Unitarian Universalist Service Committee. Executive Director, Robert Dexter. Records, 1940-1941.
Overview
Chiefly the correspondence of Robert C. Dexter, Executive Director of the Unitarian Service Committee, including letters to and from him regarding the work of the Service Committee in its efforts to assist victims of war-torn Europe.
Dates
- Creation: 1940-1941.
Extent
3 boxesThe bulk of the collection consists of the correspondence of Robert C. Dexter, Executive Director of the Unitarian Service Committee. It includes letters to and from him regarding the work of the Service Committee in its efforts to assist victims of war-torn Europe. The subject matter of the correspondence includes travel arrangements for committee members, fundraising efforts, personal thank you notes to donors, and requests for assistance from refugees and their families and friends. Collection also includes correspondence from Martha and Waitstill Sharp, two of the seminal figures involved in aiding displaced persons. Efforts were particularly focused on the safety and well-being of children, as the Sharps concerned themselves with finding homes for them in the United States. Correspondence is arranged alphabetically by correspondent's last name, or the name of an institution.
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.
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 Universalist Service Committee. Executive Director, Robert Dexter. Records, 1940-1941: A Finding Aid.
- Author
- Andover-Harvard Theological Library
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- div16185
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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