bMS 16031
Unitarian Service Committee. Administrative Records, 1941-1957.
Summary Information:
- Call Number: bMS 16031
- Title: Unitarian Service Committee. Administrative Records, 1941-1957.
- Repository: Andover-Harvard Theological Library, Harvard Divinity School, 45 Francis Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138-1911
- Quantity: 2 boxes
Administrative Information:
- Acquisition Information: Gift of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee.
- Access: There are no restrictions on access to this collection.
Historical Note:
The Unitarian Service Committee was formed as a standing committee of the American Unitarian Association in May 1940. Its purpose was to be a committee to investigate opportunities both in America and abroad for humanitarian service. During and after World War II, the Unitarian Service Committee aided hundreds of displaced persons in occupied countries, allowing many of them to find passage to the United States. The present-day Unitarian Universalist Service Committee continues to endeavor to advance human rights and social justice throughout the world.
Scope and Content Note:
Collection includes correspondence and reports concerning a number of charges that were raised against the USC in 1946. These charges include claims that the work of the USC in Europe was under Communist influences; that some members of the USC, specifically Herta Tempi and Noel Field, were Communists; and that the USC work in Spain was under the control of the Communists. The Wood-Rankin Committee of the House of Representatives investigated the charges concerning Communism. The collection includes correspondence to and from USC members Seth Gano, Charles Joy, William Emerson, Martha Sharp, Noel Field, and Robert Dexter. Correspondence concerning the work of the USC with Spanish refugees, much of which is to and from Helen Bryan, executive secretary of the Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee (JAFRC), is also included. The predecessors to the JAFRC were the United American Spanish Aid Committee, the Rescue Ship Mission, and the American Committee to Save Refugees.
Container List:
- bMS 16031/1 (1-2) Charges against the USC and its members, correspondence and reports, 1946-1947.
- bMS 16031/1 (3) Charges against the USC and its members, news clippings, and correspondence, 1946.
- bMS 16031/1 (4) Reports and correspondence concerning the work of the USC, 1946.
- bMS 16031/1 (5) Noel Field, accusations and defense, 1946.
- bMS 16031/1 (6) Noel Field, 1946-1954.
- bMS 16031/1 (7) Noel Field, USC record, 1957.
- bMS 16031/1 (8) Noel Field, 1954-1957.
- bMS 16031/1 (9) Donald Harrington, 1947.
- bMS 16031/1 (10) Investigation, general, 1946.
- bMS 16031/2 (1-2) Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee. Correspondence, 1941-1943.
- bMS 16031/2 (3) Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee. Correspondence, 1944-1945.
- bMS 16031/2 (4) Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee. Evidence of Communist affiliation and responses, 1941-1943.