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GWEN Project Records

 Collection
Identifier: SCPC-DG-202

Scope and Contents

This collection contains files of various GWEN projects across the U.S.

Dates

  • Creation: 1985-1994

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

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.

Conditions Governing Use

None.

Historical Note

GWEN (Ground Wave Emergency Network was a grass roots organization founded in the mid 1980s. Mobilized citizens protested the establishment of a GWEN network, a plan by the U.S. Air Force to build a system of radiotowers around the U.S. for the purpose of maintaining military communications in the event of nuclear war. The GWEN Project was a national organization, headquartered in Amherst, Massachusetts. The co-directors were Nancy Foster and Lois Barber. In 1994, the U.S. Congress refused further funding for GWEN, calling it wasteful and unnecessary.

Extent

7.7 linear ft. (7.7 linear ft.)

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

GWEN (Ground Wave Emergency Network was a grass roots organization founded in the mid 1980s. Mobilized citizens protested the establishment of a GWEN network, a plan by the U.S. Air Force to build a system of radiotowers around the U.S. for the purpose of maintaining military communications in the event of nuclear war. The GWEN Project was a national organization, headquartered in Amherst, Massachusetts. The co-directors were Nancy Foster and Lois Barber. In 1994, the U.S. Congress refused further funding for GWEN, calling it wasteful and unnecessary.

Custodial History

The Swarthmore College Peace Collection is the official repository for these records.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Nancy Foster 2001 [Acc. 01A-030]; 2003 [Acc. 03A-027]; Gift of Ronald Fraser 2016 [Acc. 2016-091], [Acc. 2016-105]; 2017 [Acc. 2017-012].

Related Materials

Materials are in English.

Separated Materials

Items removed: Photographs; Videorecordings

Legal Status

Copyright to the records created by the GWEN Project have 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 remains partially unprocessed. Those files are listed by the separate accession in which they were donated.

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. Tessa Chambers added the notes in Fall 2017. Wendy E. Chmielewski updated this finding aid, February 2019.

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

Contact:
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Swarthmore 19081-1399 USA US
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