An Inventory of the James Morgan Read Papers, 1951-1987
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Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College. Swarthmore, Pennsylvania 19081-1399 U.S.A.
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Encoded Archival Description
Encoded Archival Description (EAD) Version 2002
collection
James Morgan Read Papers, 1951-1987
James Morgan Read (1908-1985)
Biographical History for: James Morgan Read Papers, 1951-1987
BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL James Morgan Read (1908-1985) was a Quaker and president of Wilmington College, Ohio, from 1960-69. He also served as the United Nations Deputy High Commissioner from 1951-60, and was a vice president of the Charles F. Kettering Foundation from 1969 until his retirement in 1974. 1922-1976Born in Camden, New Jersey, the son of a Methodist Minister, Read graduated from Dickinson College (1929) in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, earned a D. Phil. from Marburg University (1932) in Germany, and received a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago (1940). He taught History at Lycoming College from 1932-34 and served as Associate Professor of History and then Chairman of the Social Sciences Department at the University of Louisville from 1935-43. In 1940, he married Henrietta Morton; they raised three children, Austine (Bonnie), James III, and Edward. In 1949, Read joined the Society of Friends as a member of the Gwynedd, Pennsylvania Monthly Meeting. Two years after Henrietta Read's sudden death from cancer in 1976, James Read married Theresa K. Dintenfass.1943-1945, 1947-1949From 1943-45, Read was employed in Civilian Public Service. He then took a job as Associate Secretary of the Friends Committee on National Legislation in Washington and focused his efforts on legislation for displaced persons. He continued that concern as Secretary in the Foreign Service Section of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) from 1947 to 1949, overseeing that organization's relief work in the immediate postwar period.1950-1960, 1960-1969In 1950, James Read was named Chief of the Division of Education and Cultural Relations of the United States High Commissioner for Germany (State Department). From 1951 to 1960 he served as the United Nations (UN) Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees in Geneva, and was appointed Acting High Commissioner for a few months in 1956. He returned to the academic world as President of Wilmington College in Ohio from 1960 to 1969.1969-1981Read stepped down as President of Wilmington College in 1969 to take a job as Vice-President of the Charles F. Kettering Foundation. Five years later, when he reached the mandatory retirement age, Read chose to continue his association with Kettering, serving as Senior Consultant in International Affairs. In that capacity he was involved in three of the Dartmouth Conferences--XII, XIII, and XIV--which were administered and co-sponsored by Kettering, and acted as Rapporteur for the third Soviet-American Writers Conference in the USSR in 1979. Read also wrote a report for Kettering on the Council on Foreign Relation's fifth Conference on the US-Canada Relationship in 1981.to 1983James Read maintained his involvement with the American Friends Service Committee, serving on the AFSC Board of Directors as member and Chair of the AFSC Information and Interpretation Committee. He was also Clerk of the Quaker United Nations Committee in New York and did a study of the Special Committee of the UN General Assembly Banning the Use of Force. His experience with the UN also led to involvement with the US Committee for the UN Institute for Training and Research. In 1983, he acted as a Consultant to Crosscurrents to study the possibility of establishing an office for Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung.
SCOPE AND CONTENT James Read (1908-1985) was a Quaker whose work emphasized international programs and higher education. The bulk of the collection documents James Read's work as a consultant after 1974. His diaries date from his association with Wilmington College. Areas of particular interest include the establishment of Soviet-American dialogue and the Dartmouth and Soviet-American Writers Conferences, U.S./Canadian relations and the Lester B. Pearson Conference, the American Friends Service Committee, and the U.N. (non-governmental organizations).
Quakers -- United States
Quakers -- Diaries--20th century
Quakers -- International relations
Quakers -- Education
Lester B. Pearson conference on the Canada-United States Relationship (5th: 1981: Ontario)
Dartmouth Conference (XIII: 1981: Moscow)
Dartmouth Conference (XIV: 1984: Dartmouth)
Soviet-American Writers Conference (3: 1979)
Communism and international relations
United States -- Relations -- Soviet Union
United States -- Relations -- Canada
Read, James Morgan, 1908-1985
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
American Friends Service Committee
Wilmington College (Wilmington, Ohio)
Charles F. Kettering Foundation
series
Ser. 1. Biographical Material, 1954-1985
General, 1954-1985
President of Wilmington College, 1960-69
Inauguration/Resignation, 1960-69
Communist Speaker Controversy, 1962
2. Correspondence, 1950-1987
Letters arranged chronlogically, 1950-1984:
Business, Letters Received 1978
Business, Letters Sent 1978-79
Christmas, Letters Received, 1961-78
Christmas, Letters Sent 1950-76
Family, Letters Received 1965-71 & 1977-84
Family, Letters Sent 1970 & 1977-79
Personal Letters Received 1962-76 & 1977-84
Personal Letters Sent 1977-79
Letters arranged by subject, 1965-1984 :
Immigration Reform 1965-70
Writers' Conference 1977-78
World Hunger Education Service 1979-81
Earth Aid Society 1981
Albert Einstein Institution 1984
Program on Non-Violent Sanctions 1984
“Women and Men”: Raymond Lloyd 1980-83
William Huntington 1982-83
Shepherd Stone 1983
Reference Letters & Resumes 1978-81
Miscellaneous 1962-79
Ser. 3. Diaries, 1961-1982
Diary 1961-64
Diary 1965-75
Diary 1979
Diary 1981-82
Ser. 4. Speeches and Seminar Presentations.
Files contain manuscript copies of articles, author's notes, and some research material.
Speeches While President of Wilmington College 1960-69
“Reflections on the Last Two Decades of the Nobel Peace Prize, 1962-83,” 1984
For the International Studies Association in Atlanta, Georgia.
Correspondence 1981-84
Speeches Delivered at Conference 1984
Articles by Irwin Abrams 1945-83
Prize Nominations by AFSC 1975-84
Acceptance Speeches: Red Cross 1917, 1944, 1963.
Acceptance Speeches: UNICEF 1966.
Acceptance Speeches: Amnesty International 1977
Misc. pamphlets and clippings 1974-84
“HICOG and Higher Education,” 1984-1985
For the Aspen Institute-Berlin.
Correspondence 1984-85
Agenda and Proceedings 1984
Articles & Clippings
Ser. 5. Published Articles, 1950-1985
Early published articles 1950-67
“Distinctives of a Quaker College,” Friends Journal, 1963and unfinished sequel.
“Birth of an Island Nation,” Worldview October 1980
Research Materials, Grenada & St.Lucia
“The Best Kept Secret,” Friends Journal October 1981
“United Nations Seminar,” Quaker Life 1982
“Non-Use of Force,” Friends Journal 1982
Releases, 1980-1985:
Releases 4/80-4/81
Releases 4/81-11/81
Releases 3/82-4/82
Releases 1/83-10/83
Releases 8/84-2/85
Annual Reports, 1981-84
Correspondence, 1981-83
Quaker UN Office Releases, 1983-85
Miscellaneous Articles & Notes.
Ser. 6. Kettering Foundation, 1969-1982
These files, arranged chronologically by project, include reports and related correspondence.
Personnel 1969-80
Travel and Expense Accounts 1977-78
Dartmouth Conferences, 1979-84
The Dartmouth Conferences were a series of off-the-record informal talks between leading citizens of the US and USSR, initiated at the suggestion of President Eisenhower and administered and co-sponsored by the Kettering Foundation.
Dartmouth Conference X 1976
Dartmouth Conference XI 1977
Dartmouth Conference XII 1979Williamsburg, Virginia
Dartmouth Conference XIII 1981Moscow
Dartmouth Conference XIV 1984Dartmouth College
Related Organizations
Citizen Exchange Corps 1979
UN Assoc.-Soviet/US Relations 1979
Miscellaneous Related Materials 1977-79
Writers Conferences, 1977-80
The Soviet-American Writers Conferences were an outgrowth of the Dartmouth Conferences. The Kettering Foundation co-sponsored and administered the first two, in 1977 and 1978. James Read acted as Rapporteur for Kettering in 1979 when sponsorship was transferred to the Kennan Institute. In 1980, he was an observer for Kettering and wrote a report.
Writers Conference II, USA 1978
Writers Conference I, USSR 1977
Writers Conference Preliminary Meeting, Austria 1978
3rd Soviet-American Writers Conference, USSR 1979
4th Soviet-American Writers Conference, California 1980
5th Soviet-American Writers Conference, USSR 1982
Related Articles 1978-82
Canada Project/Council on Foreign Relations, 1977-84
Read was a Delegate to the Lester B. Peason Conference (V) on the US-Canada Relationship and wrote a report for Kettering.
Correspondence 1977-80
Pearson Conference 1981
Pearson Conference 1982-83
Pearson Conference 1984
Canada-Mexico Project 1978
US-China Writers Conference, 1982-83
US-China Writers Conference 1982
US-China Writers Conference 1983
Related Articles
Miscellaneous, 1978=1982
World Without War 1978-79
Glenn Paige 1979-80
Esalen Institute 1981-82.
Ser. 7. American Friends Service Committee, 1979-1984
General: 1979-85
Memos
Minutes
Nominations and Staff Lists
AFSC and Canada
East-West Consultation, 1977-83
1977 Discussions
Creation of 1977 Discussions
Time of Creation of 1977 Discussions
1981 Discussions
Creation of 1981 Discussions
Time of Creation of 1981 Discussions
1983 Discussions.
Creation of 1983 Discussions.
Time of Creation of 1983 Discussions.
Miscellaneous
IDEC (International Division Executive Committee) 1981-85
Biographical Sketches, Subcommittee Lists
Correspondence
Memos & Intra-Committee Correspondence.
Minutes & Agendas
Information and Interpretation Committee 1977-84
Reports.
Quaker United Nations Committee, 1978-1985
The Quaker United Nations Offices in New York are sponsored by FWCC in its capacity as an international non-governmental organization (NGO) at the UN, and administered by the AFSC. Read was Clerk of the QUNC. He discovered the existence of a Special Committee appointed by the General Assembly of the UN to deal with the question of the non-use of force, and wrote two articles for Friends Journal. See Series 2, Published Articles. Correspondence, 1973-77.
Membership & Sub Committee Lists 1982-85
Memos & Intra-Committee Correspondence 1979-85
Minutes & Agendas 1983
Reports 1978-79
Miscellaneous, 1983-84
United Nations 1983-84
FWCC 1983-84
8. Other Activities, 1976-1985
UN Institute for Training and Research 1978-79
Read was involved with the US Committee for the UN Institute for Training and Research.
UN Institute for Training and Research 1980-83
Crosscurrents 1983-84
Council on Religion and International Affairs (CRIA)
CRIA is concerned with the interrelationship of ethics and foreign policy and sponsors regular seminars (CRIA Conversations) which bring together authorities and policy makers for presentations and discussion. James Read was an Associate and wrote an article for their magazine, Worldview. See also Series 2, Published Articles.
Dayton Friends Meeting 1976-82
National Council on Philanthropy 1978
SUN (Symphony for United Nations) 1978-79.
Refugees, 1964-1982
General 1982 & n.d.
Shmukler 1982
UNHCR (Genie Soffe) 1964-73
Peace Academy/AC DA Education 1979-84
9. Miscellaneous Manuscripts