Document Group: CDGA
Size: 2.5 linear inches
Provenance: Unknown
Restrictions: None
Microfilm: None
Finding Aid: Checklist prepared by Anne Yoder, January 1999
This checklist is the property of the Swarthmore College Peace Collection.
Historical Introduction
William Kantor was from Philadelphia. He enlisted on November 2, 1917, but because of his stance as a conscientious objector he was held at Camp Meade and court-martialed there on July 2, 1918. He was sentenced to ten years in prison and was detained as follows: July - Sept. 1918 at Fort Jay; Sept. 1918 - June 1919 at Fort Leavenworth; and June - November 1919 at Alcatraz. He was dishonorably discharged on November 8, 1919 at Alcatraz. By direction of the U.S. President, eight years of his sentence were remitted.
Contents of the Collection
Box 1
Biographical information; draft card
Incarceration at Fort Leavenworth: passes, meal allowances, map, reports
Incarceration at Fort Leavenworth: regulation booklets, notices re: incarceration, dishonorable discharge
Incarceration at Alcatraz: print of Alcatraz prison, receipt for clothing and personal property
Incarceration at Alcatraz: MS "Horrors of Alcatraz," 1920, and MS "Conscientious Objection," 1920
MS "A Conscientious Objector is Born"
MS "Memoirs of a World War One Conscientious Objector"
MS "Journal of a Modern Convinced Friend"
Reference: pamphlets on conscientious objection
Reference: newsclippings on conscientious objection, 1919
Reference: postcards from U.S. War Prison Camp, C.O. Internment, Fort Douglas, Utah
Photos of C.O.s and prisons (Camp Meade, Ft. Leavenworth, Ft. Douglas [Utah]) 1917-1920, removed to Photograph Collection; Prison patches (3) from Fort Leavenworth and Alcatraz removed to Memorabilia Collection (CDGA/B)
Swarthmore College Peace Collection
For more information, contact Wendy Chmielewski, Curator, at wchmiel1@ swarthmore.edu or call 610-328-8557.
For other resources, see the college's online library catalog (Tripod).