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REPORT ON A RESEARCH TRIP AND A LISTING OF SOURCES AVAILABLE FOR RESEARCH
REPORT
A trip in 2009 to Washington (DC) was made for the purpose of doing research at The National Archives [NARA]. My intent was to begin an overview of all NARA records that relate to conscientious objection in the 20th century, and to access as many archival collections as possible to get a sense of what was in them and how long it would take to do detailed research with them.
Though care had been taken in advance to search online NARA catalogs and to contact their reference staff about my project, it was very difficult once I got there to make any progress. I started at the facility in College Park (MD); once the research room was reached, after the scrupulous security measures had been gone through, I tried to find reference staff to help identify the material and boxes best suited to my needs. There were a lot of people waiting for the one or two staff members available, and when it was finally my turn to talk to them I found that they could not help me much. The next day a staff member identified some boxes that he thought might be what I was requesting, but in the end they were not. (Because many archival collections have hundreds of boxes with no listing of what is in them, or even a shelf list, NARA staff may not know how to find what is requested, something I did not realize in advance.) This happened to me more than once; however, on the other hand there was one time when a staff member found some cards with court-martial numbers for about a dozen WWI conscientious objectors, which made it possible to access their files, so I was grateful for his persistence. Paging of boxes only occurs a few times a day, and it usually takes an hour after these times for the boxes to arrive. In the end, I only found two boxes that were useful to me in the three days I spent time at NARA.
This all showed me that tremendous patience is necessary in an endeavor like this. In general, it is unlikely that I will continue with this project as it is too hard to access material at NARA without large periods of time to devote to it and without a knowledgeable staff person there who will consistently guide the research process.
CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTION/OBJECTOR RECORDS AT NARA
I did learn a few things about C.O. sources at NARA, which I will share below, and since 2009 they have put more and more descriptions of their collections online. This does not necessarily mean that there is a finding aid for each collection, but at least one can now (sometimes) start with a title and an identifier number for each.
To search the NARA (The National Archives) holdings, go to http://arcweb.archives.gov/arc. Sources for the following information include published volumes by NARA, including their Military Service Records at the National Archives (Reference Information Paper 109), 2007.
WORLD WAR I
Designation: Record Group 153
Dates: 1692-1981 (bulk 1800-1967)
Size: 6389 cubic feet
Definitely includes material on conscientious objection/objectors:
** case files for all court-martials, including those of conscientious objectors. The folders are listed by court-martial trial number, so this must be known before the file of each individual may be found. There is NO finding aid at College Park NARA. Write to Mary.Chapman@hqda.army.mil (at Army Headquarters) in advance to find C-M numbers. Staff at NARA do not know what aisles these boxes are in (could mention that the three I saw were in stack area 390, compartment 24, row 36). The case files often include
a memo of biographical information, a statement by the conscientious objector, a summary of the court-martial, as well as the trial proceedings.
** American Expeditionary Forces file cards, 1917-1919: I was brought out card file boxes, which had typed notes about court-martial cases that set a precedent or that the JAG office wanted to reference in the future. All of the notations from the cards that referred to conscientious objection or objectors have been added to my World War I C.O. database [see notes field in http://www.swarthmore.edu/Library/peace/conscientiousobjection/WWI.COs.coverpage.htm; search for "Judge Advocate General."]
May include material on conscientious objection/objectors:
** papers and other records of Colonel Blanton Winship of the Judge Advocate General's Department, 1903-1919
** papers and other records of Colonel Mark Guerin, Judge Advocate of the 6th Corps Area, 1918-1924
** correspondence relating to the Judge Advocate General's opinions and decisions, and to administrative and operational matters, 1912-1942
** records relating to the military justice system: report made by the Judge Advocate General relating to criticisms of the system of military justice, February 13, 1919.
Designation: Record Group 94
Dates: 1775 - ca. 1928
Size: __ cubic feet
May include material on conscientious objection/objectors:
** Retained medical cards, 1907-1919 [ARC Identifier 6555652 / MLR PI-17 533D; Archives I Reference Section, Textual Archives Services Division, Washington (DC)]
** Register of insane soldiers, compiled 1853-1919 [ARC Identifier 1223575 / MLR PI 17 272; Archives I Reference Section, Textual Archives Services Division, Washington (DC)]
Designation: Record Group 129
Dates: 1870-1981
Size: 953 cubic feet
May include material on conscientious objection/objectors:
** Microfilm copy of index to released inmates, 1911-1974 (164 rolls)
** Correspondence relating to parole matters, 1910-1928
** Meeting minutes of parole boards, 1910-1927
** Records of the U.S. Penitentiary, McNeill Island (WA), 1881-1981 [may not contain USDB (disciplinary barracks) files]
Designation: Record Group 163
Dates: 1917-1939
Size: 8,858 cubic feet
May include material on conscientious objection/objectors:
** General records, including correspondence, issuances, orders, newspaper clippings
** Personnel records, including lists of local board members
** Legal precedents and opinion records, including name and subject card files containing 1917-1918 summaries of court decisions affecting the SSS, and questionnaires containing opinions of local boards on various aspects of the SSS
** Records relating to citizenship status
** Records relating to appeals to the President
** Records relating to delinquents and deserters
** Records of district/local boards, 1917-1919
** Records relating to registrants, including draft registration cards
Designation: Record Group 107
Dates: 1791-1947
Size: ___ cubic feet
May include material on conscientious objection/objectors:
** Records of Special Assistant Emmett J. Scott [ARC Identifier 578768 / MLR A1 96; Archives II Reference Section (Military), Textual Archives Service Division, College Park (MD)]
** General correspondence, compiled 1913 (March) - 1940 (June) from the Textual Records of the War Department, Office of the Administrative Assistant, Civilian Personnel Division (01/01/1031 - 09/1947) [ARC Identifier 615636 / MLR A1 292]
** General correspondence, compiled 1913-1921 from the Maps and Charts and Textual Records of the War Department, Office of the Secretary, 1789 - 9/18/1947 (ARC Identifier 624860 / MLR A1 85]
** Subject index to the series "General Correspondence, 1913-1921" compiled 1913-1921 from the Textual Records of the War Department, Office of the Secretary, 1789 - 9/18/1947 (ARC Identifier 625860 / MLR A1 84]
World War II and Beyond
Designation: Record Group 129
Dates:
Size:
May include material on conscientious objection/objectors:
** microfilm copy of index to released inmates, 1911-1974 (164 rolls)
** records
of the U.S. Penitentiary, McNeill Island (WA), 1881-1981: 26 feet of prisoner commitment logs (1881-1951), daily reports and journals (1884-1932), etc.
** Records of the U.S. Penitentiary, Alcatraz Island (CA), 1938-1963 [may not contain USDB (disciplinary barracks) files]
Designation: Record Group 107
Dates: 1791-1947
Size: ___ cubic feet
May include material on conscientious objection/objectors:
** General correspondence, with indexes, 1939-1947 (1943-1947 includes cross-reference sheets)
** Records of Special Assistant Harvey H. Bundy, 1941-1945, and Special Assistant Goldthwaite Dorr, 1942-1945
** Decimal and subject correspondence of various Under Secretaries and staff assistants, 1939-1947
** Records of World War II Postwar Boards and Committees: War Department Central Deferment Board, 1942-1946
Designation: Record Group 429
Dates: 1963-1985
Size: ___ cubic feet
May include material on conscientious objection/objectors:
** Records of the Presidential Clemency Board, 1974-1975 (161 linear feet) re: those who applied for a presidential pardon for acts committed between August 4, 1964 (the date of the passage of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution) and March 28, 1973 (the date the last U.S. combatants left Vietnam); amended January 30, 1975 to extend application period to March 1, 1975; Board terminated on September 15, 1975:
-- minutes of meetings, 1974-1975
-- records relating to cases, including summaries (called case packets = 144 feet)
-- weekly lists of docketed cases
-- tabulations of final decisions, 1974-1975
Note: must obtain permission from the Board's successor to use these files for research
Designation: Record Group 153
Dates:
Size: 6,389 cubic feet
Definitely includes material on conscientious objection/objectors:
** court-martial files and related records, including general court-martial offense ledgers (1917-1950)
May include material on conscientious objection/objectors:
** 63 sound recordings of proceedings of the general court-martial, 1970 (November) - 1971 (March)
** 9 sound recordings of proceedings of appellate hearings before the Army Court of Military Review, 1972 (December)
Prepared by Anne M. Yoder, 2010; revised May 2013
Swarthmore College Peace Collection, 500 College Avenue, Swarthmore, PA 19081