The records of the St. Louis Regional Fellowship of Reconciliation Records were donated to the Joint Collection of the Western Historical Manuscript Collection by Mrs. Roy Sommerer in August, 1976, and by Marion Weir in July, 1980.
The Fellowship, founded in 1915, is an interfaith society whose members share a commitment to seek resolution of international and inter-group conflicts by non-violent and reconciling, means.
Active in St. Louis from the mid-1930's, the St. Louis Regional Fellowship of Reconciliation was not forma,lly organized until November, 1940, when a group of thirty FOR members and friends met at Eden Seminary. They organized the following year a Metropolitan Board for Counseling Conscientious Objectors and raised money to help Conscientious,Objectors in Civilian Public Service Camps during World War II. During the war, the FOR helped in the relocation of Japanese-Americans who were evacuated from the West Coast following Pearl Harbor, opposed the conscription of women and the buying of defense bonds, and sponsored some European war refugees. The FOR and the Civil Liberties Union cooperated in 1941 in establishing an interracial committee which conducted a survey in 1943-44 on attitudes toward hiring black employees in St. Louis public utilities. FOR continued to work for better race relations in their campaign to obtain fair housing in the 1950's and 1960's. During the Korean conflict, the organization again offered draft counseling. Its main concern, however, was nuclear disarmament and peace. It opposed the resumption of atmospheric nuclear testing and the building of individual bomb shelters through a campaign called "shelters for the shelterless." FOR has also been active in mental health concerns and labor-management relations.
SCOPE AND CONTENT
Records of the St. Louis Chapter of a national organization dedicated to the philosophy and program of religious pacifism. Correspondence, minutes, newsletters and reports on World War II and Korean conflict conscientious objectors, Civilian Public Service Camps, relocation of Japanese evacuees, refugees, conscription of women, integration, and disarmament. The records are divided into three series.
An oral history (T-233) with Tedford L. Lewis, a conscientious objector, by Jeanne Mongold in January, 1973, complements the collection.
SERIES DESCRIPTION
SERIES 1 - BY-LAWS, MEMBERSHIP LISTS,& POSTAGE PERMIT, 1935-1960, FOLDERS 1-4
The by-laws date from 1960, the membership lists are from the 1940's and early 1960's and the postage permit is dated 1935.
SERIES 2 - CORRESPONDENCE & SURVEY FORMS, 1940-1967, FOLDERS 5-15
Correspondence (1940-1944) covers conscientious objectors, civilian public service camps, the relocation of Japanese evacuees, European refugees, the conscription of Women and Interracial Employment Service during WWII. The Interracial Employment Committee conducted a survey of 20 wards in St. Louis to gauge public opinion on the employment of blacks in all public utilities. Correspondence (1960-67) covers disarmament, fair housing and fall-out shelters.
SERIES 3 - NEWSLETTERS & MINUTES, 1941-1962, FOLDERS 16-23
Fellowship News, 1941-1962 published by St. Louis Regional Fellowship of Reconciliation and minutes of meetings, 1950-54. Also contains samples of other State Fellowship of Reconciliation newsletters, including Fellowship Bulletin (1942-1943) of Kansas City.
FOLDER LISTING
BOX 1
1. Postage Permit, 1935
2 By-Laws, 1960
3 Membership Lists, 1940's
4 Membership Lists, 1960-62
5 Conscientious Objectors, Chilao Civilian Public Service Camp, 1940-43
6 Relocation of Japanese Evacuees, 1941-43
7 Relocation of Japanese Evacuees, Camp Newsletters, Printed Matter, 1941-43
8 Correspondence, 1941-43
9 Correspondence with National and Midwest FOR, 1942-43
10 Interracial Employment Survey Committee, Correspondence, Notes, Results, 1943-44
11 Interracial Employment Survey Committee Survey Forms, 1943-44
12 Meeting Reports and Notes, 1940's
13' Correspondence, 1960-67
14 Correspondence with National FOR & Publications, 1960-62
15 Midwest Regional Conference, 1961
16 Fellowship News, 1941-43
17 Minutes and Fellowship News, 1950-54
18 Fellowship News, 1954-55
19 Fellowship News, 1956-58
20 Fellowship News, 1959-60
21 Fellowship News, 1961-62
22 Fellowship Bulletin (Kansas City FOR), 1942-43
23 FOR Newsletters, 1943, 1956
INDEX
Afro-American Employment
Afro-American Housing
Anna Astroth
Helen E. Baker
Marie Bliss
Bomb Shelters
Citizens Committee for Resettlement
Civilian Public Service Camps
Conscientious objectors
Conscription
Constription-Women
Cooperatives
Cuban Missle Crisis
Disarmament
Fair housing
Fellowship of Reconciliation
Fellowship News
John Flucke
Victor Gavel
Greater St. Louis Committee for Freedom of Residence
Integration
Japanese Evacuees (WWII)
Japanese in St. Louis
Kansas City Fellowship of Reconciliation
Korean Conflict
Margaretta Scott Lawler
Tedford Lewis
A.J. Muste
Pacifism
Public Utilities
Glenn Smiley
Refugees--World War II
Resettlement
St. Louis Regional Fellowship of Reconciliation
Sharecroppers
Glenn Smiler
Southern Tenant Farmers Union
World War II
Nancy L. Wright
STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MISSOURI RESEARCH CENTER-ST. LOUIS
222, THOMAS JEFFERSON LIBRARY
UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI-ST. LOUIS
ONE UNIVERSITY BOULEVARD
ST. LOUIS, MO 63121
(314) 516-5143
E-MAIL: whmc@umsl.edu