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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 Berkeley 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

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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.

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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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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.  

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