International Fellowship of Reconciliation Collected Records
Scope and Contents
This collection comprises a small amount of material collected over the years. Note that the main repository for the International Fellowship of Reconciliation records are in Berlin at the Central Archives of the Evangelical Church of Germany.
The main body of International Fellowship of Reconciliation records of 1919-1969 is found in the files of John Nevin Sayre, who served in an official capacity from 1935 to 1967 (DG 117, Series C).
Dates
- Creation: 1919- current
Creator
- International Fellowship of Reconciliation (Organization)
Language of Materials
Materials in English.
Conditions Governing Access
None.
Conditions Governing Use
None.
Historical note
In August 1914, an ecumenical conference was held in Konstanz, southern Germany (near Switzerland) by Christians seeking to prevent the outbreak of war in Europe. Before the conference ended, however, World War I had started and those present had to return to their respective countries. Henry Hodgkin (an English Quaker) and Friedrich Siegmund-Schultze (a German Lutheran) parted company at the railway station at Cologne with the words "We are one in Christ and can never be at war." To take that pledge forward, Hodgkin organised a conference in Cambridge in 1915, where the "Fellowship of Reconciliation" was formed (England FOR). Shortly after the Cambridge conference, in the autumn of 1915, he went over to America and the American Fellowship was founded (Nov. 1915). The International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR) was established in 1922 with the name of Movement Towards a Christian International; its current name came into use in 1923.
The International Fellowship of Reconciliation has had as many as 40 national Fellowships on all continents. The German branch, Versuhnungsbund, held its first conference in 1932, but in 1933, when Hitler came to power, it dissolved. Siegmund Schultze was arrested twenty-seven times during World War I and was forced to live in exile during the Nazi period. FOR Germany was officially reestablished just in 1956 with Schultze as President.
To learn more of IFOR history, see http://www.ifor-mir.org/index.php/about-ifor/history.
The IFOR Secretariat has been located in various places throughout the years, but has stayed in Alkmaar, Netherlands since 1977.
IFOR executives (International Secretariat), Dates, and Office Locations:
- Kees Boeke, 1919-1921, Bilthoven, Netherlands
- Oliver Dryer, Secretary, 1921-1928, London, England
- Donald Grant, & Kaspar Mayr, Secretaries, 1929-1933, Vienna, Austria
- Henri Roser, General Secretary Daniel Hogg, Assistant Secretary, 1933-1938, Paris, France
- Percy W. Bartlett, General Secretary, 1938-1956, London, England
- Ernest Best, 1956-1957, London, England
- E. Philip Eastman, 1957-1966, London, England
- J. J. Wentink (interim), 1967, London, England
- Erwin Rennert, 1967-1968, Vienna, Austria
- Pieter A. Eterman, Administrative Secretary, 1968-1969, Driebergen, Netherlands
- Alfred Hassler (half-time with P.A. Eterman, Admin. Secretary), 1970-1974, Driebergen, Netherlands; Copenhagen, Denmark
- International Fellowship of Reconciliation-Dai Dong Collective, 1974-1976, Brussels, Belgium
- James H. Forest, Coordinator; General Secretary, 1977-1988, Alkmaar, Netherlands
- David Atwood, 1989-1994, Alkmaar, Netherlands
- David Atwood, 1989-1994, Alkmaar, Netherlands
- Anke Kooke, 1995- , Alkmaar, Netherlands
Extent
3.33 linear ft. (8 manuscript boxes)
Abstract
The International Fellowship of Reconciliation was founded in 1922, though international work under the umbrella name "Fellowship of Reconciliation" began as early as 1915.
Custodial History
The Swarthmore College Peace Collection is not the official repository for these papers/records.
Note that these materials had been part of DG 013: Fellowship of Reconciliation Records until 2012, when they were separated into their own collection.
Separated Materials
- Photographs removed to the Photograph Collection.
- Periodicals from many countries are catalogued and shelved together at the SCPC under the Fellowship of Reconciliation .
Legal Status
Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendents, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Processing Information
Originally processed by Wilma Mosholder through 1999; additional material, garnered from other archival collections, was added in later years.
Subject
- International Fellowship of Reconciliation (Organization)
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Revision Statements
- 2018 and 2023: additional material added
Find It at the Library
Most of the materials in this catalog are not digitized and can only be accessed in person. Please see our website for more information about visiting or requesting repoductions from Swarthmore College Peace Collection Library
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