Swarthmore College Peace Collection

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Records of the New Swarthmoor Community, 1969-1996

Collection: DG 028

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Contact Information
Swarthmore College Peace Collection
500 College Avenue
Swarthmore, PA 19081-1399
U.S.A.
Telephone: 610-328-8557 (curator)
Fax: 610-690-5728
Email: wchmiel@swarthmore.edu (curator)
URL: http://www.swarthmore.edu/Library/peace/

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Descriptive Summary
Repository
Swarthmore College Peace Collection
Creator
New Swarthmoor Community
Title
New Swarthmoor Community Records
Inclusive Dates
1969-1996
Call Number
DG 028
Language of Materials
Materials in English
Extent
2.25 linear feet [papers only]
Abstract
The New Swarthmoor Community was founded in 1969 and located in Clinton, New York. The New Swarthmoor Community was a communal society which emphasized rebirth as individual Christians and as members of the Society of Friends (Quakers). An additional center was established in Winter 1971-1972 in Sumneytown, Pennsylvania.

Administrative Information
Restrictions to Access
Yes, this collection is restricted. Patrons must obtain permission of former New Swarthmoor Community members to see the collection. Please consult with SCPC staff for further information
Usage Restrictions
Yes
Alternate Form of Material
None
Acquisitions Information
Gift of Eli Hochstedler, 1974
Processing Information
Processed by Anne Yoder, October 2005; this finding aid created and updated by Wendy Chmielewski, August 2008.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], in the New Swarthmoor Community Records (DG 028), Swarthmore College Peace Collection
Copyright Notice
Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendents, as stipulated by United States copyright law

Online Catalog Headings
These and related materials may be found under the following headings in online library/archival catalogs.
See tripod record

Related Collections
DG 189 New Society Publishers
DG 154 Movement for a New Society

Historical Background
The New Swarthmoor Community was founded in 1969 and located in Clinton, New York. The New Swarthmoor Community was a communal society which emphasized rebirth as individual Christians and as members of the Society of Friends (Quakers). An additional center was established in Winter 1971-1972 in Sumneytown, Pennsylvania.

Collection Overview
The New Swarthmoor Community collection includes background material about the history of the community; administrtive and financial records; publicity about the community; correspondence; a community journal/diary; refernce material about other community groups, peace groups/activities; religious issues; and a yearbook from the 1995-1996 community reunion.

Items removed:
Photographs

Arrangement of Collection
The records are organized in following manner: the history and administration of the New Swarthmoor Community are organized first in the collection; then correspondence in chronological order by year; then the shared community journal, filed chronologically; reference files organized by subject in rough alphabetical order by topic; later accesions.

Detailed Description of the Collection

Box 1
History / publicity
History / publicity: statements re: the draft; letters re: the New Swarthmoor Community; reports (unofficial)
Maps to New Swarthmoor Community
Form letters etc. sent
Financial records: ledger/notebook, ca. 1970-1972
Financial records: telephone bills (and telephone tax resistance by New Swarthmoor Community)
Efforts/notes re: daily life as a community (price lists for food; vendors; receipts; “Guidelines for Simple Living”)
Efforts re: gardening (organically, etc.)
Media coverage of New Swarthmoor Community
Sponsorship of events / New Swarthmoor Community meetings held
Sponsorship of events: Pittsburgh (PA) gathering re: radical discipleship, 1970 (December) [includes correspondence]
Involvement(?) with planning for (and attendance at?) “Working Conference on theSpiritual Implications of Our Possessions and Lifestyle,” Old Chatham (NY), September 11-13, 1970
Intervisitation with other groups, ca. 1969-1972
Responses (letters, etc.) to question “Are We A Community”
Rich Evans (draft resister): notes from meeting for clearance (June 3(?), 1972), trial (June 8(?), 1972?); correspondence; etc.

Box 2
Correspondence, 1969
Correspondence, 1970
Correspondence, 1970-1972: letters from Peter Blood
Correspondence, 1971 [2 folders]
Correspondence, 1972
Correspondence, 1973
Correspondence, 1974
Correspondence, 1975
Correspondence, n.d.
Mailing lists
Miscellaneous
Newsletters produced

Box 3
Community journal #1, 1969 – 1970 (February)
Community journal #2a, 1970 (January-September) [includes several photographs, and newsclippings re: Peter Blood]
Community journal #2b, 1970 (January) – 1971 (July) [includes 1 photograph, and many loose pages]
Community journal #3, 1971 (July 15) – 1972 (July 3) [includes 1 photograph, and newsclippings re: Rich Evans]

Box 4
Community journal #4, 1972 (July) – 1974 (April) [includes some reflections on New Swarthmoor Community, at end of journal]
Community journal #5, 1975 and 1995 reunions [includes photographs, 1971-1975]
Journal “The Joshua Tree, Tadaima”
Reunion, 1979: replies to invitation; correspondence; misc.

Box 5
John Woolman and Company Community [also called Quaker House Commune?] (57th St. Meeting of Friends, Chicago, Illinois): correspondence, ca. 1970-1973
John Woolman and Company Community [also called Quaker House Commune?] (57th St. Meeting of Friends, Chicago, Illinois): journal, 1972-1975
Reference material: misc.
Reference material: alternative schools
Reference material: creation and maintenance of communes / alternative societies
Reference material: organic gardening
Reference material(?): radical discipleship / the Kingdom of God at hand
Reference material: songs; poems
Reference material: summer opportunities (camps; jobs; conferences)
Reference material: Vietnam War
Reference material: “Working Paper of the New Society Working Party,” American Friends Service Committee, 1973

New Swarthmoor 1995 Reunion, “Yearbook” (Color photocopy) [Acc. 08A-058]