Unitarian Service Committee. Administrative Records, 1941-1957.
Overview
Records of the Unitarian Service Committee during a period of Communist accusation and investigation. The records cover 1941-1957.
Dates
- Creation: 1941-1957.
Access
There are no restrictions on access to this collection.
Extent
2 boxesCollection 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.
Biographical / Historical
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.
Acquisition Information
Gift of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee.
General note
NOTE: For each entry in the following list, the bMS number indicates the collection number, the number after the slash is the box number, and the number in parentheses is the folder number. Portions of this collection have been digitized for a collaborative project with the U.S. Holocaust Museum and the Centre de Documentation Juive Contemporaine (CDJC), France. Those items have a "See digital image" link.
- Title
- Unitarian Service Committee. Administrative Records, 1941-1957: A Finding Aid.
- Author
- Andover-Harvard Theological Library
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- div16031
Repository Details
Part of the Harvard Divinity School Library, Harvard University Repository
Special Collections at Harvard Divinity School Library preserves and makes accessible primary source materials documenting the history of religion and theology, with particular historical emphasis on American liberal religious traditions. Though the historical strengths of the collections have been in the field of Christianity, other religious traditions are increasingly reflected, in step with Harvard Divinity School's evolving focus on global religious studies. Known as Andover-Harvard Theological Library since 1911, it was renamed the Harvard Divinity School Library in 2021.
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