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Quaker Earthcare Witness Records
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Held at: Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College [Contact Us] 500 College Avenue, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania 19081
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College. 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
Friends Committee on Unity with Nature (FCUN) grew out of the Workshop on Living in Harmony with the Natural Environment at the FGC Gathering at Oberlin in 1987. In 2001, sixteen North American yearly meetings appointed representatives to the Annual Meeting. In 2003, their name was changed to Quaker Earthcare Witness. The group publishes a newsletter, BeFriending Creation.
One significant project of Quaker Earthcare Witness was Finca La Bella. Inspired by the memory of Ann Kriebel, a young Quaker who left a lasting impact on the Monteverde community in Costa Rica as a teacher and mentor, Quaker Earthcare Witness facilitated the fundraising and purchase of a 122 acre farm in the area in which local families were invited to tend to the land. From 1993 to 2017, 25 families lived and worked on the cooperative farm under the guidance of the Finca La Bella Committee.
Minutes of Quaker Earthcare Witness and its predecessor, the Friends Committee on Unity with Nature, 1987-2019.
This collection contains records of Quaker Earthcare Witness and its predecessor, the Friends Committee on Unity with Nature from 1987-2019. Within the group exist subcommittees such as a Population Committee and a committee overseeing the Finca La Bella project in Costa Rica. The collection sheds light on the Quaker opinion on humanity's relationship with the Earth across a variety of topics including population control and sustainable living from the late 20th and early 21st century.
The collection is split between 4 boxes. The first two boxes primarily contain the minutes and proceedings of Quaker Earthcare Witness as well as the minutes from the Population Committee as assembled by Stan Becker. Box 3 contains additional Population Committee minutes as well as a series of pamphlets (both published and drafts) describing the positions of the Population Committee's opinion on family planning and birth control. The Finca La Bella papers are split across 10 folders in boxes 3 and 4. Box 4 also contains records from the Friends General Conference, the International Conference on Population and Development, and Quaker Earthcare Witness's Long Range Planning Committee.
The Finca La Bella papers, organized and donated by Os Cresson, provide a largely complete chronological account of the Ann Kriebel project subsequently leading to the purchase and maintenance of the Finca La Bella plot in Monteverde, Costa Rica. The papers also provide commentary as to the origins of the project as well as the internal politics that eventually led to its closure.
Sent by email annually
Donor: Friends Committee on Unity with Nature, 11/20/2002 (Acc. 2002-019)
Donor: Quaker Earthcare Witness (Ruah Swennerfelt), 11/29/05
Donor: Quaker Earthcare Witness 2009.031
Donor: Quaker Earthcare Witness, (Shelley Tanenbaum), 2014-2017
Donor: Quaker Earthcare Witness (Os Cresson), 2022 (FHL-2022-050)
Donor: Quaker Earthcare Witness (Stan Becker), 2022, (FHL-2022-003)
Organization
Subject
- Publisher
- Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College
- Finding Aid Author
- Finding Aid Prepared by FHL staff
- Finding Aid Date
- 2006
- Access Restrictions
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Collection is open for research.
- Use Restrictions
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Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce items in this collection beyond the bounds of Fair Use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder or their heirs/assigns. See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-RUU/1.0/.
Collection Inventory
Includes Steering Committee minutes as well as committee and budget reports.
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"Two Quaker and a Pope"
Itemized inventory of the contents within the Finca La Bella series. Series was preserved in the order donated to the Friends Historical Library.
Overview of the Finca La Bella project including research articles, newspaper clippings, photographs, and reflections on the success of the project from Os Cresson.
Biographies and eulogies describing the life, work, and impact of Ann Kriebel whose literacy programs in the San Luis Valley entrenched the Quaker presence in the valley and inspired what would become the Finca La Bella project.
Descriptions of Monteverde and the Asociación El Buen Amigo (the Good Friend Association) a small group of Quaker families living in Monteverde before Finca La Bella. Details of the emigration from the United States as well as the early formation are included.
Various documents in chronological order. Details the work of the Friends Community on Unity with Nature on the Ann Kriebel project to honor her legacy ultimately resulting in the purchase of Finca La Bella. The purchase was largely aided by fundraising efforts such as the Costa Rica study tour (1995) and other visits. The Finca la Bella plot was fully purchased in 1999. Documents include minutes, newspaper articles, and written correspondence.
Various documents in chronological order. Details the activities of the parceleros living on the Finca La Bella plot. Tenancy agreements, and historical documents included. Details on the land transfer as well as ventures within Finca La Bella. Guillermo Vargas Email. Documents include minutes, newspaper articles, and written correspondence.
Various documents in chronological order. Described the challenges of allowing the parceleros living on Finca La Bella to have some level of ownership over the land. Details the decline of the role of Quaker Earthcare Witness on the governing of Finca La Bella as the property was transferred from the Monteverde Institute to the Asociación de Finca la Bella. Documents include minutes, newspaper articles, and written correspondence.
Various documents in chronological order. Details the final transfer of property to the Asociación de Finca la Bella and the end of the Finca La Bella project.
Undated, published by the Friends Committee on Unity with Nature. Includes a note with the likely publishing order.
A lesson in a bag assembled by Sarah Pavlovic and Marylou Carlson, "Friends at Monteverde: Helping the Earth, Helping the People." Teaching material for a unit on Monteverde and the Ann Kriebel/San Luis Project. Part of a series of lessons for First Day School students, K through 6th grade, prepared by the Illinois Yearly Meeting Religious Education Committee.
Includes proposals, evaluation forms, etc by Stan Becker