bMS 16043
Unitarian Service Committee. Case Files, 1945-1951.
Summary Information:
- Call Number: bMS 16043
- Title: Unitarian Service Committee. Case Files, 1945-1951.
- Repository: Andover-Harvard Theological Library, Harvard Divinity School, 45 Francis Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138-1911
- Quantity: 10 boxes
Administrative Information:
- Acquisition Information: This collection is a gift from the Unitarian Universalist Association
- 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:
The Unitarian Service Committee offered assistance to displaced people during and after World War II in a number of ways, some of which are documented in this collection. Under the USC "adoption" plan, sponsors in the United States usually sent a package of food monthly via the USC to a needy family or individual in Europe, as well as occasional clothing packages. The USC also assisted people in finding shelter and employment in the United States. In relation to these efforts, the USC had to file documents known as "assurances" with the Displaced Persons Commission. These assurances stated that individuals placed by the USC in the United States would be suitably employed at prevailing rates of pay without displacing other persons from employment; that they would not become public charges; and that such persons would have safe and sanitary housing.
The Unitarian Service Committee was one of eleven organizations which joined forces in 1944 to create the Central Location Index, which was established to provide a central index for registering the names of people displaced as a result of war, and to ascertain the whereabouts of such people so that they and their relatives and friends could establish mutual contact. In conjunction with the Index, the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) established the Tracing Bureau to help survivors locate relatives who had survived the concentration camps.
Most of the records in this collection consist of the correspondence between USC caseworkers, people in need, and individuals who were attempting to help them. Some of the caseworkers were Maria Oppenheimer, Friedl Reifer, Erna Sternberg, and Muriel Towle.
Container List:
- bMS 16043/1 (1) Adopted cases "A"
- bMS 16043/1 (2) Adopted cases "B"
- bMS 16043/1 (3) Adopted cases "C"
- bMS 16043/1 (4) Adopted cases "D"
- bMS 16043/1 (5) Adopted cases "E"
- bMS 16043/1 (6-7) Adopted cases "F"
- bMS 16043/1 (8-9) Adopted cases "G"
- bMS 16043/1 (10) Adopted cases "H"
- bMS 16043/1 (11) Adopted cases "I"
- bMS 16043/1 (12) Adopted cases "J"
- bMS 16043/2 (1) Adopted cases "J"
- bMS 16043/2 (2-3) Adopted cases "K"
- bMS 16043/2 (4-5) Adopted cases "L"
- bMS 16043/2 (6) Adopted cases "M"
- bMS 16043/2 (7-10) Applicants "A-E"
- bMS 16043/3 (1-4) Applicants "F-J"
- bMS 16043/3 (5-8) Applicants "K-O"
- bMS 16043/3 (9-10) Applicants "P-T"
- bMS 16043/4 (1-2) Applicants "P-T"
- bMS 16043/4 (3) Applicants "U-Z"
- bMS 16043/4 (4) Arrival list of displaced persons up to September 26, 1949. Includes photographs
- bMS 16043/4 (5-6) Boston Office, correspondence of Friedl Reifer, assistant director of the USC, 1948
- bMS 16043/4 (7) Case Work Department annual report, 1948
- bMS 16043/4 (8) Central Location Index, applications and requests for location service, 1945
- bMS 16043/4 (9) Central Location Index, applications and requests for location service, 1945-1946
- bMS 16043/4 (10) Central Location Index, applications and requests for location service, 1947
- bMS 16043/4 (11) Citizens Commission on Displaced Persons, 1948
- bMS 16043/4 (12) Clothing distribution in Europe report, 1946-1947
- bMS 16043/5 (1-2) Displaced persons, assurances
- bMS 16043/5 (3) Geneva Office, 1948
- bMS 16043/5 (4) Germany, Central Location index, applications and requests for location service, 1945-1946
- bMS 16043/5 (5) Germany, miscellaneous reports and papers (in German)
- bMS 16043/5 (6) Green, Brenda. Correspondence re: placement of displaced persons, Unitarian Church, Cleveland, Ohio
- bMS 16043/5 (7) International Rescue Committee. Correspondence re: displaced persons, 1949-1951
- bMS 16043/5 (8) Jewish Labor Committee. Correspondence re: displaced persons, 1949-1951
- bMS 16043/5 (9) Lander, Mrs. Margaret, 1949-1951
- bMS 16043/6 (1-2) Lisbon office
- bMS 16043/6 (3) Lisbon office duplicates
- bMS 16043/6 (4-5) Location applications, index numbers 50-99
- bMS 16043/6 (6-7) Location applications, index numbers 100-149
- bMS 16043/6 (8-9) Location applications, index numbers 150-199
- bMS 16043/7 (1) Location applications, index numbers 200-249
- bMS 16043/7 (2) Location applications, index numbers 250-299
- bMS 16043/7 (3-5) Reports on shipments of food, clothing, etc., 1947
- bMS 16043/7 (6) Ottawa office correspondence, includes case file material for Anton Grylewicz
- bMS 16043/7 (7) Paris office correspondence, includes case file material for Jacob Primanis
- bMS 16043/7 (8) Refugees and sponsors lists
- bMS 16043/7 (9) Registered Index Numbers, Central Location Index, 1945-1947
- bMS 16043/7 (10) Toulouse office correspondence, 1948
- bMS 16043/7 (11) United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) Central Tracing Bureau: lists of names of displaced people and the relatives and friends seeking them; includes inquiries to newspapers from USC case worker Muriel Towle to have these lists published, 1947
- bMS 16043/8 (1) UNRRA Central Tracing Bureau: inquiries concerning displaced persons, "A-L"
- bMS 16043/8 (2) UNRRA Central Tracing Bureau: inquiries concerning displaced persons, "M-Z"
- bMS 16043/8 (3) UNRRA Central Tracing Bureau: inquiries concerning displaced persons, Boston
- bMS 16043/8 (4-7) UNRRA Central Tracing Bureau: inquiries concerning displaced persons, Chicago, "A-M"
- bMS 16043/9 (1-4) UNRRA Central Tracing Bureau: inquiries concerning displaced persons, Chicago, "M-Z"
- bMS 16043/9 (5-8) UNRRA reports on missing persons
- bMS 16043/10 (1-4) UNRRA Central Tracing Bureau: inquiries concerning displaced persons
- bMS 16043/10 (5) Letters from Germany to USC expressing thanks for parcels of food, 1947-1948
- bMS 16043/10 (6) Vienna office correspondence, 1948
- bMS 16043/10 (7-8) Warehouse reports on shipments of food, clothing, etc., 1946-1947