Peacemaking: Home

Margaret Fell's statement to King Charles II on peace: 

We are a people that follow after those things that make for peace, love and unity; it is our desire that others’ feet may walk in the same, and do deny and bear our testimony against all strife, and wars, and contentions that come from the lusts that war in the members, that war in the soul, which we wait for, and watch for in all people, and love and desire the good of all…(19.46, Quaker Faith & Practice 5th Ed.).

Did you know?

• The American Friends Service Committee and the British Friend Service Council, both Quaker organizations, received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1947 in recognition for the effort of Quakers' to "heal rifts and oppose war" (Quakers Consider: Peace). The award also recognized the Quakers' aid in relief during World War I and WWII. As the Nobel Peace Prize website states, "the 1947 prizes marked the Nobel Committee's recognition both of pioneering work in the international peace movement and of humanitarian work carried out without regard for race or nationality" (Nobel Peace Prize 1947).

References

Nobel Peace Prize 1947. n.d. The Nobel Peace Prize. 1947 Nobel Peace Prize

Quakers Consider: Peace. n.d. Friends General Conference. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1947/friends-council/history/

Society of Friends in Britain. Quaker Faith & Practice, 5th ed. Quaker Books. Retrieved from: https://qfp.quaker.org.uk/passage/19

William Penn University has been home to conscientious objectors and veterans alike. As the Oskaloosa Herald describes, post World War II William Penn University's student body contained "a mix of conscientious objectors, veterans, and Japanese-Americans who had been released from internment camps" (Feb. 18, 2010).

Within the Wilcox Library's archives is documentation on conscientious objectors, Quaker guidance on such issues, and opinion pieces from around the state of Iowa. 

Oskaloosa Herald (Feb. 18, 2010). Ann Fields Appointed President of William Penn. Retrieved              from: https://www.oskaloosa.com/news/local_news/ann-fields-appointed-president-of-william-penn/article_e0d6426c-68b2-5b2e-a384-ca93a81c9463.html

During his time at Penn, President Hinshaw welcomed students from all walks of life to the William Penn campus: blacks, whites, the poor, the rich, war veterans, conscientious objectors, and students who were from Japanese internment camps. Hinshaw believed that college was a place where students should learn how to live, as well as how to make a living. His philosophy is best illustrated in his words, "While nations have locked arms in titanic conflict, while incomprehensible tragedy has stalked the world, while men have sought to turn from ways of war to paths of peace, we have engaged in the life mirrored in these pages...Enduring imperishable values are inextricably interwoven with the fun and frivolity, the happiness and heartaches, the loyalties and friendships, the aspirations and hopes here recorded...We have envisioned here together dreams of peace and brotherhood, ideals of sacrificial service and abiding faith in God and Man."

Benjamin F. Trueblood was the third president of Penn College. He served as college president for eleven years and then went on to work in the peace movement and edit the "Advocate of Peace" journal.