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Peace Action Center Records

 Collection
Identifier: SCPC-DG-093

Scope and Contents

The collection is unprocessed. It includes PAC administrative records: history of the organization; minutes of internal meetings; financial records; and correspondence. There is material about PAC connections with other peace groups and material about PAC activities.

Dates

  • 1959-1965

Creator

Language of Materials

Materials are in English.

Limitations on Accessing the Collection

The collection is open for research use.

Physical Access Note

All or part of this collection is stored off-site. Contact Swarthmore College Peace Collection staff at peacecollection@swarthmore.edu at least two weeks in advance of visit to request boxes.

Copyright and Rights Information

None.

Historical Note

The Peace Action Center began in 1961 as a continuation of the vigil at Fort Detrick, Md. Peace activists had sponsored a continuous vigil as early as 1959 seeking the abandonment of biological weapons and appealed for the conversion of the fort into a world health center. The Peace Action Center included cooperative living quarters for the staff of religious pacifists, mostly Quakers. PAC staff including Lawrence Scott, director, and Jack L. Bagley, Sarah Bishop, Florence Y. Carpenter, Bertha Faust, William R. Martin, Gelston McNeil, and Patricia Parkman. The PAC disbanded in the fall 1963.

Extent

6.25 Linear Feet (20 boxes)

Overview

The Peace Action Center began in 1961 as a continuation of the vigil at Fort Detrick, Md. Peace activists had sponsored a continuous vigil as early as 1959 seeking the abandonment of biological weapons and appealed for the conversion of the fort into a world health center. The Peace Action Center included cooperative living quarters for the staff of religious pacifists, mostly Quakers. PAC staff including Lawrence Scott, director, and Jack L. Bagley, Sarah Bishop, Florence Y. Carpenter, Bertha Faust, William R. Martin, Gelston McNeil, and Patricia Parkman. The PAC disbanded in the fall 1963.

Arrangement

The collection is loosely organized as follows: general information about PAC activities; financial records; general correspondence; information about contact with other peace groups; additional information about PAC activities.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Lawrence Scott in 1975. Gift of Washington Peace Center, 2010

Bibliographic References

Guide to the Swarthmore College Peace Collection, 2nd ed., p. 52.

Legal Status

Copyright to the Peace Action Center records created by the organization has been transferred to the Swarthmore College Peace Collection. Copyright to all other materials is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Processing Information

This collection is unprocessed.

Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Revision Statements

  • 2018: The file list was standardized in Summer 2017 by Min Cheng in preparation for importing into ArchivesSpace. Elisabeth Miller added the notes in Fall 2017. This finding aid was updated by Wendy E. Chmielewski in September 2020.

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 reproductions from Swarthmore College Peace Collection Library

Contact:
500 College Avenue
Swarthmore 19081-1399 USA US
610-328-8557
610-328-8544 (Fax)