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Collection on conscientious objectors

 Collection — Multiple Containers
Identifier: 6270

Scope and Contents

A collection of brochures, newsletters, political questionnaires, pamphlets, position papers, and other material published by a variety of American organizations from throughout the country supporting citizens who claim the right to refuse to perform military service on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. In all, the collection contains 322 unique printed items from more than 52 organizations and agencies, most published around World War II.

A portion of this collection includes newspapers published by conscientious objectors at camps set up by the U.S. government during World War II. Also present are newsletters and flyers focused on the strike by the men held at Civilian Public Service (CPS) Camp #76, a forest service camp for conscientious objectors near Glendora, California. This action was related to the efforts by COs at different camps across the country to form the CPS Union (CPSU). Its major interests were to improve pay and benefits, including those for dependents, and the working conditions and rights of all CPS men.

On February 4, 1946, a newsletter from the camp carried in the masthead "Concentration Camp Number 76" with the lead article, "An Open Letter to Forest Service Officials" describing CPS work as slave labor. The Glendora men organized a mass strike against restrictions in Selective Service policies, precipitated by a notice of transfer of two men deemed to be the ring leaders of the camp. Twenty-five men went on strike on April 24, 1946, and three weeks later, the numbers had grown to eighty-two men on strike with sympathy strikes by men at other camps. The men at Glendora published a regular account of the action against their members in Strike News, a one-page sheet issued with a date and the numbered day of the strike. This collection includes two issues of Strike News, along with a one-page statement which outlines the issues involved, a brochure providing an overview of the strike, and a typed postcard seeking support.

Along with the strike information, this collection includes 27 issues of Pacifica Views, a four-page newsletter published at the camp. A group of men, referring to themselves as "Pacifica Associates of Glendora" started the "independent weekly pacifist publication." Pacifica Views "will seek to stimulate serious thought concerning both the basic and particular problems of pacifists" in the hopes that it will grow into "an organ for the interchange of ideas on these and other subjects." This collection includes Vol. 1, No. 12-15, 32, 34, and 40-43; Vol. 2, No. 3, 16, 22-24, 29-37, and 39; and Vol. 3, No. 13 and 27.

The largest grouping of material in this collection was produced by the War Resisters League, the United States' oldest secular pacifist organization, founded in 1923. Included with this collection are 14 issues of a newspaper published by the League called The Conscientious Objector. These include Vol. 1, No. 1 and 3; Vol. 2, No. 1-2 and 6; Vol. 3, No. 5 and 6; Vol. 4, No. 2; Vol. 5, No. 3 and 4; Vol. 6, No. 5 and 6; and Vol. 8, No. 6.

The collection includes multiple issues of another publication called The Reporter, which was published by the National Service Board for Religious Objectors (NSBRO). The issues of The Reporter in this collection include: Vol. 1, No. 1, 9, 11, 14, and 17; Vol. 2, No. 5, 7-10, 15, and 17-19; Vol. 3, No. 3-4, 7, 17, and 23-24; Vol. 4, No. 1-2, 6-11, 14-16, and 23-24; and Vol. 5, No. 2-3, 7-8, and 11. Also noteworthy is a brochure published by NSBRO entitled CPS Guinea Pigs, apparently aimed at the public which seems to promote the important peacetime role played by conscientious objectors. "For science and humanity, conscientious objectors have been performing their wartime service to the nation by serving as voluntary 'human guinea pigs' in a series of medical experiments." The brochure goes on to explain that volunteers participated in starvation diets, carried lice to help prevent typhus, and even exposed themselves to influenza, malaria, and other disease.

A variety of religious groups are represented among the materials, from Baptist to Mennonite. In addition to advocating on behalf of conscientious objectors, several of the groups are pacifist organizations. The collection contains brochures, flyers, and pamphlets for New York-based The Fellowship for Reconciliation, founded in 1914 by people who shared a vision of a world where "conflicts are resolved through nonviolent means, where systems that foster fear and hatred are dismantled, and where justice is sought as a basis for peace."

Additional materials in the collection related to conscientious objector camps include:

  1. C.P.S. Camp #4 The Live Branch, Grottoes, Virginia, December 1, 1942, 8 pages, stapled. Reports on religious news and events, including the basketball league.
  2. C.P.S. Camp #42 Builders, Wollston, Michigan, August 22, 1942, 6 pages, stapled. Reports on men who have left camp and an inner light symposium.
  3. C.P.S. Camp #16 The Kane News, Kane, Pennsylvania, November 14, 1942. 8 pages. Reports on events, meetings, and changes in personnel at the camp.

Dates

  • Creation: 1939 - 1946

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Advance notice required for access.

Conditions Governing Use

All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Department of Special Collections at specol@usc.edu. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.

Rights Statement for Archival Description

Finding aid description and metadata are licensed under an Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license.

Biographical / Historical

The earliest recorded conscientious objector dates to the year 295, according to Peter Brock, author of Pacifism in Europe to 1914 (Princeton University Press, 1972). On reaching the age of 21, Maximilianus, the son of a Roman army veteran, was called up to the legions but told the Proconsul in Numidia that because of his religious convictions he could not serve as a soldier. He persisted in his refusal and was executed. He was subsequently canonized as Saint Maximilian.

During the First World War, it is estimated about 4,000 refused military service in the United States. "The first decades of the twentieth century produced the first identifiable conscientious objection movements, notably in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States, and indeed consolidated the very phrase 'conscientious objection,' which, supplanting all alternative terms, such as 'religious scruples,' firmly incorporated the principle of individual objection. The first self-identified 'conscientious objectors' appeared during the First World War, when these States did eventually resort to conscription. Campaigns ensured that the legislation bringing in conscription included the first modern provisions for conscientious objection" (United Nations Commission on Human Rights).

As a result of the horrors and devastation brought by Word War I, a strong pacifist movement grew in the United States. In 1936, an estimated 12 million Americans considered themselves pacifists, and Congress passed the 1940 draft only after an intense and lengthy public debate. The Selective Service Act of 1940 also established an alternative noncombatant service for those who, "by reason of religious training and belief, [are] conscientiously opposed to participation in war in any form." It also provided for the man who, "if he is found to be conscientiously opposed to participation in such noncombatant service in lieu of such induction, be assigned to work of national importance under civilian direction." Of the estimated 43,000 World War II objectors, 25,000 served in the military as non-combatants, 6,000 were sent to prison, and 12,000 were inducted into Civilian Public Service (CPS) camps. The three historic peace churches -- the Quakers, the Brethren, and the Mennonites -- concerned over the abysmal treatment of conscientious objectors during World War I, worked with the government to ensure humane treatment of internees. Opponents to World War II grew beyond members of the peace churches to include men who opposed war for ethical, philosophical, and political reasons. Those who were sent to CPS camps were not always passive to the treatment they received; many resisted the system they viewed as punishing them for their beliefs and severely limiting their civil liberties. The influence of the World War II objectors on those who resisted the draft during the Vietnam War was significant.

The collection includes multiple issues of a publication called The Reporter published by the National Service Board for Religious Objectors (NSBRO). One of the major problems peace churches faced during the First World War was the lack of a unified voice to present their stance to the federal government. The organization gave the peace churches a voice during World War II. Throughout the war, NSBRO was the chief representative body for conscientious objectors. It served as the intermediary between the peace churches and the Selective Service, and it aided in selecting camp sites and presented the Selective Service with alternative service project ideas. It also served as an avenue of approach for any COs who wished to appeal the draft board's classification.

This note was adapted from a description provided by the seller of the material, Johnson Rare Books & Archives.

Extent

0.81 Linear Feet (2 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

A collection of brochures, newsletters, political questionnaires, pamphlets, position papers, and other material published by a variety of American organizations from throughout the country supporting citizens who claim the right to refuse to perform military service on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. A portion of the collection includes newspapers published by conscientious objectors (COs) held at internment camps set up by the U.S. government during World War II. Also present are newsletters and flyers focused on the strike by the men held at Civilian Public Service (CPS) Camp #76, a forest service camp for conscientious objectors near Glendora, California. This strike was related to the efforts by COs at different camps across the country to form the CPS Union (CPSU). The CPSU's major interests were to improve pay and benefits, including those for dependents, and the working conditions and rights of all CPS men. The collection includes 14 issues of The Conscientious Objector, a newspaper published by The War Resisters League, ranging from 1939 to 1946. Multiple publications issued by the National Service Board for Religious Objectors (NSBRO) are also held in the collection, including issues of The Reporter and a brochure titled "CPS Guinea Pigs," which states: "For science and humanity, conscientious objectors have been performing their wartime service to the nation by serving as voluntary 'human guinea pigs' in a series of medical experiments." A variety of religious groups are represented among the materials, including Baptists and Mennonites. In all, the collection contains 322 unique printed items from more than 52 organizations and agencies, most published around World War II.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Purchased from Johnson Rare Books and Archives, August 5, 2022.

Title
Finding aid for the Collection on conscientious objectors
Status
Completed
Author
Bo Doub -- with collection-level notes adapted from the seller, Johnson Rare Books and Archives.
Date
2022 August
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the USC Libraries Special Collections Repository

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