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Civilian Public Service Personal Papers and Collected
Materials, 1939-present
Collection: DG 056
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/
Descriptive Summary
Repository
Swarthmore College Peace Collection
Creator
Various
Title
Civilian Public Service Personal Papers and Collected Materials
Inclusive Dates
Dates of papers/records 1939-present
Call Number
DG 056
Language of Materials
Materials in English
Extent
15.83 linear feet
Abstract
Chiefly the
personal papers of conscientious objectors assigned to Civilian Public Service
(CPS) camps during World War II, such as correspondence, writings, memoirs, and
reference material about CPS. Also included are records of or about various CPS
camps and projects.
Administrative Information
Restrictions to Access
None
Usage Restrictions
Yes, some interviews with conscientious objectors are restricted
Alternate Form of Material
Yes photographs, audio visual material, memorabilia
Acquisitions Information
Gift of various donors
Processing Information
Processed by Peace Collection staff
Preferred Citation
Civilian Public Service Personal Papers and Collected
Materials, 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
American Friends Service Committee
Center on Conscience and War
Civilian Public Service Union
Resources on Civilian Public Service
Historical Background
Civilian Public Service (CPS) was set up to provide alternative service for conscientious objectors during World War II. It was operated primarily by the historic peace churches and the U.S. Selective Service, coordinated through the National Service Board for Religious Objectors.
Collection Overview
In 1964, the Swarthmore College Peace Collection created a collection called Civilian Public Service, Personal Papers, in which it placed many smaller collections of papers acquired from individuals and organizations after 1946. This was reprocessed in 1991, and the title was changed to Civilian Public Service Personal Papers and Collected Materials.
Items removed: Photographs and slides were removed to the Photograph Collection
(includes slides of camps #46 and #94 taken by Mel Zuck [acc. 99A-004]; quilt
made by wives and widows of CPS unit #98 in 1990s [acc. 02A-005] removed to
Memorabilia Collection; audiocassettes, computer diskettes and a video were removed to the
Audiovisual Collection
Arrangement of Collection
This collection is organized into three series. Series I contains material that documents the experience of individuals connected with CPS, primarily authored during the years that CPS was in operation. The material appears in the boxes according to when it was given to the Peace Collection. Series II contains material about specific CPS camps and projects, collected from various sources. The items in this series may duplicate what is in other CO or CPS collections. Series III contains documents about CPS reunions, conferences about CPS held in later years, memoirs, and questionnaires from those who investigated CPS assignees etc. Certain restrictions, as noted, apply to the material in these series.
Detailed Description of the Collection
SERIES
I: Personal Papers
Box 1
Reference/Subject file [includes correspondence]
Peace or war for America, ca. 1941
World War II, ca. 1935-1944
Propaganda: war and peace, 1939, 1944
Conscientious objection
CPS Fund campaign, 1942-1945
CPS camps
Periodical We, 1947-1948
Box 2
Correspondence from COs, 1942-1946
Writings by Cooper about conscientious objection, 1942-1960
Henry W. Dyer
Correspondence, 1942-1943
Correspondence with Rex M. Corfman and others, 1943-1944
Correspondence with Harold Guetzkow and others, 1942, 1943
Burow brothers trial, 1943
Fellowship of Reconciliation, 1942-1944
Sandstone (MN) prisoners: correspondence with Russel I. Smith, 1944
War Resisters League, 1942
Work without pay, etc. [file of Tom Leonard], 1945
Camp government, Walhalla (MI), 1942
[see also Chicago Conference for Social Action, Series II]
Harold Guetzkow
Correspondence (1942-1943)
[see also Chicago Conference for Social Action, Series II]
Curtis Zahn
Typescripts of articles about pacifism, 1940s?
Miscellaneous material, 1946-1963
Box 3
Richard Sterne
- Correspondence, 1942-1944<
Channing B. Richardson
- Correspondence, 1942-1945
- Reference/Subject file
-- Criticisms of CPS
-- China
-- Society of Friends and CPS
-- Chicago Conference on Social Action
-- Bulletins from CPS camps [most removed to DG 002]
-- Essays, reports, etc. by mi scellaneous authors
- Mi scellaneous CPS material
Box 4
Purnell Benson
- Correspondence, 1943-1950
- Correspondence about proposed Ph.D.
- Manuscript notes for lectures on conscription and CPS
- Published articles on conscription and CPS
- Typescripts of articles on CPS
- Donald Charles Devault case about work refusal, 1944
- Corbett Bishop case about hunger strike, 1945
- Miscellaneous
- Typescript Conscription of Conscience: American Conscientious Objection in World War II by Mulford Sibley and Philip Jacobs, 1949
- Correspondence
- Analysis and criticism by Benson
Box 5
Eugene S. and Louise Wilson
Correspondence, 1941
- Mi scellaneous correspondence, 1941-1949
- Newspaper clippings, ca. 1941
Howard and Mary Alice Alexander
- Autobiographical statement of MAA, 1990
- Photos; Mi scellaneous CPS material [photos removed to Photograph Collection]
- Correspondence of MAA to HA at Coshocton CPS Camp (MD), March 1942 - June 1943
Box 6
Howard and Mary Alice Alexander (cont.)
- Correspondence of MAA to HA at Coshocton CPS Camp (MD), July 1943 - April 1944
- Correspondence of HA at Coshocton CPS Camp (MD) to MA, 1941-1943
Box 7
Howard and Mary Alice Alexander (cont.)
- Correspondence of HA at Coshocton CPS Camp (MD) to MA, 1944
- Correspondence from HA and MAA from Cherokee State Hospital (IA) Jan.-Oct. 1944
Franklin H. Briggs
- Correspondence, 1943-1945
- Contents of untitled binder
- Notes from Administrative Training School, Selective Service System: Directives to CPS camps, etc., 1943
William M. Fuson
- Correspondence while at CPS Camp #131 ( Cherokee State Hospital, IA), 1943-1945
Box 8
Miscellaneous materials
Box 9
William Cleveland
- Miscellaneous correspondence, mostly to Cleveland, 1943-1950
- Manuscripts and correspondence pertaining to Society of Friends periodicals (Inward Light and The Notebook), 1944-1947
- Correspondence and literature about various retreats, 1946-1952
Box 10
Peter S. Olmsted
- Starvation project and others, 1944-1945
Darnell Family Papers
- Emerson L. Darnell
-- Biographical information
-- Correspondence, 1941-1945, 1949, n.d.
- Barbara Russell Darnell
-- Correspondence, 1942-1945, 1963
- Mrs. Alfred Darnell
-- Correspondence, 1941-1942
Box 11 Darnell Family Papers (cont.)
- Mrs. Alfred Darnell (cont.)
-- Correspondence, 1943-1945, n.d.
- Alfred Darnell
-- Correspondence, 1939, 1941-1945, 1949
- Achsah Darnell
-- Correspondence, 1941-1943
- Ocneva Darnell
-- Correspondence, 1942-1943
- Emerson Darnell
-- Correspondence (non-family), 1940s
- Miscellaneous CPS materials
- Miscellaneous materials
- Photographs [removed to Photograph Collection]
- Three nineteenth century banknotes [removed to Memorabilia Collection]
Round Robin of Letters from men in CPS Camp #32 [acc. 69A-155], 1944
Dan Frysinger
- Mi scellaneous Correspondence
William L. Jones
Box 12
William M. Stanton Jr.
- Biographical information, 1942-1946, 1992
- Correspondence, 1923, 1944-1945
- Reflections on semi-starvation experiment, 1955
- Material on semi-starvation experiment
- AFSC CPS information
- [see also Series III, Box 5]
Box 13
Gordon Coffin
Harry Holstrom
Benjamin Candee
Werner Janney
- “The Dog Valley Fire Crew Fights a Big One”
- “Casey Volunteers for Four Years”
James Walter Abrecht and Marian Gage Abrecht
Box 14
Carl F. Kelley to John Musgrave
Herman Will
Toshiyuki Fukushima
Ralph Corlies Rudd
Robert L. Wixom
Cornelius Steelink
David C. Walden
- Mss. re: early history of CPS, July 1944
George Hay
Gregg Phifer
Nancy Neumann
William Rostron
Box 15
A. Wilson and Dorothy Whitman [acc. 03A-101 and 03A-016]
A. Wilson Whitman was born in 1906, and was a Christian Scientist. He was drafted in Newport (RI), and entered CPS on Oct. 27, 1942. He served in CPS camp #53 in Gorham (NC) and then moved to CPS camp #76 in Glendora (CA) in May 1943. He left CPS on Oct. 22, 1945. He and Dorothy Liljewall married on March 1[?], 1943; she moved to California to be near him in May 1943. These letters mention very little about CPS or about conscientious objection, but are almost entirely personal about their relationship and plans for their wedding,etc.
- Biographical information; acquisition of letters [photographs removed to Photograph Collection]
- Letters to Dorothy (as fiancee), Oct. 1942 - March 1943
Box 16 Wilson [continued]; Satterthwaite; Leavey
- Letters to Dorothy (as wife), - April 12-May 20, 1943; June 4, 1943; Aug. 8, 1943; Dec. 9, 1943
- Reference material
Henry Satterthwaite
Stanley A. Leavey
- Biographical Information
- "Another Wartime" by Stanley A. Leavey
- Correspondence with agencies concerning CPS assignments
- Letters to wife, Margaret Leavey, March - August 1943
- Letters from wife, Margaret Leavey July 1943, and no date
- Correspondence, miscellaneous
- Reference material
Box 17
Vincent Beck [Acc. 07A-003]: reminiscences, etc. re: service in CPS
Bryn Hammarstrom [Acc. 07A-003]
-
Service at Patapsco CPS camp, 1940-1941
- Service at Buck Creek CPS camp, 1941-1943
- Service as CPS smokejumper, 1943-1944
- Service with Brumbaugh CPS construction unit, 1945-1946
- Correspondence sent to family while in CPS 1940-1946
- Correspondence from family, 1943 (Oct.)
- Correspondence of wife (Beppy) sent to family, 1945-1946
- Resignation from West Side Presbyterian Church (Ridgewood, NJ), 1941 (May)
- Correspondence and lists, etc. re: Wesleyan University C.O'.s, 1946-1947
- Correspondence after CPS
- Correspondence re: smokejumping (& reunions), 1973-1996
Edmund Dunlop
A. A. Hall
George Hay
Graham Hodges
George Yamada
Robert M. Cox
- List of materials
- Correspondence, 1943-1946, 1993, 1997
- Writings and testimony on conditions at Cleveland [OH] State Hospital, 1944-1945
-
Documents on Ohio Grand Jury investigation on conditions at Cleveland [OH] State Hospital, 1944-1945
-
Newspaper clippings about conditions at Cleveland [OH] State Hospital, 1943-1946
- Miscellaneous reports
about conditions at Cleveland [OH] State Hospital, 1943-1946
Quentin C. Stodola [images also available as digital files] Acc. 07A-062.
SERIES II: CPS Camps and Projects
Box 1
CPS Survey “Study of the Effects of Civilian Public Service on World War II Conscientious Objectors” by Paul Wilhelm, 1987-1989
- Preparatory material Restricted
Box 2
CPS Survey “Study of the Effects of Civilian Public Service on World War II Conscientious Objectors” by Paul Wilhelm (cont.), 1987-1989
- Responses to Wilhelm questionnaire A-R Restricted
Box 3
CPS Survey “Study of the Effects of Civilian Public Service on World War II Conscientious Objectors” by Paul Wilhelm, 1987-1989
- Responses to Wilhelm questionnaire S-Z Restricted
Description of interviews with World War II conscientious objectors by Cynthia Eller, 1990 Partially Restricted [audiocassette tapes (with transcriptions on Mac Write diskettes) removed to Audiovisual Collection]
Video of 50th year reunion of Buck Creek CPS Camp #19, 1991 [removed to Audiovisual Collection]
Miscellaneous
Questionnaires from CPS people sent out by Washington, D.C. Meeting, 1946
“Recollections of a World War II Conscientious Objector,” by Larry Miller
Box 4
Questionnaires re: women and CPS sent out by Rachel Goossen Partially Restricted [acc. 93A-108]
Box 5
Reflections on semi-starvation experiment [acc.96A-001]
Reunion of Semi-Starvation Experiment Unit 45, March 1991, Aug. 1995 [acc.96A-001] [oversize photo removed to Photograph Collection; audiocassettes removed to Audiovisual Collection]
Materials from Ray Firestone
Materials from James Clark [see also Sugar Hill Burn Diary in Book Collection]
CPS reminiscences of Bolton Morris, Richard Leonard, George B. Mathews and Gordon Zahn
Conference “An Extraordinary Paradox,” Pendle Hill (PA), Nov. 1996
Materials from "The Laurelites" Partially Restricted
CPS Unit #98
- Mi scellaneous material
- Recollections by the wives and widows of men in Unit #98; description of quilt made by women in 1990s
- "CPS 98 Partners"
Letter and reminiscence from Roland Smith. ( Buck Creek), December 1991
CPS reunions / retrospective conferences [collective file]
"Another Wartime," Memoir by Stanley A. Leavey 2005 (Copyright to this material retained by the author)
CPS #103 Smoke jumpers reunion letter, 2007, and mailing list of members
Box 6
Transcriptions of oral interviews with CPS men, by Cynthia Eller, 1980s, and material from Daniel Dingman, Richard Underwood, and the Topeka I-W Program
- Anonymous
- Ashby, Paul
- Baker, Charles
- Baker, Don
- Barnes, Fred
- Beachler, Donald
- Bertochini, Gilbert
- Blocher, Henry
- Bogen, Howard
- Boone, Aretas
- Brink, Howard Ten
- Bristol, James
- Brown, George
- Brown, Richard
- Brubaker, Herbert
- Bryant, Arthur
- Carper, Eugene
- Cary, Robert
- Cohn, Sigmund
- Colburn, William
- Convers, Fred
- Dell, Joe
- Delmar, Stanley
- Delp, Paul
- Edinger, Cal
- Fischer, George
- Foote, Caleb
- Gifford, Seth
- Grover, Gilbert
- Hanawalt, Dwight
- Herbst, Albert
- Hogan, Herbert
- Jarboe, Russell
- Jones, J. Edwin
- Kaufman, Gordon
- Kidder, Eugene Jr.
- Klaffke, Charles
- Krug, Lyle
- Liskey, Samuel
- Lowerre, James
- Mast, Roy
- Mizutani, Saburo
- Nutson, Gale
- Nutson, Gordon
- Parker, Malcolm
- Paulson, Carl
- Phillips, R. Paul
- Potochnik, Rudy
- Prochaska, Harry
- Reed, Hayes
- Rubin, Gerald
- Sateren, Leland
- Stocksdale, Bob
- Vogel, Robert
- Wilkinson, Harmon
- Windemiller, Duane
- Zahn, Gordon
- Zytkoskee, Tate
Daniel Dingman
Richard Underwood: "Civilian Public Service and After"
50th Anniversary of the Topeka (Kansas) I-W Program, 1952-2002
____________________________________________________________________________________________
File last update March 24, 2008.