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Charles C. Walker 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
Charles Coates Walker (1920-2004) was an American Quaker activist and trainer for nonviolent direct action in the civil rights and peace movements; he helped globalize peace efforts on the issues of war and nuclear and biological weapons, and was the originator and leader of several marches, vigils, protest demonstrations and campaigns in different parts of the world. Walker was born in Gap, Pennsylvania in 1920. He was imprisoned as a conscientious objector in World War II. He served on the field staff of the Fellowship of Reconciliation from 1948 to 1960. In 1949, as Middle Atlantic Regional Secretary for the Fellowship of Reconciliation in Philadelphia, Walker originated, facilitated and attended the meeting in which his boss, A. J. Muste, introduced Martin Luther King, Jr. to Gandhian nonviolence. A pamphlet on which Walker collaborated, A Perspective on Nonviolence (1957), was praised by Dr. King, and used in the South by civil rights organizations and trainers. Walker worked for the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) in Philadelphia from 1960 until November 1969. In the 1960s Walker helped recruit and train participants for sit-ins, Freedom Rides, the 1963 March on Washington, and the 1964 Mississippi Freedom Summer Project. Additionally, he wrote the first handbook of its type, Organizing for Nonviolent Direct Action (1961). Walker served as College Program Director for the Middle Atlantic Region of the AFSC and was Director of Field Studies for the Nonviolent Action Research Project at Haverford College in the 1970s. He organized protests against the testing and development of biological agents for use in warfare at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases located at Fort Detrick, Maryland in 1959, 1961, 1971-1973. Walker was active in A Quaker Action Group, the Friends Peace Committee of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, and The Peacemakers and was a co-founder of the World Peace Brigade and Peace Brigades International. In 1991 Walker received the Jamnalal Bajaj International Award for promoting the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi outside of India. He was the author of several books, including A World Peace Guard: Unarmed Agency for Peacekeeping (1981); he edited Quakers and the Draft (1968). Charles C. Walker died in Pennsylvania in 2004.
Many materials have been damaged by water or mold. Some items were photocopied due to their condition and originals were discarded. Researchers should discuss the condition with the Swarthmore College Peace Collection staff prior to use.
This collection is unprocessed. Series in the finding aid match original box and folder labels. Contact the Swarthmore College Peace Collection at peacecollection@swarthmore.edu for more information.
People
Organization
- American Friends Service Committee
- Peace Brigades International
- World Peace Brigade
- Fellowship of Reconciliation (U.S.)
Subject
- Pacifists -- United States -- History -- Sources
- Quakers -- Pennsylvania -- Chester County -- History -- Sources
- Quakers -- United States -- History -- Sources
- Conscientious Objectors -- United States -- History -- Sources
- Nonviolence -- Study and teaching -- History -- Sources
- Government, Resistance to -- History -- Sources
- Conscientious Objectors
- Government, Resistance to
- Pacifists
- Quakers
- Capital punishment
- World War, 1939-1945
Place
- Publisher
- Swarthmore College Peace Collection
- Access Restrictions
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Collection is open for research without restrictions.
- Copyright to these papers or records has been transferred to the Swarthmore College Peace Collection. Copyright to all other materials is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Collection Inventory
This collection is unprocessed. Materials have been place in series based on how the subjects were identified in their original boxes. These include newsletters, minutes, publicity guide, correspondence about training, and two binders of conference papers: Conference on Conflict, Consensus and Cooperation 1962 and Oxford Conference on Civilian Defense 1964.
This collection is unprocessed. Materials have been place in series based on how the subjects were identified in their original boxes. These include printed books, newsletters, reports, copies of legislation, and notes.
This collection is unprocessed. Materials have been place in series based on how the subjects were identified in their original boxes. These include Capital Punishment in Philadelphia newsletter (produced by Walker), reports, copies of legal briefs, clippings, Two scrapbooks titled "Delaware County Prisons"
This collection is unprocessed. Materials have been place in series based on how the subjects were identified in their original boxes. These include primarily miscellaneous publications (pamphlets, articles, serials) about the draft, as well as some correspondence.
This collection is unprocessed. Materials have been place in series based on how the subjects were identified in their original boxes. These include miscellaneous documents relating to the Culebra Project, many news clippings, some handwritten notes, and some photographs.
This collection is unprocessed. Materials have been place in series based on how the subjects were identified in their original boxes. These include press coverage, publications, appeals, and correspondence regarding the vigil at Fort Detrick and chemical/biological warfare. There are also some photo negatives and prints.
This collection is unprocessed. Materials have been place in series based on how the subjects were identified in their original boxes. These include the prospectus for Gandhi-Woolman Institute, memoranda and minutes, Gandhi Centenary Committee documents including Gandhi Colloquium at Haverford, reports, training and conference manuals, correspondence, clippings, printed materials (books) kept in series
This collection is unprocessed. Materials have been place in series based on how the subjects were identified in their original boxes. These include primarily Nonviolent Action Research Project reports of Kent State University and materials related to training. (Walker was the Director of Field Studies for the Nonviolent Action Research Project at Kent State.)
This collection is unprocessed. Materials have been place in series based on how the subjects were identified in their original boxes. These include project proposals, minutes, reports, newsletter incl. Peace Brigades, clippings, and directories.
This collection is unprocessed. Materials have been place in series based on how the subjects were identified in their original boxes. These include workshop agendas, programs, and notes; clippings and background materials on effective training; correspondence; and Training for Nonviolent Action - Script for a Slide Show by Walker. At least one item is in Spanish.
This collection is unprocessed. Materials have been place in series based on how the subjects were identified in their original boxes. These include a scrapbook of protest action, organizing materials, and photos.
This collection is unprocessed. Materials have been place in series based on how the subjects were identified in their original boxes. These include documents about World Peace Brigade establishment (agendas, minutes, correspondence, newsletters, etc), and a photograph that includes Bayard Rustin.
This collection is unprocessed. Materials have been place in series based on how the subjects were identified in their original boxes. These include primarily writings, proposals, and correspondence relating to Walker's A World Peace Guard: Unarmed Agency for Peacekeeping (1981)
This collection is unprocessed. Materials have been place in series based on how the subjects were identified in their original boxes. These include black-and-white photographs, contact prints, and a few newspaper clippings.
This collection is unprocessed. Materials have been place in series based on how the subjects were identified in their original boxes. These include primarily materials related to World War II and Fellowship of Reconciliation. There are many publications and news clippings.
This collection is unprocessed. Materials have been place in series based on how the subjects were identified in their original boxes. These include copies of minutes and reports from the Fellowship of Reconciliation and AJ Muste; war tax resistance "A Study in Peace" scrapbook; a "New Mexico" folder; "1940s CW on Conscription" scrapbook; and a "G. Houser" folder.
This collection is unprocessed. Materials have been place in series based on how the subjects were identified in their original boxes. The original box label was "AFSC FOR Nonviolence 1960's Misc." These materials include correspondence from A. J. Muste with folders of clippings and articles; Fellowship of reconciliation reports; "The Challenge of Civil Disobedience for the American Police Executive" 1963 Conference report; Bibliography by Devi Prasad and "A Study Kit for Nonviolent Revolution" bibliography folder; clippings; and newsletters.
This collection is unprocessed. Materials have been place in series based on how the subjects were identified in their original boxes. The original box label was "Misc Latin America Canada Pacifism 1970s." These materials include the World Order Models Project; folders on pacifism, Latin and Central America; periodicals; and clippings.
Refiled from CDG-A Charles C. Walker Collected Papers, Acc. 77A-46
This collection is unprocessed. Materials have been place in series based on how the subjects were identified in their original boxes. These include miscellaneous materials dating beyond 1990s range; printed materials; and pamphlets.
This collection is unprocessed. Materials have been place in series based on how the subjects were identified in their original boxes. These include Charles Walker's writings, handbooks, articles, published studies, training guides, drafts and notebook some correspondence; material about Gandhi Institute Special Studies.; and scrapbooks with clippings.
Refiled from CDG-A Charles C. Walker Collected Papers
This collection is unprocessed. Materials have been place in series based on how the subjects were identified in their original boxes. These include pamphlets and newsletters such as Gandhi Marg, Fellowship, Peace Brigades, and others. Also includes refiled folders from CDG-A, including cataloged printed material: From Somewhere in India: Reports of the Indian Parliament, 1975 (acc 77A-46)
Printed material that has been cataloged in the Swarthmore College Peace Collection. Refiled from CDG-A Charles C. Walker Collected Papers.