Denny Wilcher Collected Papers

James Dennis Wilcher was born August 25, 1914. He was a member of the Methodist Church, but attended Friends Meeting. He received his A.B. in English, B.D. in Religion, and had completed 1.5 years of his doctorate in Philosophy of Education at Yale University by the time that he was drafted. Wilcher had been employed in 1940-1941 as the Director of Religious Activities at Washington and Lee University. He was a conscientious objector during World War II, and was ordered to report for alternative service, in Civilian Public Service (CPS), in June 1941. Wilcher was first sent to CPS Camp #10 in Royalston (Massachusetts); he was transferred to Camp #14 in Merom (Indiana), and then to Camp #37 in Coleville (California). He became the assistant director of the Royalston and Merom camps. In November 1943 Wilcher went AWOL from Camp #37. He was arrested and paroled (?) until his trial on February 25, 1944. During his parole Wilcher worked for the American Civil Liberties Union's National Committee on Conscientious Objectors in Washington (DC). He was sentenced to prison, and wrote from the Sacramento County Jail on April 6, 1944: "Days of imprisonment here have meant much. There is the intellectual insight which comes from a month of living on the 'other side of society.' There is also the emotional identification with a group of men, many of whom are no more 'guilty' than the society which sent them there. There is a real ministry we can offer here. Our backgrounds of experience and contacts have been of tremendous value, I find." Wilcher was transferred to McNeil Island Federal Prison Camp, where he was a prisoner from circa June 1944 through circa January 1945.

After his release Wilcher's life is primarily undocumented by his papers. However, it is known that he, along with Roy Kepler, Lewis Hill, and E. John Lewis helped start the first listener-sponsored radio station (KPFA), and Pacificia Foundation, a larger umbrella organization, which connects KPFA and other public radio stations. Wilcher, with other pacifists, started the Walden Center and School in Berkeley (California) in the late 1950s, as they did not want their children to have to endure the "brainwashing" of the public school system. Wilcher went on to work for the Sierra Club for 20 years, where he served as the assistant to the Executive Director and developed the Club's books division. The Denny and Ida Wilcher Award of the Sierra Club was established to honor Wilcher's outstanding leadership in developing the Club's fundraising programs. In 1980, Wilcher co-founded the Alaska Conservation Foundation, which has an award in his honor that recognizes youth for their activism. Wilcher's wife, Ida Shagaloff, was a professional dancer and an exhibiting artist.