Wood Family papers

The collection is divided into six sections: correspondence, committee reports, Quaker tracts and pamphlets, university and college materials, responsible investing materials, and miscellaneous.

“Correspondence” includes correspondence to Carolena Morris Wood between 1917 and 1920. A significant number of letters re-addressed to Carolena from female correspondents, as well as from Friends she was personally close with or had financially or otherwise assisted (by procuring employment, housing, or monetary allowances). Notable topics include missionary work in Jamaica and Europe, the Fellowship of Reconciliation in Nicaragua, accounts of combatant and civilian casualties in Russia, and Friends’ testaments to Carolena’s influence over their own service and political interests. This correspondence also contains letters and newspaper clippings, written in English and German, from the Brauning-Oktavio family, explaining and offering to write articles for American newspapers on the political and economic “German Condition.”

"Committee Reports" contains reports by or for various committees, dating from 1899 to 1920, that largely pertain to Carolena’s missionary work and interests. Such committees include the Executive Committee of Friends in Indian Affairs, peace committees of the Five Years Meeting and the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, the American Friends Board of Foreign Missions, the Peace Association of Friends in America, and the American Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relations.

"Quaker Tracts and Pamphlets" contains publications dating from 1904 to 1934 of theological beliefs and transcripts of spoken addresses given at various Quaker meetings. Most of these publications are later editions modified to reflect the changed socio-political contexts. Major topics include Quaker conscience; Christianity, the gospel, and baptism; silence, speaking, and manner of worship in Meeting; and peace, freedom, and international arbitration. The series also contains pamphlets pertaining to Friends’ relief missions in Europe and conscientious objections to military conscription. Frequent publishers include the London Yearly Meeting, the New York Yearly Meeting, and the Philadelphia Yearly meeting.

"University and College Materials" includes brochures, bulletins, and reports from Friends University (Wichita, Kansas) and Whittier College (Wittier, California); all materials with dates cite publication in 1906. Major topics include the academic institutions’ respective histories, budgets, teaching staff, student and alumni accomplishments, and information for prospective students.

"Responsible Investing Materials" illustrates Jim Wood’s interest and involvement in social responsibility by attending conferences and collecting reports and publications about Quaker guidelines for investiture. The series stretches from 1971 to 1973, and contains materials from conferences such as The First National Quaker Conference on Investments [1972], The Second National Conference on Investments, and The Conference of the Embattled Trustee, as well as reports and publications from the investment committees of the New York Yearly Meeting, the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, and the Friends Peace Committee.

"Miscellaneous materials" includes Carolena’s last will and testament [undated], handwritten drafts of a letter to the Five Years Meeting on the “Education of Negroes,” and a 1978 newspaper story “Quakers Fight Austere Prison Atmosphere.”