Call Number:

09

Repository:

Westtown School Archives

Extent:

3.25 linear feet

Language:

English

Date:

1929-1998 (inclusive)

Creator:

Haviland, J. Bernard (John), 1915-2004

Abstract:

J. (John) Bernard Haviland (1915-2004) attended Westtown School and then taught English and Bible there for several decades. He was an active member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), registering as a Conscientious Objector during World War II, serving Philadelphia Yearly Meeting on their Standing Committee on Spiritual Life, and writing widely on Quaker topics. The J. Bernard Haviland papers, 1929-1998, consist of files created by Haviland while a student at Princeton (1930s), a teacher at Westtown School (1940s-1960s), a graduate student at Harvard University (1940s) and at University College, Dublin (1960s), and notes for courses he taught at Pendle Hill. Of special interest are materials relating to Haviland's status as a Conscientious Objector during World War II.

J. (John) Bernard Haviland was born in 1915. After attending Westtown School, a prominent Quaker boarding school in Chester County, Pennsylvania, from 1930 to 1934 and graduating in the Class of 1934, Haviland attended Princeton University and then returned to Westtown as a teacher. He taught English and Bible, and did extensive work in the growing theater program. While a teacher at Westtown, he pursued graduate degrees in the Harvard Graduate School of Education (in the 1940s) and at University College, Dublin (in the 1960s).

Throughout these years, Haviland did much writing and some publishing on Elizabethan and 17th-century English Literature and on Quaker topics such as conscription, theology, church history, unity, and ecumenism; and gave numerous lectures both at Westtown and beyond. Serving the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting on their Standing Committee on Spiritual Life, Haviland was involved in discussions about Quaker unity and outreach. During World War II, Haviland registered as a Conscientious Objector. In 1968, he left Westtown and later taught literature at West Chester University.

This collection consists of files created by J. Bernard Haviland while a student at Princeton (1930s), a teacher at Westtown School (1940s-1960s), a graduate student at Harvard University (1940s) and at University College, Dublin (1960s), and notes for courses he taught at Pendle Hill Quaker Center for Study and Contemplation (Wallingford, Pa.). Of special interest are materials relating to Haviland's status as a Conscientious Objector (CO) during World War II. More detailed finding aids for this collection are available on-site.

The earliest materials in the collection are academic papers and examinations from Haviland's undergraduate days (in the 1930s) at Princeton University, including literature courses and a biology course.

From the 1940s, the collection includes materials relating to Haviland's Conscientious Objector (CO) status, including his applications and appeals; information flyers/materials from Friends groups about registering as a CO; and correspondence with his father and others about Conscientious Objection.

Westtown School-era materials include personal items such as correspondence with numerous boarding schools regarding employment, draft cards, notes on Westtown students he taught or advised, and correspondence with alumni classes with whom he was involved. There are several files of teaching materials, such as vocabulary lists, notes on mythology, notes on bible courses. There are files of materials connected with Westtown School activities such as faculty plays and skits, retirements, and discussion groups (e.g. Thornhowe discussions), and plays produced in the theater program at the school.

Also in the collection are numerous files on Elizabethan theater and 17th-century literature, including handwritten notes, essays or speeches in original typescript, correspondence with potential publishers, the typescript of his book, and critical essays cut out of journals and magazines. The collection also includes several books published in the 1940s and 1950s about Renaissance literature, and a large collection of slides of Elizabethan subjects.

In addition, there are class of 1934 (Westtown Alumni Association) correspondence regarding class members and reunions, files for Westtown faculty discussions, plays and songs performed by Westtown faculty groups, teaching notes on English Literature, history, World Religions and Bible, articles clipped from magazines and journals, mimeographed typescripts of poetic texts for English classes, and a collection of cards with materials on a variety of subjects such as religion, philosophy, science, pacifism, learning problems, Quaker topics, and European traditions of alchemy, hermeticism, and related topics.

Files from the 1950s are full of materials about teaching the Bible and the spiritual life, including handwritten notes, essays and articles, published and unpublished, by Haviland; notes and texts for lectures he gave for Quaker gatherings (including talk at Pendle Hill, 1988), articles cut from periodicals; committee correspondence and mimeographed materials and notes on Quakerism and Quaker history. There are also abundant materials connected with Haviland's thought and involvement on several endeavors of the Society of Friends in working for world peace, church unity, and spiritual growth of its members. There are papers related to his service to the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends, especially his involvements in the Oxford World Conference of the Society of Friends in 1952, the reunification of that yearly meeting in 1955, and discussions regarding membership of the Quakers in the World Council of Churches.

The collection includes a few files on Haviland's days as a graduate student at Harvard, and more material connected with his doctoral studies in Ireland, including material connected with travel, correspondence on academic subjects, and academic papers and examinations.

The latest materials are a small collection of Haviland's materials for teaching Elizabethan literature at West Chester University in the late 1960s.

The collection also includes some personal photographs and correspondence and three watercolor paintings of local scenes.