ANCESTRY WORSHIP - Genealogy

15 August 2026

CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTORS : COLLEGES THAT HAVE SPECIAL COLLECTIONS : FREE SPEECH and PEACE : VIETNAM : ARCHIVES THAT HOLD RECORDS BESIDES NARA

The following Colleges have Special Collections that pertain to the Conscientious Objectors and frankly, so may the college that your CO ancestor was attending when called upon to serve in the United States military. Their involvement in Protests regarding the war, in particular the Vietnam War, may also be reported in NEWSPAPERS!

UNIVERSITY OF OREGAN - EUGENE - SPECIAL COLLECTIONS This college has records of the Civilian Public Service Camp No 56. (Local, non military camp) and other materials about the camps in the Pacific Northwest.

WHAT OF THE FREE SPEECH MOVEMENT, which was tied into Protests and those who wished to Conscientiously Object to military service?

I'll bet you know which college is most famous for this during the Vietnam War!

UC BERKELEY FREE SPEECH MOVEMENT The Bancroft Library at Berkely has the FREE SPEECH MOVEMENT DIGITAL ARCHVE and includes anti-war and draft resistance movements.

To focus a bit more : GUIDE TO BANCROFT LIBRARY KEY COLLECTIONS

Partial Excerpt:

University of California, Office of the President records, 1885-1975 (partially unprocessed)

CU-5

► Subjects: Women, subversive activities, racial problems, Loyalty Oath, Communism, unions, labor relations, un-American activities, academic freedom, affirmative action, student demonstrations, sex discrimination

Records of the Office of the Chancellor, University of California, Berkeley, 1952-2000
CU-149

► Subjects: Student revolts, Free Speech Movement, Third World Liberation Front, Vietnam War, People's Park, Loyalty Oath, SLATE, strikes, academic freedom

University of California, Academic Senate, Berkeley Division records, 1869-present
CU-9

► Subjects: academic freedom, affirmative action, campus political activity

Records of the Office of Student Activities, approximately 1917-1990 (partially unprocessed and restricted collection)

CU-14
Subjects: Discrimination, Third World Liberation Front, Free Speech Movement, People's Park, Vietnam War, minority groups

09 August 2026

CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTORS : QUAKER AND MEMMONITE CHURCH RECORDS : ARCHIVES THAT HOLD RECORDS BESIDES NARA : CIVILIAN PUBLIC SERVICE CAMPS

Please note that it always possible that other religious archives may hold documents regarding your CO ancestor than these two. A priest, minister, or other church authority may have been asked to give a reference or otherwise support the CO's petition. I would begin by finding out where the person was living (which could be on the draft registration) and what church they were a member of at the time and the appropriate archive for that location.

Also, if you have difficulty finding what you want on a website, give a phone call to the library or archive or persons on the contact information for the site.

HAVERFORD COLLEGE LIBRARY SPECIAL COLLECTIONS : QUAKER CO's This collection's focus is the Quakers, the peace efforts of the church as a whole and the personal papers of individuals. Haverford College is in Haverford, Delaware County, Pennsylvania

MENNONITE CHURCH USA ARCHIVES : Amish, Mennonite Located in North Newton, Harvey County, Kansas, this is a major archive for records of the Amish, Mennonite, and Brethren, CO's. It includes CIVILIAN PUBLIC SERVICE (CPS) records.

IMPORTANT TO KNOW : Previously I mentioned that some CO's SERVED IN THE MILITARY in NON-COMBAT ROLES and that could include work camps.

HOWEVER THERE WAS SUCH A THING AS WORKING FOR THE CIVILIAN PUBLIC SERVICE INSTEAD, meaning that person was never in the military and thus did not serve in the military. THIS SITE HAS A LINK TO TESTIMONIALS AND INFORMATION ON THE CAMPS AND WORK THERE FOR MEN AND VOLUNTEER WOMEN!

Excerpt: Civilian Public Service (CPS) was a program developed at the onset of WWII which provided those whose conscience forbade them to kill, the opportunity to do work of national importance under civilian direction rather than go to war. Nearly 12,000 men made this choice, and many women voluntarily joined the cause. They fought forest fires, worked in mental institutions, planted trees, did dairy testing and served as subjects for medical experiments in more than 150 camps scattered throughout the United States.

05 August 2026

CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTORS : SWATHMORE COLLEGE PEACE COLLECTION : ARCHIVES THAT HOLD RECORDS BESIDES NARA : THIS ONE INCLUDES WORLD WAR I and VIETNAM

I promise I haven't been holding out on you. I want you to understand the usual process for obtaining U.S. Military Records, and even if you KNOW your ancestor was a CO, you should obtain what you can from NARA (or a database that has these records, Fold3 having the reputation for being the best). But now I'm going to post about some archives that hold collections of special interest.

The first one is : SWATHMORE PEACE COLLECTION This collection includes video and recordings. Swarthmore College Peace Collection (SCPC) contains the official records of the Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors (CCCO), National Committee on Conscientious Objectors, and numerous individual papers from World War I to the Vietnam War. It also holds records for the Alliance for Conscientious Objectors and the Metropolitan Board for Conscientious Objectors.

This collection is considered extensive.

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02 August 2026

TYPE IT UP!

I learned to type on a non-electric typewriter

and I was no good at it.

Even my first electric typewriter was frustrating for me.

I was always making errors that needed to be corrected.

01 August 2026

Ancestry Worship - Genealogy

29 July 2026

CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTORS : WORLD WAR II SELECTIVE SERVICE FILES CAN INCLUDE DETAILS OF THE OBJECTION

The military records for those who registered and served, or did not, are open to the GENERAL PUBLIC through the National Archives of the United States (NARA) since it has been more than 62 years since World War II. The records are not all digitalized or in databases and so we often must ask an archivist for help.

NARA RECORDS OF THE SELECTIVE SERVICE - OBJECTORS

This is the link to the page with very much information. To focus, this excerpt:

147.2.2 Records of the Selective Service System, 1940-47 (This is a record group)

Textual Records: Central correspondence, 1940-47. Correspondence concerning protests over various aspects of the draft, 1940-44. Correspondence relating to men released from active duty, 1941; and to appointments in the Selective Service system, 1940-47. Microfilm copies of the lotteries held in 1940, 1941, and 1942 to determine registrant classification order, 1940-42 (11 rolls). Issuances of national headquarters, state directors, and local boards, 1940-47. Microfilm copy of Methods For Preservation of Selective Service Records, vols. 1-5, 1944-45 (2 rolls). Case files on conscientious objectors, 1940-47, with indexes (including 4 rolls of microfilm). Microfilm copy of case files, including "cover sheets" on conscientious objectors who served in work camps, 1941-45 (282 rolls), with index (2 rolls). Locator cards for conscientious objectors sent to camps, 1941-47 (including 9 rolls of microfilm). Microfilm copy of case files on registrants appealing to the President, 1941-47 (226 rolls), with index (12 rolls of microfilm). Microfilm copy of the docket book of the Presidential Appeal Board, 1941-47 (5 rolls). Microfilm copy of records of the President's Amnesty Board, 1941-47 (4 rolls). Retained sample of appeal and local board records, 1940- 47, for Utah Appeal Board and for local boards in the Bronx, NY; Franklin City, MA; Holmes County, MS; and Pima County, AZ.

Note that "Local boards" comment. It is always possible that a Local Board presided in the case of your ancestor.

Camps are were some COs performed service state-side in supportive, non-combat roles. They were called Civilian Public Service Camps.

My suggestion is to first get the draft registration, then find out if the person WAS drafted and if they served. If they were successful in their Objection, you will likely need to give the archivist all the information you have from those earlier documents.

25 July 2026

CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTORS : NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF THE UNITED STATES : ARCHIVES THAT HOLD THE RECORDS : WORLD WAR II OBJECTORS ACCESS

Are you a child or spouse of a veteran? A "Next-of-Kin" is defined this way: Veterans and Next-of-Kin of deceased veterans have the same access rights to the record. The next-of-kin is defined as any of the following: the un-remarried widow or widower, son, daughter, father, mother, brother, or sister of the deceased veteran. Next-of-kin must provide proof of the death of the veteran, such as a copy of the death certificate, a letter from the funeral home, or a published obituary...

The GENERAL PUBLIC must respect a 62 year privacy law on military records.

(U.S. involvement in Vietnam spanned from the early 1950's to 1973,escalating significantly from advisors to combat troops in July 1965. The Selective Service military draft was used to induct over 1.8 million men. A birth-date lottery began in December 1969. (The 62 years is for the DISCHARGE DATE so if the person was discharged in 1965 the records should be public next year.)

THE DETAILS FOR OBTAINING A MILITARY RECORD ARE HERE : NARA PERSONNEL RECORDS OF THE U.S. MILITARY This is a start. I have never personally found a World War II Draft Registration in which a CO was noted, but I hear some do.

According to NARA the primary place to find CO information for your ancestor is:

The National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in Saint Louis, Missouri, which holds the official military personnel files (OMPF's) for those who served including the conscientious objectors who did serve but in non-combatant roles.

NARA NATIONAL PERSONNEL RECORDS CENTER

The collection you will likely be directed to or have an archivist at NARA look into for you is called: Record Group 147, which includes documentation on Conscientious Objectors (COs).

21 July 2026

"CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTOR" ? WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU MUST REGISTER FOR THE SELECTIVE SERVICE DRAFT - UNITED STATES - AND ARE NOT ONE TO FIGHT?

I believe one can be patriotic but not agree with whatever the prevailing doings of the President or the House or the Senate or any politician that has influence on the citizens lives. I've done the genealogy for a family that had members on both sides of the Civil War. I can just imagine the arguments at those dining tables. So it has been, so it is - not everyone is for a War or on the same side of a question.

Conscientious Objectors are not officially "Conscientious Objectors" unless they state that WHEN THEY ARE ACTUALLY CALLED TO SERVE. One registers and maybe there will be a draft, maybe there won't be, and maybe that person won't be called upon. Therefore, if you seek an ancestor's draft registration, their CO status will not be on those forms, which are often simple forms. A "CO" must prove they have a deep seated conviction, belonging to a religious organization that is anti-war is the primary way to prove this, such as being a member of the Jehovah Witnesses, and it can mean that the person must still serve, but not in "combat." (Other military records may have the information you seek.)

THE NUMBERS OF MEN/MALES WHO REGISTER ARE DEFINIING THEMSELVES AS "CO." HAS SOARED, some say 1000%.

WOMEN/FEMALES STILL ARE NOT REQUIRED TO REGISTER.

I'm linking to a recommended website: If you or your loved-one wants to know "what happens next" if the United States continues or furthers its current participations and/or actions using the military, and people are once again actually drafted, this is what you want to read:

GI RIGHTS HOTLINE MILITARY CONSCIENCIOUS OBJECTORS Wow! Lots of information here!

(See the next post to find out where to get the military records for CO's

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18 July 2026

NEW AUTOMATIC "SELECTIVE SERVICE" DRAFT REGISTRATION : OLD DRAFT REGISTRATIONS ARE VALUABLE GENEALOGY LINKS

CNBC New Draft Laws Starting Dec 2026

Oh, this change brings up so much history -

Not registering in the first place was one of the ways that some chose to evade being involved in war. Unpopular wars, wars not defined as wars or not officially declared, religious membership and non-violent lifestyles, and yes, the question of women's participation, all come to mind. There was no official involuntary service in the Revolutionary War because there was not yet a government of the United States and militia were voluntary and as for the Civil War, that's controversial too.

LETS LOOK AT THE HISTORY OF REGISTERING FOR THE MILITARY DRAFT (rather than voluntarily signing up for participation) IN THE UNITED STATES.

THERE WAS NO "SELECTIVE SERVICE" - DRAFT UNTIL WORLD WAR I

The SELECTIVE SERVICE ACT WAS passed on May 18, 1917, authorized the federal government of the United States of America to draft men for military service after voluntary enlistments for World War I proved insufficient, ultimately registering millions of American men between the ages of 18 and 45 in three waves.

REGISTRATION DID NOT and DOES NOT MEAN THE PERSON WILL BE DRAFTED TO SERVE.

The reason the Civil War enrollment is controversial is that this seems to apply to those to serve the Union, which won the war. An excerpt regarding the Civil War: No organized selection process. Those selected could pay cash in lieu of service, or hire substitutes. Induction was accomplished by district enrollment boards.

SELECTIVE SERVICE TIME LINE US GOV

I consider the most valuable of these draft registrations for most Americans researching at this point, is the World War I draft registration. Many "industrial age" immigrants who arrived in the late 1800's and early 1900's registered for this draft, WHICH DID NOT REQUIRE A MAN BE A CITIZEN OF THE UNITED STATES. Often the man registering will state the date they entered the United States and where they were born, revealing the name of the town where you can look for church records.

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