Browse Items (228 total)

This is one of the donation cards that were distributed by the Society of Friends. It is titled “Spain’s Children Are Hungry: Help Us Feed Them.” The card is folded into three, each section conveying a different message from the other. The first part…

This anti-war poster calls attention to the obscene sums of money spent on war preparations, and simultaneously suggests that military stockpiling inhibits God’s kingdom from flourishing. It calls to mind the Quaker peace testimony, which states…

This poster printed for the Peace Committee of the Society of Friends in 1936 incorporates an image of Jesus riding a donkey with a child in hand. This poster fosters a sense of humanity and condemns the types of atrocities that were induced and…

During the twentieth century, Quakers were active in publicizing peace-related concepts and striving against remilitarization. This poster, calling for a coordinated international effort in peace-building in place of force to deter war, sheds light…

This Quaker poster criticizes conscription, the compulsory enrollment of persons for military service, and denounces war altogether. By claiming that, through conscription, the state has control of the collective human consciousness, which is…

The Society of Friends attempted to remain neutral during the Spanish Civil War, and conducted relief work for both the Republicans and the Nationalists. In Quaker Service in Modern War, Howard Kershner writes, “I maintain that when one undertakes…

Sylvester Jones’ journal records his experiences travelling through Spain and his participation in relief work during the Spanish Civil War. Sent by the American Friends Service Committee in order to decide their level of involvement in the relief…

The Spanish Civil War marked a new period of modern warfare, as we can see through observing the pamphlets that were used to spread awareness of the war and the actions the Quakers were taking to aid those suffering. This pamphlet, written by Dr.…

The Friends’ Service Council (FSC), a Quaker relief organization in Great Britain, published and distributed this pamphlet in 1939 after Nationalist forces had overthrown Republican Spain. Despite the change in government, the FSC, in conjunction…

This bulletin, released days before the end of the war on April 1, describes the desperate situations in both Republican and Nationalist Spain and pleads for money to transfer surplus wheat to Spain. It includes the warning that “if the remainder of…

By proclaiming that “peace and righteousness are inseparable,” and that if a “conflict should arise between the claims of Christ’s service and that of the State, it is to Him that our supreme loyalty should be given whatever the consequence,” the…

In his capacity as public relations director and relief administrator for the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), John F. Rich traveled to Spain in 1939 to wind down the AFSC’s refugee and child feeding relief facilities. During the trip, Rich…

During the Spanish Civil War and for several years after, international relief efforts were coordinated between various Quaker and non-Quaker organizations, in the hope that the refugees and displaced peoples from the conflict could receive direct…

In this compilation of selections from letters, Esther Farquhar Kamp, a social worker and Quaker relief worker with the American Friends Service Committee, discusses the physical, mental, and emotional stresses on the Spanish children and the ways in…

This painting from Estampas de la Revolución Española promotes a false sense of heroism established by society, a sense of heroism that traps humanity in a closed cycle of victims. It depicts a stern-faced man; clad in rolled pant legs and a polo…

The artistic depiction of a helpless figure being persecuted is ubiquitous in times of Spanish agony. This is evident in both the Offices of Propaganda of the National Confederation of Workers’ “Estampas de la Revolución de Española” and Goya’s…

“Cuando el arte se trueca en intérprete de la emoción popular, el arte se sublima… Se hace a un tiempo carne y espíritu.”
“When art becomes the interpreter of some great national sentiment, it is sublime… [It is] a mingling of the flesh with the…

Republican Spain published many propaganda items during the Spanish Civil War in order to promote their cause. This piece, “Clenched Fists Held High,” is part of a book of stamps published by the anarchist Office of Propaganda. This image represents…

The letter written by J. Passmore Elkinton, the chairman of the AFSC Spain Committee, is addressed to L. Hollingworth Wood, an active member of the Spanish Child Welfare Association (SCWA) in New York. In discussing the benefits of Quaker aid in…

The bombings during the Spanish Civil War not only destroyed buildings and land, but they destroyed families. Children of all ages were victims of fascist attacks, and because of the numerous children who were left orphaned and who were in harms way…

This article, published in the weekly New York Times Magazine on April 3rd, 1938, demonstrates how journalism brought the Spanish refugee crisis into the eyes and minds of American society. The focus of this article is the mass migrations of…

This journal entry from January 1st, 1937 is found in a Quaker weekly journal from 1937 where it informed other Friends how the Friends Service Council (the British corollary to the American Friends Service Committee), together with the Save the…

The Spanish Civil War was a product of the clash between the opposing ideologies of the left-wing Republic and fascist Nationalists. In 1938, photographer Robert Capa captured scenes of the International Brigades, volunteer fighters for the Republic,…