Rebecca Mary Hannum correspondence

Rebecca Mary Hannum was born in 1889, the daughter of Robert Marshall and Ida K. Hannum. The family joined the Society of Friends at Kennett Monthly Meeting in 1904. In 1914, they transferred their membership to Lansdowne Monthly Meeting. Mary attended the George School and graduated from the University of Michigan in 1911.

She worked with the American Friends Service Committee child feeding project in Berlin, Germany, in 1921-1924, serving as executive secretary. During WWI, the AFSC was organized to support and organize alternative service for conscientious objectors and conducted relief efforts in France working with British Quakers. After the war ended, the AFSC worked in relief in Central Europe and Russia as well as a massive effort to feed hungry children in Germany and Austria. The program gradually was transferred to local groups, and Mary Hannum became involved with the administration of the Peasant Industries program which supported women's handwork for sale in the United States and elsewhere. She left Berlin in October 1924, having attended the International Peace Conference in Berlin, held October 2-8, 1924. R. Mary Hannum was a long time employee of the Peasant Shop in Philadelphia and died in Friends Hall, West Chester, Pennsylvania, in 1984.