Through Loyalist and Insurgent Spain: The Journal of Sylvester Jones

Through Loyalist and Insurgent Spain: The Journal of Sylvester Jones

Sylvester Jones

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 work, his writings describe the aid work of different organizations, including logistical issues such as the lack of resources. Sylvester’s descriptions of living in wartime Spain work towards uncovering the nature of Quaker pacifist views, which emphasize deliberate thought. This entry, describing his reaction to a play, showcases his hatred of propaganda, the opposite of deliberate thought: “It was obviously propaganda and not art… I do not refer to the war propaganda…[but] one which…[carries] on with a basis of hate for any who disagree with them.” Jones disapproves of the play’s message, militant or not, because it promotes homogeneous thought. The rejection of thoughtlessness echoes a defining aspect of Quaker pacifism, which draws upon their religious belief, which is centered around the need for conscious and deliberate thought.

TERUHA STERGIO

Dec. 1936—Jan. 1937