Call Number:

DG.057

Repository:

Swarthmore College Peace Collection

Extent:

1.46 linear ft. (17.5 linear in.)

Preferred Citation:

[Identification of item], in the George Nasmyth and Florence Nasmyth Papers (DG 057), Swarthmore College Peace Collection.

Date:

1911-1937 (inclusive)

Creator:

Nasmyth, George William, 1882-1920, Nasmyth, Florence G. (Florence Gross), Angell, Norman, 1874-1967, Balch, Emily Greene, 1867-1961, Douglas, Dorothy W. (Dorothy Wolff), 1890-1968, Fayle, C. Ernest (Charles Ernest), 1881-, Holt, Hamilton, 1872-1951, Hopkins, J. A. H. (John Appleton Haven), 1872-1960, Hudson, Manley O. (Manley Ottmer), 1886-1960, Laidler, Harry W. (Harry Wellington), 1884-1970, Mead, Edwin D. (Edwin Doak), 1849-1937, Mead, Lucia True Ames, 1856-1936, and Morel, E. D. (Edmund Dene), 1873-1924

Abstract:

George W. Nasmyth was educated at Cornell, Berlin, Gottingen, Heidelburg and Zurich. He dedicate his life to the cause of international understanding and peace. In 1919, he attended the Paris Peace Conference, and to organize the first meeting since the outbreak of the war of the World Alliance for Friendship Through the Churches. He died of a typhus infection at the age of 39, on September 20, 1920. Florence Nasmyth was a writer on peace issues.

George W. Nasmyth was born in Cleveland, Ohio, July 9, 1882. He was educated at Cornell, Berlin, Gottingen, Heidelburg and Zurich. During his graduate studies in Europe, he founded class clubs similar in ideals to those of the American Cosmopolitan Club. These he organized into an Association of International Clubs of which he was president; in 1911, he was a delegate to the International Student Congress in Rome (7th). He was elected President of the Central Commission of the Federation Internationale des Etudiants with Louis Lochner. In the services of the international student movement, he visited the universities of 22 countries.

It was during the tense years of 1912-1914 that Nasmyth finally decided to give up mathematical physics which he had studied, and dedicate his life increasingly to the cause of international understanding and peace. In 1909, in recognition of his international work with students, he was elected a member of the Board of Directors of the World Peace Foundation, Boston. He later became a member of its executive staff. In 1919, he went again to Europe to attend the Paris Peace Conference, and to organize the first meeting since the outbreak of the war of the World Alliance for Friendship Through the Churches. It was there in Geneva that he died of a typhus infection at the age of 39, on September 20, 1920.

In addition to the above mentioned positions, George W. Nasmyth was president of Corda Fratres, 1911-1913; an administrator in the U. S. Fuel Administration, 1917-1919; and a founder and member of the Trade Union College.

Florence Nasmyth was a writer on peace issues.

Nasmyth's correspondents included Edwin Mead, Norman Angell, E.D. Morel, Hamilton Holt, John Haynes Holmes, Dorothy Douglas, Norman Thomas, Frederick Lynch and Agnes Warbasse. Letters of condolence were sent by Emily Greene Balch, David Starr Jordan, Norman Thomas, Alfred Fried, and Lucia Ames Mead, among others.

The collection contains biographical information about George Nasmyth, his correspondence, writings, and material about him. Also included is a small amount of material, including correspondence of Florence Nasmyth.

The collection is organized with the files of George Nasmyth-biographical material, correspondence, and writings; items concerning Florence Nasymth are to be found at the end of the collection.