence and personal files of Louis P. Lochner, Benjamin W. Huebsch, Arthur L. Weatherly, Theodore A. Hostetler, and John E. Jones. This section of the collection includes diaries, correspondence (1915-1916), statements, speeches, passenger lists and biographies, press releases, pamphlets, the Argosy (a shipboard newsletter), menus, invitations, press credentials and visiting cards as well as clippings (1915-1925), and photographs. Also present is a file of Lochner's on Corda Fratres, an international student organization. Documents of the Neutral Conference for Continuous Mediation include minutes (1916), releases, manifestos, and bulletins. The work of the NCCM is described in the conference publications, most of which are printed in English, but include some items in French, German, Swedish, and Esperanto.

In 1999, Barbara S Kraft, the author of The Peace Ship: Henry Ford's Pacifist Adventure in the First World War, donated her extensive files of materials on the Expedition. Kraft had collected correspondence, published pamphlets, and biographical material on Expedition participants from archival collections in Europe and North America in preparation for her book. These files form Series B. of this collection.

Correspondents in the whole collection, in addition to all those named above, are Katherine Devereux Blake, Katherine Leckie, Lola Maverick Lloyd, Lewis A. Maverick, Gaston Plantiff, Frances Pogany, May Wright Sewall, and Julia Grace Wales.

All accessions, except for the materials donated in 1999 by Barbara S. Kraft, are organized into six boxes (boxes 1-5a). Secondary material about the Expedition was grouped together, then papers of individual members, printed material from the Neutral Conference for Continuous Mediation, and then correspondence. This material was microfilmed. Additional items were received after the microfilming process and they are grouped together in the last box of Series I, box 5a. The materials received from Barbara Kraft are grouped together and (as of July 1999) remain as the donor organized them. This material was not microfilmed. However, the donor included a small piece of microfilm of several finding aids and miscellaneous resources she had collected during her research. This film is Reel 76.