Quaker Brotherhood: Interracial Activism and the American Friends Service Committee, 1917-1950

274 Pages·2012·1.3 MB·English

by  Allan W. Austin

ALLAN W. AUSTIN
Quaker
Brotherhood
Interracial Activism and the
American Friends Service
Committee, 1917–1950
Quaker Brotherhood

Quaker
Brotherhood
Interracial Activism and
the American Friends
Service Committee,
1917–1950
Allan W. Austin
University of Illinois Press
Urbana, Chicago, and Springfield
© 2012 by the Board of Trustees
of the University of Illinois
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
c 5 4 3 2 1
∞ This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Austin, Allan W.
Quaker brotherhood : interracial activism and the American
Friends Service Committee, 1917–1950 / Allan W. Austin.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 978-0-252-03704-7 (cloth)
1. American Friends Service Committee—History.
2. Race relations—Religious aspects—
Society of Friends—History. I. Title.
bx7747.a97 2012
267'.189673—dc23 2012022675
For Bobby and Hope

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
introduction
The “Friendly Principle of Brotherhood” 1
1. “Let’s Do Away with Walls!”: The AFSC’s
Interracial Section and Race Work in the
United States, 1924–1929 19
2. Bridging Race and Peace: The AFSC in
Good Times and Bad, 1927–1931 49
3. “Intelligent Leadership in the Cause of
Racial Brotherhood”: Quakers, Social Science,
and the AFSC’s Interracial Activism in the 1930s 81
4. Refugees from Abroad and at Home:
The Hostel Method and Victims of War 112
5. From Race Relations to Community Relations 144
conclusion
Race and Reconciliation at Mid-Century 177
Notes 197
Bibliography 243
Index 249

Acknowledgments
A monograph is the product of many people, even when the book jacket
reflects a single author, and I am hard pressed to thank appropriately the
many who have played important roles in shaping this book. First, I must
thank all of those at the University of Illinois Press who have played a role
in this process, especially Laurie Matheson, who has guided another book
to publication, and Kate Babbitt, who skillfully edited the manuscript. A
number of scholars have read and commented on sections of what follows,
offering useful suggestions that have improved the final product. While
any such listing will, I’m sure, miss too many along the way, I must thank
Quaker historians Stephen Angell, Jerry Frost, and Thomas Hamm (as
well as an anonymous outside reader) for helping to shape a more well-
rounded manuscript. I have also relied (perhaps too) heavily on local
scholars and friends, including Justin Nordstrom, who bravely read the
entirety of my earliest draft and offered formative feedback; Patrick Ham-
ilton, whose comments and good humor picked me up repeatedly along
the way; and Becky Steinberger, who continues to read whatever I offer,
no matter how far afield. Attendees at past meetings of the Conference of
Quaker Historians and Archivists have also gone out of their way to provide
help and support, with Emma Lapsansky-Werner and David Hostetter,
among others, providing especially helpful suggestions and leads. In addi-
tion, Tom Davis and attendees at an Indiana University–Purdue University
at Indianapolis seminar that examined religious philanthropies helped
shape the final version of my work on the AFSC in the 1930s. Finally,
Charles Cherry, anonymous outside readers at Quaker History, Jill Ogline