Society for Social Responsibility in Science records

The Society for Social Responsibility in Science (SSRS) was founded in 1949, the convening meeting and Constituting Assembly both held at Haverford College. It was conceived as "an organization of workers in the natural sciences to maintain free inquiry concerning the relations of science and society, the maintenance of scientific integrity, a concern for the increasing use of science for destructive ends, a belief that science and technology should contribute to the benefit of mankind, never to harm or destroy, and that each person has the moral responsibility to consider the end results of his work as far as it can be seen". Although it did not identify itself as a pacifist or a Quaker organization, many members were also members of the Fellowship for Reconciliation (a pacifist organization). The group's constitution stated "Realizing our responsibilities to all of humanity, we a group of scientists and engineers, in order to direct our efforts and activities more effectively toward a constructive world peace and a human world, and to stand clearly against any war trend, whether in the United States, Russia or any other country…," in other words, indicating that they were not anti-Soviet, as many organizations of the time were, though they did not want to be perceived as Communist-leaning. As well, they planned to operate an employment service and an educational program concerning their society and to stimulate the formation of similar groups in other fields of human endeavor. SSRS published a monthly newsletter. It ceased operation in circa 1976.

Members of the organization included Albert Einstein, Max Born, Anton Carlson, Victor Paschkis, Franklin Miller, O. Theodor Benfey, Herbert Jehle, Kathleen Lonsdale, Theodore B. Hetzel and M. Jane Oesterling, among others.

In 1949, Franklin Miller, a Professor of Physics at Kenyon College, was one of the founding members of SSRS. He was president of SSRS from 1953 to 1955 and editor of the monthly SSRS Newsletter distributed to some 500 readers world-wide from 1949 to about 1960.

Victor Paschkis was born in Vienna in 1898 where he studied at the Vienna Institute of Technology. He received degrees in mechanical and electrical engineering in 1921 and 1922 respectively and a science doctorate in 1923. From 1922 to 1930, he worked in various German and Austrian industries. He immigrated to the U.S. in 1938. He worked in industry until 1940, then as Director of the Heat and Mass Flow Analyzer Laboratory at Columbia University. He was the author of several books and published in numerous technical and scientific journals, as well as in the Friends Intelligencer, including in the fall of 1948 after which the first meeting of SSRS was convened at Haverford College. He was the founder and president of SSRS from 1949 to 1950. Victor Paschkis was a member of the Society of Friends.

Otto Theodor Benfey (1925-) was born in Germany, received his B.S. from London University in chemistry in 1945 and a Ph.D. in 1947. He was a post-doc fellow at Columbia University in 1947. He came to Haverford College as an assistant professor in 1948. He served as president from 1952 to 1953, as well as librarian and delegate at large in the SSRS. Benfry was a member of the Society of Friends.

Theodore Brinton Hetzel (1906-1990) was born in Germantown, Pennsylvania and attended Haverford College, graduating Phi Beta Kappa in 1928. He completed graduate studies in mechanical engineering at the University of Pennsylvania, the Technical University of Munich (Germany), and Penn State University. He returned to Haverford College in 1936 as a member of the faculty and later chair of the Department of Engineering, remaining on the faculty until 1972. Hetzel served on the Indian Committees of the American Friends Service Committee and Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. Adopted by the Seneca Nation of Indians, he was given the Seneca name Ong Gwa Dao, meaning “our friend.”

Sources:

(Information from internal evidence, from the T.B. Hetzel papers and from the July 27, 2007 letter and August 11, 2007 email of Franklin Miller (in box 1 of collection)).