American Friends Service Committee. Civilian Public Service

Overview Organized to provide alternative service for conscientious objectors, who were assigned "work of national importance under civilian direction; the historic peace churches (Church of the Brethren, Religious Society of Friends and the Mennonite Church) band ed together to form the National Service Board for Religious Objectors (NISBRO) which coordinated the civilian public service (CPS) program; the American Friends Service Committee administered seventeen CPS camps and over thirty special...

Overview Nelson Fuson was a physicist and educator, active in Quaker concerns. The collection contains extensive correspondence and papers concerning his service as a conscientious objector in Civilian Public Service during World War II. As the child of missionaries to China, his hope was to do relief service in China, and many of the papers deal with CPS China Units. However, the China Units were never activated and Fuson was assigned to camps in Maryland, Indiana, New York, and North Dakota. He...