Swarthmore College Peace Collection, 500 College Avenue, Swarthmore, PA 19081 U.S.A.
Document Group: CDG-B Great Britain
Provenance: Bertram Pickard, 1948; daughter (Dr. A.M. Bush), 2002 [acc. 00A-039]
Size: 15 linear inches
Restrictions: None
Microfilm: None
Finding Aid: Checklist revised by Anne Yoder, April 2002
This checklist is the property of the Swarthmore College Peace Collection.
Historical Introduction
Bertram Pickard (1892-1973) was Secretary of the Friends Peace Committee of the London Yearly Meeting of the Society of Friends from 1921-1926. This interest in peace motivated Pickard and his wife, Irene, to go to Geneva, Switzerland as representatives of the Friends' Service Council in 1926. There he served as Secretary of the Friends Geneva Center until 1940, and Chair of the International Consultative Group on Peace and Disarmament from 1935-1940; the Pickards also acted as hosts of the Quaker Student Hostel, which Irene had been chiefly responsible for founding. Bertram Pickard was much interested in the work of the League of Nations, and he was active in promoting its work. In that regard, he wrote careful interpretations of its actions and meetings, some of which were published in Quaker Press Service and World Outlook Press Service (which he helped establish). The Pickards became quite active in the Geneva Quaker Meeting, orienting its focus on the League of Nations rather than on simply being a home-away-from-home for elderly displaced persons.
Bertram Pickard was a Fellow at Woodbrooke, Selly Oak Colleges, Birmingham, England from 1940-1941. The Pickards moved to the United States in 1941, where he lectured that year at Pendle Hill, near Swarthmore, Pennsylvania; later he edited Washington Commentary, a news sheet circulated among American Quaker peace leaders from 1942-1944. Pickard was also an associate of the American Friends Service Committee from 1941-1942.
Following the war, the family moved to England and eventually back to Geneva. There Pickard was a liaison officer with the Economic and Social Council (?) of the United Nations. In addition, Pickard became the Chair of the Advisory Committee of the Quaker Center, and Chair of the Board of Directors of the International School, where he was instrumental in establishing the International Schools Association, which set up a chain of international schools throughout the world. The Pickards left Geneva in 1954 (1955?) after Bertram's retirement from the United Nations. Further information about their lives is unknown.
Ellen Starr Brinton, curator of the Swarthmore College Peace Collection until 1951, visited the Pickards in Geneva in 1948 and selected some of his files for preservation at the SCPC. These make up the bulk of this collection, and reflect Pickard's wide range of interests and deep concern for peace and goodwill on an international level.
Scope & Contents of the Collection
This collection includes reports, writings of Bertram Pickard, reference files, releases of the Quaker Press Service and the World Outlook Press Service, some items by or referring to Irene Pickard, and correspondence of Bertram Pickard with Hugh Richardson, Frederick Libby, Joseph B. Howie, Mary Sheepshanks, Dr. Anna Kamensky, Albert Wigniolle, Carl Heath, Roderick Clark, Kathleen Innes, and others.
The 2nd accession to this collection was given by the Pickards' daughter in 2001, from photocopies she made of material at the Quaker House in London (Great Britain). No attempt was made to compare this material with what had been received earlier from Bertram Pickard (in boxes 1 &2).
Box 1
Correspondence, 1928-1940
Correspondence etc. re: setting up the Quaker Press Service / World Outlook Press Service, 1927-1930
Correspondence etc. re: International Police Force, 1934
Correspondence etc. re: International Relief Union, 1935
Tributes to Arthur Henderson, 1935 [includes tributes by Pickard and by Laura Puffer Morgan]
Work re: Geneva Disarmament Conference, 1936
Writings: Miscellaneous [published and unpublished], 1930-1943
Writings: "Washington Commentary on Current International Events," 1942-1944
Reference material:
- Quaker Press Service / World Outlook Press Service releases/articles [includes MS. and printed versions], 1928-1932, 1934
Box 2
Reference material (cont.):
- Statelessness of refugees, 1926-1934
- Geneva Conference for the Limitation of Naval Armament, 1927
- Paris International Conference on Disarmament, 1931- Paris International Conference on Disarmament, 1931
- Geneva Disarmament Conference, 1932
- Miscellaneous, 1926-1934, 1947
Box 3 [box 1 of acc. 00A-039 given by daughter]
Index of papers sent to SCPC by daughter 2002 (photocopied from originals at Friends House, London); list of items discarded because copies are available in the Friends Historical Library
Biographical information
Biographical information -- farewells, 1955
Correspondence, 1932-1937
Correspondence, 1942-1947
Correspondence re: job at United Nations in Geneva, 1945 - 1956 (Jan.)
Correspondence, 1952-1958
Correspondence, 1961-1969, 1972
Published writings re: Britain's scheme for a state bonus, 1918-1919
Published writings/reports, 1919-1929
Published writings/reports, 1930-1959
Published writings/reports, 1966-1967, n.d.
Unpublished writings/reports/notes, 1919-1939
Unpublished writings/reports/notes, 1940-1949
Box 4 [box 2 of acc. 00A-039 given by daughter]
Unpublished writings/reports/notes, 1950-
Unpublished writings/reports/notes, n.d.
Reference files
Posters were removed to the Poster Collection. See also the records of the Pacifist Research Bureau (CDGA) for a pamphlet by Pickard, and the records of the Peace Committee of the Society of Friends (CDGB: Great Britain) for "Pacifist Commentary on Current International Events" written by Pickard and Karlin Capper-Johnson.
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).