Swarthmore College Peace Collection Records

As early as 1907, Joseph Swain indicated an interest in "bringing the question of Peace and Arbitration before its students and faculty" at Swarthmore College. Others affiliated with the college, established in the 19th century by the Religious Society of Friends, kept this interest alive through the next decades. In 1930 Jane Addams sent her peace material to the college for safekeeping. The organization that she founded, the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, also sent its records. After Addams' death in 1935, Ellen Starr Brinton became the first curator of what was then called the Jane Addams Peace Collection. In April 1936 it was reported that when Swarthmore College president Dr.. Frank Aydelotte "learned the contents of the Jane Addams Collection and of the material sent to supplement it he proposed...to make [it] the nucleus of a great 'Library on Peace and International Affairs.' The committee of the W.I.L.. joyfully accepted the suggestion and immediately turned their efforts to making this plan a reality. So instead of now concentrating on detailed indexing of the Jane Addams papers already on hand, emphasis is being placed on discovering what other peace material is available in the Swarthmore College Library and the Friends Historical Library and then attempting to complete the files and records by tracing other books and papers on peace in every country, in all languages and covering all ages.... Swarthmore College will give careful and permanent housing in a fireproof building to all collections of such material.

As first curator of the Peace Collection, Brinton established collection and arrangement policies for the WILPF records and other material. Her various historical interests initiated several collections such as the peace seals, stamps, and covers collection and the material pertaining to Benjamin West's painting William Penn's Treaty With the Indians. She travelled to Europe before and after World War II to secure valuable peace records. Her interest in the history of the American peace movement, Quakerism, and international relations brought an invaluable impetus for her collecting, and the relationships she made with peace leaders worldwide meant an unprecedented sharing of material from many countries.

There have been seven curators since Brinton's retirement. Material created by peace groups and peace leaders has grown exponentially in the last 50+ years, with ever new formats of material being created. Currently (in March 2010), besides the curator, the staff consists of a full-time archivist, a half-time librarian, and a half-time periodicals specialist.