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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FIRE CRACKERS!?

 

250th ANNIVERSARY OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE - UNITED STATES HISTORY

The United States will celebrate its 250th anniversary on July 4, 2026, marking the semiquincentennial of the Declaration of Independence.

Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery

James Barton Longacre (11 Aug 1794)

Etching and stipple and line engraving on paper.

Public Domain

A GOOD STORY

 

HISTORICAL NEWSPAPERS ON LINE - CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY LONG BEACH : ALWAYS CHECK COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY COLLECTIONS

Many colleges and universities have collections that are useful for genealogy research and family history writing.  Some still have microfiche and microfilm!  

It's always a good idea to check your local colleges and universities where you may be able to use what they have without having a library card, so long do so within the library. Others have cards for alumni or offer rights and responsibilities to the paying public.

But you may be surprised to find that the collections may not just be local.  And you can call or visit to find out how to access as a guest. Besides holding many newspapers in microfilm, there's also digitalized collections,

Here is an example, from the California State University at Long Beach.

CSULIB - LIBRARY GUIDE - HISTORICAL NEWSPAPERS ON LINE

Sampling:

California Digital Newspaper Collection 1846-1922
A collection of free full text searchable historic newspapers, including these:
California Star 1847-1848
Daily Alta California 1849-1891
Imperial Valley News 1901-1911
Los Angeles Herald 1873-1910
Los Angeles Star 1851-1854
Marin Journal (San Rafael) 1861-1920
Pacific Rural Press (SF) 1871-1922
Sacramento Daily Union 1851-1898
San Francisco Call 1890-1913
Sausalito News 1885-1922

More sampling:
Chung Sai Yat Po (San Francisco)  coming from UC - example of collaboration between Cal States and UC's.
Chinese language newspaper, 1900-1904

Daily Forty-Niner Online Archive, 1949 to Date
Online archive of the campus newspaper from 1994-2006.

El Clamor Publico
A early Los Angeles Spanish language newspaper, with some English articles, published from 1855 - 1859.

Daily 49er (Current issues). Student CSULB Newspaper.

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FATHERS DAY

 

A 'mid-century' loving family gifting dad a watch...

Remember all those who nurtured you with love...

SPEAKING OF MONEY : DID YOU EVER TAKE A TOUR OF A UNITED STATES MINT? : ANNIVERSARY 250 YEARS : FIVE NEW QUARTERS

Yes there are tours and there are also offers such as the quarters minted for the 250th anniversary of this country.  UNITED STATES MINT GOVERNMENT SITE

Denver, CO
Philadelphia, PA
Washington, DC
San Francisco, CA
West Point, NY
Fort Knox, KY

Now, private businesses are offering $2 bills that are color enhanced (I never heard of such a thing being legal but it must be), but officially, the United States mint has created five new quarters designed to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

Semiquincentennial Quarters 2026 :  Buy a bag and distribute them among family and friends?

****

Deep in my memory is a tour of the mint in Washington DC when I was about ten years old. I was in awe of the sheets of paper money that were so messed up that they were in a bin, likely on their way to a big paper shredder.

FATHERLOSS by NEIL CHETHIK : AN EXCELLENT BOOK ABOUT GRIEVING THE DEATH OF YOUR FATHER

I picked up this book, published years ago, at a book sale. It's an excellent book!  It starts with a 'gypsy' proverb : You have to dig deep to bury your father. While this book is written for sons, I think daughters can benefit too. It's a book of empathy and understanding.

  

This book was based on a national survey of over 300 men back in the day, along with in-depth interviews of many others. Some famous men are examples used to bring up the different ways that men grieve or process their relationship and feelings - or lack of - for their fathers. So I'll name drop:

John F. Kennedy Jr.

Michael Jordan

Dylan Thomas

John Quincy Adams

Mahatma Gandhi

Ernest Hemingway ....

Read about men's style of mourning and how one's relationship with dad is so impactful.

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QUESTIONS FROM READERS of ANCESTRY WORSHIP - GENEALOGY

You can use COMMENTS to ask me for advice on a problem you're facing as you research. I don't respond immediately but will try to fit in a post on the subject whenever possible. The Question and Answer will appear on this blog, ANCESTRY WORSHIP - Genealogy Blogspot, and hopefully be helpful to you as well as other researchers.

I read all COMMENTS before publishing them and WILL NOT PUBLISH your personal information or your exact comment to me. I may also change names you provide for purposes of teaching and to maintain your privacy. 

This seems to have worked well so far!

Christine

USING OKLAHOMA AS AN EXAMPLE : THE OKLAHOMA HISTORICAL SOCIETY TIPS US OFF! AND PROVIDES SEARCHABLE DATABASES

Oklahoma state census - 1890***, 1907.


No wonder there was a hit stage musical called Oklahoma! The state has played an important part in American history. There were pioneers of course but often researchers into Native American heritage find themselves looking into what's available in that state as well. So the bad news is that this state is one of those who suffered the loss from the legendary fire that wiped out most of the 1890 Federal Census... But there is the 1890 OKLAHOMA TERRITORIAL CENSUS! ***

As well, there is this offering: Smith's First Directory of Oklahoma Territory

Smith's First Directory of Oklahoma Territory For the Year Commencing August 1, 1890 provides information about the population of early Oklahoma. The index includes over 17,000 names arranged alphabetically by surname.

OKLAHOMA HISTORICAL SOCIETY Very interesting offerings! 

Such as :1933 Unemployed Relief Census - An index of more than 100,000 names listed in the Unemployed Relief Census records. There are twenty-seven Oklahoma counties included. A searchable database on line!

Now, you might think that Oklahoma Historical Society might only interested in those Native American tribes whose people were relocated to Oklahoma but WOW!  Excerpt: 

The American Indian Archives

Since 1934 the Oklahoma Historical Society American Indian Archives have housed records for numerous tribal nations. The records came to the Oklahoma Historical Society after Congress passed legislation giving the OHS custody of the materials. These records include a variety of official documents and information relating to nations in Indian and Oklahoma Territory. The archives include a significant number of records pertaining to the Five Tribes as well as other tribal nations.

The Research Division is an affiliate of the National Archives and Records Administration.

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The TAG for this series is  "STATE CENSUS ADVENTURE"

INDEXING

 

NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF THE UNITED STATES : DAWES ROLLS : 1896 APPLICATIONS AND THE CURTIS ACT : APPLICATIONS TAKEN 1898 - 1907

ARCHIVES GOV RESEARCH DAWES ROLLS 

Excerpt: The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has custody of the Final Rolls of the Five Civilized Tribes, known as the Final Dawes Rolls, as well as related census cards, enrollment applications, land allotment jackets, and maps. These records are found in Record Group 48, Records of the Office of the Secretary of the Interior, and in Record Group 75, Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

The Final Dawes Rolls and related records are some of the most heavily used records at NARA for researching membership in the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, and Seminole Nations in Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma).

Note that these tribes were originally exempted but did end up being counted, and it's controversial.

Excerpt: Then, in 1895, Congress authorized a survey of Indian Territory, and in 1896 Congress authorized the Dawes Commission to add names to existing tribal rolls as a preliminary step to allotment. The Commission received more than 7,500 applications for enrollment and traveled throughout Indian Territory conducting hearings.

These applications, known as the 1896 Applications, were declared null and void two years later, when Congress passed an act on June 28, 1898, authorizing the Commission to proceed with enrollment and allotment for the Five Civilized Tribes without tribal consent. The 1898 act, known as the Curtis Act, also provided for the termination of the Five Civilized Tribes’ tribal governments. By 1902, each of the Five Tribes had negotiated and ratified an agreement that modified the terms of the Curtis Act and became the basis for enrollment and allotment.

With new guidelines in place, the Dawes Commission accepted enrollment applications from 1898 through 1907, with a handful accepted in 1914.

CHEROKEE : DAWES ROLLS : COUNT CONTROVERSIES : WHO GOT LAND

The Dawes Rolls were controversial in their time. They were a census of Native Americans. As we have seen, over time who was or was not a Cherokee, deserving of Tribal Membership, varied. At one point anyone who was Black and lived in the territory was a member of the tribe - if they were recognized or declared within 6 months. However some Cherokee had held slaves while others married Freedmen.

Excerpt page 116 - "On January 31, 1899. a vote was held to determine what to do with the proposed Dawes Commission Treaty; the conservatives lost by 2, 015 votes in their efforts to reject all agreements with the commission.  This draft agreement, though accepted by the tribe, was nonetheless rejected by Congress as insufficient.  An agreement was finally settled upon and adopted in 1902. In 1901 the Dawes Commission began working towards compiling the final tribal rolls to decide who got land allotments.  The commission ultimately broke down those residing on Cherokee land into three categories: Cherokees, whites, and freedmen. All told, the counted inhabitants of the Cherokee Nation numbered 41,824 total including 4,919 freedmen, 8703 "full blooded" and 27, 916 "mixed bloods"  There were over 1,000 freedmen who had previously been citizen 

Tribal Government ENDED.

The Cherokee (and other tribes) had their own rolls and were not in agreement with the governments, for they had expelled people or revoked tribal membership in the past, and the government tried to compare the two rolls as well.

Excerpt page 122 -

"The final Cherokee Nation rolls included 36,619 Indians, including 27,916 "mixed bloods" and 8,703 "full bloods" In addition, the commission included 286 whites and 4.919 freedman, bring the final total up to 41,824. These were made citizens of the Untieds States and (the state of) Oklahoma."

These past weeks, I've excerpted some important part of Cherokee Nation Citizenship by Aaron Kushner, a highly recommended book. There is more to the story, and if you find this of interest, please get yourself a copy or demand that your library get a copy for the shelves.

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MOTHERS DAY : A DAY TO SAY THANK YOU TO THOSE MOTHERLY PERSONS WHO NURTURED YOU

 

It's time to remember the motherly people in your life who raised you.

Ask her some questions about her own mother, your grandmother.

What stories have you never heard before?

LAKE COTTAGE

What a lovely old image, curtesy of Graphics Fairy.

When did you last go on vacation?

Did you go on vacations as a child? Where to?

What is your fantasy vacation?

 

GENEALOGY MYOPIA and PARTNERING WITH ANOTHER RESEARCHER TO BREAK THROUGH BLOCK

Genealogy myopia - a term used to mean that a researcher has become too close to their assumptions about their research subjects to break through block or to attack their research another way - can be dealt with by teaming up with another researcher as a partner.

But not just any person!  First you must like and respect the other person enough to commit to sharing work, talking to each other easily and being able to respectfully deal with someone else's personal information.

Here are some tips for choosing a genealogy research partner.

1)  Believe it or not, the best partner is usually someone who is NOT working on the same research as you are, meaning not a family member, not even someone who is working on the same place and time.  When you choose someone who is working on an entirely different family and place and time, you will both bring uneducated and unformed but fresh ideas into the research, based on what you have learned on your own and your own research.

2) Trade copies of your research.  You and your partner will "check" each other's research and write any ideas or questions that come up as you're doing so.   (One friend of mine found a simple math error that had been much depended on.  Once the proper year of birth was found, all else fell in place.)

3) Work a little on the other person's research in terms of time and place.  When someone is experiencing being stuck they may also be discouraged or bored and they may not have done enough Internet research to understand that time and place.  As an exercise, take one ancestor and put them into their historical moments. (Maybe you can help them come up with a good list of questions to ask when interviewing relatives.)

4) When you look at someone else's research ask yourself "If this was my project and this line is blocked, what else could I be doing?  Is there another line that hasn't been worked on enough?  Is there new information available on a database or in an archive or historical museum that would add to this family's story?

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This post originally appeared here at  Ancestry Worship - Genealogy on October 8 2014

LAST SEEN by JUDITH GIESBERG : ANCESTRY WORSHIP - GENEALOGY BOOK RECOMMENDATION : BLACK HISTORY - LOVE STORIES

This book is about love stories: the love of family, of partners, siblings, and children who were once enslaved, of friends and those who served in the military together seeking each other to reconnect. These people were sold away or escaped to freedom. They were gone and those who loved them wanted to know the truth. Were they alive or dead? Where were they? What had happened to them since they last saw each other?  (Had they married?  Had more children?) Could the family be reunited?

Author Judith Giesberg calls these people "The Freedom Generation."

Allow me to give you some back-story on this. As you may know, after emancipation from slavery, former enslaved people were allowed to have bank accounts and own land and property (though they were often segregated when it came to where, per localities), and also allowed to legally marry (though there were rituals of commitment and sometimes services to unite slaves, (per the slave owners values and discretion). However, in those times communications traveled slowly, very slowly compared to these days when even "snail mail" has been replaced by electronic bill paying and e-mail and unlimited long distance cell phone use. Because some slaves were sold and resold or moved along, they were often out of communication entirely. The Underground Railroad moved people to freedom. The Civil War also scattered people, including those who had been part of the military or escaped to the Union while soldiering. Upon emancipation, some had no means to move from the place they had been enslaved while others took any means possible to move elsewhere. The years passed.

You may also know about President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the Great Depression, and his New Deal which resulted in federal funds being used for projects such as the Federal Writer's Project. One of the projects that writers participated in was interviewing former slaves. These writings appear in databases as "SLAVE NARRATIVES." (At my local library this database is available and searchable.) Author Giesberg search through those testimonials as well as doing research in archives for now historical newspaper advertisements and such and brought forth some stories that might break your heart too.

Some people searched for decades, not only placing ads in newspapers but traveling and networking, asking ministers and local politicians who might be inclined to help them search. Some were successful, others not. (Through genealogy that search continues.)

In the Introduction of this book, Giesberg writes, "Tens of thousands of children were taken from their mothers and fathers over the four decades of the Second Middle Passage" and "Chance meetings of formerly enslaved people were rare."

Excerpt page 65 -

"Among the one million people sold from the Upper to the Lower South before 1860, thousands were children sold alone.  According to historian Edward Baptist, between 1815 and 1820, 2,646 children under the age of thirteen were sold in New Orleans out of a total of 12,370 sales.  Of their number 1,001 were sold alone."

Giesberg writes about the emotional and psychological effects that being sold away or sent away had on children and families as an aspect of her explorations of slavery in this book. Today, we find child trafficking and child labor to be abhorrent. I will say that that children who were not enslaved were also trafficked and many went to work both in Europe and the America's very young, especially before public education. That was tied in with shorter lifespans and the fact that the age of thirteen was generally thought to be the onset of adulthood; some say being a "teenager" is also a recent experience and back in the day you were either a child or an adult. It was also an aspect of a rural or agricultural society in which large families put everyone to work in some capacity, of informal apprenticeships, and very little time to play. So we're all evolving and rejecting notions that were acceptable in the past.

This is one more book I highly recommend for its extensive researched historical content and value to anyone who wants to be inspired.

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SLAVE SOLDIERS FIGHTING FOR THE CONFEDERACY IN THE CIVIL WAR

Imagine being a slave and being told you will go to war, the Civil War, for the Confederacy, by the person who owns you! If a researcher finds that their ancestors who was enslaved was in the war, they may wonder "did he see action?"

The answer, generally but emphatically, is NO.  Confederate law prohibited it.  Yet, there were reports that this was so. And, there was always the possibility that a person who was forced to follow the troops as a cook or another useful supportive role could use that opportunity to escape or go north and join the Union Army! There is also another consideration. What if the person was a Free Person of Color and then joined up?

So, some of the things a researcher wants to do is to verify which company/troop the person fought in. Check the census or other records to see if that person reports being disabled or is not working for money after the war. Also see where they are living after that war. 

AMERICAN BATTLEFIELD TRUST : BLACK CONFEDERATES - TRUTH Excellent article!

Excerpt: Many Southern slaves took advantage of the fog of war to escape towards freedom. Before the Emancipation Proclamation was officially adopted, these escapes usually meant congregating around the Union armies that were operating in Southern territory. Vast columns of escaped slaves followed almost every major Union army at one point or another. These people, sometimes called “contrabands,” as in “confiscated enemy property,” frequently served as scouts and spies for the Union soldiers. 

...There were no black Confederate combat units in service during the war and no documentation whatsoever exists for any black man being paid or pensioned as a Confederate soldier, although some did receive pensions for their work as laborers.

... To be specific, in the “Official Records of the War of the Rebellion,” a collection of military records from both sides which spans more than 50 volumes and more than 50,000 pages, there are a total of seven Union eyewitness reports of black Confederates.

***

BUT THERE WAS AN EXCEPTION FOR A LITTLE WHILE

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE : ARMING THE ENSLAVED

Excerpt: Near 21st and Main Street in Richmond, Virginia, the first legally authorized African American Confederate soldiers were assembled and trained in the final weeks of the Civil War. Legislation passed by the Confederate congress on March 13, 1865, allowed for enslaved African Americans to be mustered and equipped on an experimental basis as combat soldiers. Before that date (less than a month before the end of hostilities in Virginia), Confederate law specified that only white men were permitted to serve as soldiers....

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