Papers of Charles Schumacher, CDG-A, Swarthmore College Peace Collection

Swarthmore College Peace Collection, 500 College Avenue, Swarthmore, PA 19081 U.S.A.

Charles Schumacher

Papers, 1930-2003

The SCPC is the official repository for these papers

Document Group: CDGA

Size: 22.5 linear inches

Provenance: Donated by Charles Schumacher, 2003 (acc. 03A-024, 03A-038)

Restrictions: None

Microfilm: None

Finding Aid: Checklist prepared by Anne Yoder, March 2003; added to May 2007

This checklist is the property of the Swarthmore College Peace Collection.

Introduction
Charles Schumacher was born in Bluffton (OH) in 1919. His college degree was in chemical engineering; he later earned an M.S. in chemistry at the University of Akron (OH). He married Mary Koontz on Jan. 28, 1950; they had five children.
Schumacher, a member of the General Conference Mennonite Church, chose conscientious objector status during WWII. He entered Civilian Public Service on Jan. 24, 1944 and served at three different locations: at CPS Camp #28 in Medaryville (IN) for about 6 months; at CPS Camp #103 in Missoula (MT) where he worked as a smokejumper with the U.S. Forest Service for about 2 years; and at CPS Camp #141 in Gulfport (MS). Most of his collection of papers is made up of correspondence from his men and women friends during the years he was in CPS.
While in the Smokejumpers unit, he met Helen Brunner, a graduate student in music at the University of Washington. Brunner, who was from West Linn (OR), became his fiancée and they were planning to marry on Aug. 4, 1945, in spite of stiff resistance from her mother who hated Schumacher for being a conscientious objector. According to Schumacher, Brunner's mother faked a heart attack the day before the scheduled wedding, and because of her it was never rescheduled, in spite of pleas from Schumacher for several years. Brunner started teaching music in 1945; she never married and took care of her mother throughout her life. Brunner, born in 1919, died just five days after her mother, on April 10, 1986. After Schumacher's wife died, he found a packet of letters from Brunner in his attic and decided to institute a search for her, but she had already died as well.
Schumacher's first job after CPS was as a chemical engineer for Firestone in their synthetic rubber plant in Akron (OH). After his marriage, he moved to San Francisco (CA) and worked for 35 years as a project engineer / manager on chemical and refinery projects for American Bechtel Co. This included several long stints in Australia, London (England), Saudi Arabia, and in Qatar. He currently resides in Snohomish (WA).

Contents of Collection

Box 1
Biographical information
Draft registration & assignments
Letter of recommendation for sailing to Europe with UNRRA project, 1946

Photocopies of photos of CPS Camp #141 (Gulfport, Mississippi) and of UNRRA trip to Poland [originals removed to Photograph Collection] Financial records, 1940s Financial records: donations to CARE, 1941-1948 Search for Helen Brunner; her obituary; "letters of closure" written by Schumacher, ca. 1999-2002 Search for Margot Taylor; letters from her; her obituary, 1999-2001 Reference material Reference material: smokejumping Outgoing correspondence, 1944 Outgoing correspondence, 1946-1948 Notes re: Ralph Spicer letters & photographs Incoming correspondence [arranged by name]: Helen Brunner, Jan.-Dec. 1945; June 14, 1946 - Dec. 1947
Egan Formanns (from Germany), 1947-1950
Ralph and Inge Spicer, 1946-1947 [see also Incoming correspondence: general]
Margot Taylor, 1945-1948
Box 2
Incoming correspondence: general, 1930-1942

Box 3
Incoming correspondence: general, 1943 - 1944 (Oct.)

Box 4
Incoming correspondence: general, 1944 (Nov.) - 1946

Box 5 (1/2 box)
Incoming correspondence: general, 1947-1948

See also Photograph Collection for photos of friends and of other CPS camps, etc.