Skip to main content
Archives & Manuscripts

A Quaker Action Group Records

 Collection
Identifier: SCPC-DG-074
A Quaker Action Group, founded in Philadelphia during the summer of 1966 to “apply nonviolent direct action as a witness against the war in Vietnam,” was an informally organized group which sponsored numerous projects of national and international scope. Cooperating with such existing organizations as the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) and the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) in confronting “immoral military and political policies” of the government, A Quaker Action Group (AQAG) did not represent any official body of the Society of Friends and accepted as members those non-Quakers who shared their concerns. George Lakey, Lawrence Scott, and George Willoughby were instrumental in the organization and direction of AQAG. Projects undertaken by AQAG included reading the names of the Vietnam war dead on the steps of the Capitol; three voyages of the yacht Phoenix to North and South Vietnam with medical supplies; and protests against chemical and biological warfare. In the summer of 1971, in response to a need for a “multi-dimensional approach to social change,” AQAG was transformed into the Movement for a New Society, with its affiliated Life Center Association.

Dates

  • 1965-1973

Creator

Extent

19.75 Linear Feet (19.75 linear ft.)

Additional Description

Historical note

A Quaker Action Group, founded in Philadelphia during the summer of 1966 to “apply nonviolent direct action as a witness against the war in Vietnam,” was an informally organized group which sponsored numerous projects of national and international scope. Cooperating with such existing organizations as the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) and the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) in confronting “immoral military and political policies” of the government, A Quaker Action Group (AQAG) did not represent any official body of the Society of Friends and accepted as members those non-Quakers who shared their concerns. George Lakey, Lawrence Scott, and George Willoughby were instrumental in the organization and direction of AQAG. Projects undertaken by AQAG included reading the names of the Vietnam war dead on the steps of the Capitol; three voyages of the yacht Phoenix to North and South Vietnam with medical supplies; and protests against chemical and biological warfare. In the summer of 1971, in response to a need for a “multi-dimensional approach to social change,” AQAG was transformed into the Movement for a New Society, with its affiliated Life Center Association.

Arrangement

The AQAG records are arranged into Historical Background, Committees, Administration, Outreach, Correspondence, Programmatic Efforts, and Reference Material.

Bibliographic References

Guide to the Swarthmore College Peace Collection, 2nd ed., p. 60.

General Note

Officially named "A Quaker Action Group", nicknamed "AQAG"; the initial article is used for filing purposes.
General Note Connect to finding aid: http://www.swarthmore.edu/Library/peace/DG051-099/dg074AQAG.htm

Subjects

Related Name

Creator

Source

Administrative Information

Find It at the Library

Find It at the Library

Most of the materials in this catalog are not digitized and can only be accessed in person. Please see our website for more information about visiting Swarthmore College Peace Collection Library

http://www.swarthmore.edu/library/peace/
Contact:
500 College Avenue
Swarthmore 19081-1399 USA US
610-328-8557
610-328-8544 (Fax)

tripod home
Bryn Mawr Libraries
Haverford Libraries