Finding aid for Elizabeth Biddle Yarnall Refugee Papers, 1938-1945
General International Standard for Archival Description
Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College. Swarthmore, Pennsylvania 19081-1399 U.S.A.
Text converted and initial EAD tagging provided by FHL Staff, 2007
Encoded Archival Description
Encoded Archival Description (EAD) Version 2002
collection
Elizabeth Biddle Yarnall Refugee Papers 1938-1945
Elizabeth Biddle Yarnall, 1897-1975
Biographical History for: Elizabeth Biddle Yarnall Refugee Papers 1938-1945
BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL NOTE Elizabeth Biddle Yarnall (1897-1975) was a graduate of Westtown School and Bryn Mawr College and taught at the Oakwood School. In 1923 she married fellow Quaker, David Robert Yarnall, the son of Edward Smedley and Sidney Garrett Yarnall. and they had three children, D. Robert, Jr., James, and Nancy. D. Robert Yarnall (1878-1967) was a mechanical engineer and member of the Philadelphia City Planning Commission. He served the Society of Friends in many capacities, including Clerk of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting (Orthodox), Chairman of the Board of Pendle Hill, and Chairman of the American Friends Service Committee Child Relief Mission to Germany after WWI and Refugee Committee before WWII. In the years preceding WWII, he sought to convince the German government to modify its stance against minorities and to expedite the emigration of Jews from Germany and Austria. He, along with George Walton and Rufus Jones, represented the AFSC in a meeting with the Gestapo in Berlin in December 1938 to discuss Quaker relief work. Elizabeth Yarnall was a founding member of Chestnut Hill Meeting and a member of the AFSC Mission Committee which was active in feeding starving children in Germany after World War I. During the summer of 1938, she accompanied her husband to work at Friends Center in Vienna, Austria, aiding German and Austrian refugees.
SCOPE AND CONTENT OF THE RECORDS The collection contains materials concerning the Yarnalls' work with German and Austrian refugees after the March 1938 Anschluss. Primarily correspondence, it includes letters concerning refugee projects and letters from refugees asking for help, especially the musician Karl Weigl and his wife, Vally, who emigrated in October 1938. There are some family letters from Elizabeth Yarnall sent from Europe in the summer of 1938 and letters from Dorothy Canfield Fisher in her effort to create an American children's relief organization for German children. Also several essays by Elizabeth Yarnall on her Vienna experience and notes for a talk. The material conveys the difficulties involved in Jewish emigration in the years just preceding the war. Organized into two series: Organization:CorrespondenceMiscellaneous
Yarnall, Elizabeth Biddle, 1897-1975
Yarnall, D. Robert (David Robert), 1878-1967
Weigl, Karl, 1881-1949
Weigl, Vally
Fisher, Dorothy Canfield, 1879-1958
Quakers -- Austria -- 1938-1945
Society of Friends -- Austria
Austria -- World War, 1939-1945
American Friends Service Committee -- Refugee Committee -- 1938-1945
World War, 1939-1945 -- Civilian relief
International Relief -- Societies, etc.
Society of Friends -- War relief and reconstruction
Reconstruction (1914-1939) -- Societies, etc.
Church work with refugees -- Society of Friends
Refugee children
Refugees -- Austria
Refugees -- United States
Refugees, Jewish -- 1938-1945
series
Series 1 Correspondence
Letters from Elizabeth Yarnall to daughter Nancy, from Zurich and Vienna
Letters from Elizabeth Yarnall to Becky
From AFSC Center in Vienna
Creation of From AFSC Center in Vienna
Time of Creation of From AFSC Center in Vienna
Letters from AFSC center is Vienna
Carbon copy of letter to Jules
Asking him to assume leadership in Vienna center [from the Yarnalls?].
Correspondence from Karl and Vally Weigl
Creation of Correspondence from Karl and Vally Weigl
Time of Creation of Correspondence from Karl and Vally Weigl
Correspondence from refugees and others
Creation of Correspondence from refugees and others
Time of Creation of Correspondence from refugees and others
Helen Harness Flanders, Springfield, VT, letters to Elizabeth Yarnall
Creation of Helen Harness Flanders, Springfield, VT, letters to Elizabeth Yarnall
Time of Creation of Helen Harness Flanders, Springfield, VT, letters to Elizabeth Yarnall
Hertha Kraus, A.F.S.C. consultant in Philadelphia
Creation of Hertha Kraus, A.F.S.C. consultant in Philadelphia
Time of Creation of Hertha Kraus, A.F.S.C. consultant in Philadelphia
Concerning refugee matters, particularly coordination of committees.
Cornelia Stabler to Elizabeth Yarnall
Asking for help in editing mss.
Dorothy Canfield Fisher to Elizabeth Yarnall
Creation of Dorothy Canfield Fisher to Elizabeth Yarnall
Time of Creation of Dorothy Canfield Fisher to Elizabeth Yarnall
Children's relief for refugee children and related concerns.
Karl and Ilse Ehrenstein correspondence
Creation of Karl and Ilse Ehrenstein correspondence
Time of Creation of Karl and Ilse Ehrenstein correspondence
Charlotte Edith Taskier
Creation of Charlotte Edith Taskier
Time of Creation of Charlotte Edith Taskier
Letter from WILPF to Elizabeth Yarnall
Creation of Letter from WILPF to Elizabeth Yarnall
Time of Creation of Letter from WILPF to Elizabeth Yarnall
Asking her to serve as chair of National Refugee Committee [she declined]
Letter to Edith from Elizabeth Yarnall and miscellaneous family correspondence
Series 2 Miscellaneous
Elizabeth Yarnall speeches on refugee issue, related correspondence
Handwritten mss (for a speech?) on Vienna experience, Elizabeth Yarnall
Draft of essay on life in Vienna after the March 1938 Anschluss (typed carbon)
Draft of essay on life of waiting in Vienna by Elizabeth Yarnall (typed carbon)
Summer camp in Vermont for children from Germany and Austria, DAR sponsored program, typed carbon describing
Minutes, AFSC Refugee Committee, chaired by Robert Yarnall
Creation of Minutes, AFSC Refugee Committee, chaired by Robert Yarnall
Time of Creation of Minutes, AFSC Refugee Committee, chaired by Robert Yarnall
Carbon copy of report to Foreign Service Executive Committee, Caroline Norment
Creation of Carbon copy of report to Foreign Service Executive Committee, Caroline Norment
Time of Creation of Carbon copy of report to Foreign Service Executive Committee, Caroline Norment
Music programs, flyers, particularly concerning Karl Weigl
AFSC and Scattergood School brochures on placement of refugees in the U.S.
Publications from Germany and Austria concerning refugee problem
Creation of Publications from Germany and Austria concerning refugee problem
Time of Creation of Publications from Germany and Austria concerning refugee problem
Zeitshrift fur Kindershutz (Viennese journal on child welfare)
Creation of Zeitshrift fur Kindershutz (Viennese journal on child welfare)
Time of Creation of Zeitshrift fur Kindershutz (Viennese journal on child welfare)
Miscellaneous, unidentified photographs