Wilmer Brandt Collected Papers

Wilmer Brandt was born on January 13, 1920. He grew up on a dairy farm in Hershey (Pennsylvania), and was a member of a Church of the Brethren congregation. Brandt was able to go to Junior College because Milton S. Hershey (of Hershey Chocolate) provided a full scholarship in 1938 for anyone who attended there. When Brandt finished, he worked for a year at the chocolate factory before he was drafted for WWII. Brandt declared himself to be a conscientious objector and took part in alternative service, called Civilian Public Service (CPS), from February 1942 to January 1946. He was first in forestry service in Kane (Pennsylvania), then doing hookworm control in Florida. After being discharged, he became a "sea-going cowboy" working on a boat that transported cattle and horses to war-torn Europe; in all, he made three trips for the Heifer Project. This was followed by a stint at the Macedonia Cooperative Community in Georgia, followed by working on the grounds at a graduate school in Putney (Vermont). Then he moved to Goddard, where he graduated from Goddard College in 1955. His major was in elementary education, but a year of teaching convinced him that it was not to be his vocation. He worked thereafter as a cook or gardener / treeman in children's camps and schools, going on to be a forester.

Brandt joined a Quaker meeting, and was interested in peace topics. He admired Jeannette Rankin for being the only person in Congress to vote against U.S. involvement in both WWI and WWII. They met, possibly through both being members of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, and corresponded for many years.

Brandt built a house in Marshfield (Vermont), where he still lives.