Call Number:

RG4.108

Repository:

Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College

Extent:

1 linear ft. (2 boxes)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item or series here], National Conference of Friends on Race Relations Records, RG4/108, Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College

Date:

1960-1970 (inclusive)

Creator:

Committee on Race Relations (Society of Friends : Philadelphia, Pa. : 1929-1969) and Friends World Committee for Consultation. Section of the Americas

Abstract:

The National Conference of Friends on Race Relations was initiated in 1956 in order to stimulate individual Friends and Quaker meetings to work directly in the field of race relations. Conferences were held at irregular intervals and various locations between 1956 and 1970. It was succeeded in 1970 by Friends for Human Justice which in turn was laid down circa 1976. Both organizations were under the umbrella of Friends World Committee for Consultation. (FWCC). The Records include materials from the Conferences of 1961, 1963, 1967, and 1970 and minutes of the initial organizing body, the Executive Committee, and its successor, the Continuation/Continuing Committee. Also included are the files of Vincent Paschkis, Coordinator, and Marian Darnell Fuson, Chairman of the Continuation Committee.

According to a brochure published for the Fourth National Conference of Friends on Race Relations, the Conference on Race Relations was initiated in 1956 in order to stimulate individual Friends and Meetings to work directly in the field of race relations and not rely entirely on the work of the American Friends Service Committee. Conferences were held approximately every two or three years: 1956; sometime between 1956 and 1961; 1961 at Earlham College in Richmond, IN; 1963 at the Oakwood School in Poughkeepsie, NY; 1965, again at Earlham College; 1967 at Blue Ridge Assembly in Black Mountain, NC; and in 1970 in Washington, D.C. The first four conferences were organized by an Executive Committee that met in Philadelphia, Pa., in between sessions. At the Fourth Conference (1963), a Continuing Committee composed of members of monthly meetings from around the nation was established which met roughly every four months in rotating locations.

Victor Paschkis, Quaker professor of Chemical Engineering at Columbia University and founder of the Society for Social Responsibility in Science, was coordinator of the Continuation Committee ca. 1965-1967. Marian Darnell Fuson, a member of Nashville Monthly Meeting, was active in Quaker organizations and served as the chairman of the Continuation Committee charged with the preparation of the 1970 Conference. Both the National Conference of Friends on Race Relations and its successor, Friends for Human Justice, operated under the umbrella of Friends World Committee for Consultation, American Section.

The collection, Records of the National Conference of Friends on Race Relations, includes materials from the Conferences held in 1961, 1963, 1967, and 1970 ; also includes minutes of the initial organizing body, the Executive Committee, and its successor, the Continuing Committee, and materials collected by Victor Paschkis and Marian Fuson.

Organized into six series:

1. Series 1. Executive Committee, 1960-1961
2. Series 2. Continuing Committee, 1963-1970
3. Series 3. Newsletter, 1962-1964
4. Series 4. Coordinator's Files, 1965-1968
5. Series 5. Conference Materials, 1961-1970
6. Series 6. Financial and Miscellaneous