History and Haverford College (HC): Pacifism and Social Action

To better understand Quaker beliefs and actions in regard to the peace testimony and to organized war, these books of faith and practice give you snapshots of consensus around these issues as well as many more.
Rules of Discipline of the Yearly Meeting of Friends, held in Philadelphia. Printed by Joseph Painter, 1838.
Faith and Practice: A Book of Christian Discipline. Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends, 2002.

The books are not intended to lay down rules but to serve as guides. This quotation from an early version of the book is often repeated in the preface:
"Dearly beloved Friends, these things we do not lay upon you as a rule or form to walk by, but that all, with a measure of light which is pure and holy, may be guided: and so in the light walking and abiding, these things may be fulfilled in the Spirit, not in the letter; for the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life."

In 1897 all students wrote senior theses for an ethics class taught by President Isaac Sharpless. The students did case studies of welfare and social institutions in the Philadelphia area based on site visits. Elliot Field, who studied the Philadelphia Society for Organizing Charity, made a detailed analysis (including photographs) of the services and suggested ways for the organization to be more effective. The Society coordinated poor relief in Philadelphia and provided shelter for the homeless.

When the United States entered the war in 1917, students joined with faculty to organize an Emergency Unit to prepare Haverford students for service. This notebook documents the training done on campus. Classes were shortened, and afternoons were devoted to auto repair, first aid, and physical training. A student committee identified company leaders, organized training, and set standards. By mid-May, 30 Unit members had gone to serve, 19 for hospital work and 11 for military training. In the summer of 1917, 100 American Friends Service Committee volunteers were trained at Haverford for relief work in Europe. Rufus Jones that spring had taken the lead in creating the AFSC which he characterized as “a service of love in war time.”
For an overview of AFSC activities in WWI, see the organization's pamphlet, "Six Months of Friends' War Relief Service."

Collections of pamphlets, flyers, and other short pieces produced by or about the AFSC and concerning a wide variety of topics including countries, time periods and such topics as race relations and Haverford College.

Eva Rae Marshall wrote her Haverford College master’s thesis in 1919 based on her study of the Philadelphia Settlement Music School coupled with extensive research on the settlement movement pioneered by Jane Addams at Hull House in Chicago. Marshall was interested in the impact the school had on its students’ lives and the connections that were built with families and neighborhoods.
Marshall was one of 27 women to receive master’s degrees from Haverford’s T. Wistar Brown graduate school (founded 1917 and closed 1927) which trained students for careers in teaching, social work, and religious service. Marshall went to teach at Friends’ Girls School in Ramallah, Palestine in 1927 and married Khalil Totah, principal of the Friends Boy School, in 1929.

Rufus Jones wrote this pamphlet describing his experiences as part of a three-person Quaker committee that went to Germany following the KristallNacht attacks against Jews. The Quakers needed permission from the Gestapo to bring aid to Jews and take Jewish families out of the country. The type-written statements they prepared for the Gestapo, both in English and in German, is also included. Surprisingly, the Gestapo officials gave permission for Quaker aid efforts. Perhaps they were influenced by the relief work Quakers did with German children following WWI.

Men who were opposed to fighting, including some but not all Quakers, were drafted into the Civilian Public Service. They did a variety of public services, many of them difficult and dangerous. C. O. Firefighters tell their stories in CPS Smokejumpers 1943 to 1946. Several are Haverford graduates including Bradshaw Snipes (1949 History M.A.) whose sketch bears witness to a long term commitment to peace and justice.
Another C. O. memoir, To the Beat of a Different Drummer, traces J. Henry Dasenbrock's experiences working in the Forest Service, building the Blue Ridge Parkway, and driving a hospital ambulance in Puerto Rico. Dasenbrock did not attend Haverford, but his wife trained at Haverford in the Relief and Reconstruction unit.

In place of a college yearbook, the Air Force published an annual for their cadets in the technical meteorological detachment which trained at Haverford. Also during the war years AFSC units and Relief and Reconstruction workers were trained on campus.

The American Friends Service Committee and British Friends Service Council were awarded the Peace Prize. See Henry J. Cadbury's acceptance speech for the AFSC. Cadbury was a Haverford alumnus, class of 1903. See also the Nobel Committee's speech and Cadbury's Nobel lecture. As a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, the AFSC can nominate people and groups for future awards. See the list of AFSC nominations.

Conscientious Objector (C.O.) Counseling, 1967-1968
* Including Posters and Announcements
Curriculum Guide to the Draft -- Vietnam
Medical and Psychiatric Deferments
Student Deferments

The student newspaper captures a range of events, activities and concerns including:
Davidon Arrested in Demonstration against Humphrey
Nov. 1, 1968, p. 1. Professor arrested at hall where Humphrey was speaking
Bi-college Students Join Demonstration against Vietnam War
Apr. 8, 1969, p. 1. 78 bi-co students went to protest in New York City.
Liberation School Discusses Radicals in the Professions
Apr. 18, 1969, p. 9. Vietnam protests on campuses led to teach-ins and other alternative forms of learning. Here BMC student Hadley Reynolds reflects on the local liberation school and how it has dealt with issues of racism and participation. It was next tackling how people on campus could bring change to the professions.

This proclamation required young men to register for the draft although the United States was not at that time engaged in a war.
Tri-College Letter to the New York Times, February 22, 1980
Haverford President Robert Bocking Stevens, Records, 1980-1984, 9 folders

Stevens memorandum to the Haverford Community, October 7, 1985
Stevens archival files, 1971-1985, 5 folder

Haverford Response to Terrorism, 09/11/01 archives folder