Inventory of the Sanctuary Oral History Project Records

David Stiver

Graduate Theological Union Archives

Graduate Theological Union

2400 Ridge Road

Berkeley, California, 94709

Phone: (510) 649-2507

Fax: (510) 649-2508

Email: lglenn@gtu.edu

URL: http://www.gtu.edu/library/special-collections

Inventory of the Sanctuary Oral History Project Records

Collection number: GTU 2009-3-02

Graduate Theological Union Archives

Graduate Theological Union

Berkeley, California

Processed by:: David Stiver
Date Completed:: July 7, 2009
Encoded by:: David Stiver

Descriptive Summary

Title: Sanctuary Oral History Project records

Dates: 1971-2007

Bulk Dates: (predominant 1997-1998)

Collection number: GTU 2009-3-02

Creator: Purcell, Eileen

Collection Size: 1.8 linear feet (2 boxes, 2 folders in map drawer) 12 transcripts, 20 images

Repository: The Graduate Theological Union. Library.

Berkeley, CA 94709

Abstract: An oral history of the sanctuary movement based on interviews with religious and lay leaders in the Bay Area conducted by Eileen Purcell during 1997-1998. The interviews cover the beginning of the sanctuary movement during the Vietnam Conflict (1971-1972) and the much more extensive movement assisting Central American refugees in the United States (1982-1987).

Physical location: 1/H/3, posters in map drawer 4

Languages: Languages represented in the collection: English Spanish

Selected digitized images from this collection.

view online item

Access

Collection is open for research. Portion of Bernie Maezel interview on tape is restricted.

Publication Rights

Copyright has been assigned to The Graduate Theological Union. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Archivist.

Preferred Citation

Sanctuary Oral History Project records, GTU 2009-3-02 . Graduate Theological Union Archives, Berkeley, CA.

Acquisition Information

Donated by Eileen Purcell on March 24, 2009.

Biography / Administrative History

Eileen Purcell planned a comprehensive oral history of the Sanctuary movement that would include refugees as well as religious and lay leaders in the Bay Area, the US, and Central America. The project was sponsored by the SHARE Foundation and the National Sanctuary Defense Fund / the Monsenor Romero Foundation. After the initial interviews, the project was put on hold when Purcell was diagnosed with a life-threatening illness from which she later recovered.

The sanctuary movement began during the Vietnam War when churches offered "the availability of shelter and sustenance to military personnel who are conscientiously unable to continue their participation in the armed forces or in combat duties."

Later, a much larger movement began in the early 1980's in response to refugees from Central America. Faced with civil war, military aggression and terror, citizens began to travel north to Mexico and then to the United States. US policy did not recognize Central Americans, or El Salvadorans, as qualifying for refugee status. Those who were caught were deported and returned to their countries. Becoming aware of the situation, churches responded to the needs of the refugees by offering sanctuary.

On March 24, 1982, five congregations in Berkeley and one in Phoenix, Arizona, publicly committed to "protect, defend and advocate for" men, women and children fleeing from Guatemala and El Salvador. Churches throughout the country joined in this movement. After protection was no longer necessary for Central American refugees, the movement continued, focusing on issues with immigrants from throughout the world

Before the illness, Purcell interviewed 12 leaders during 1997 and 1998. These included:

Rev. Gus Schultz, Lutheran minister and one of the founders of the original Sanctuary movement during the Vietnam War and co-founder of the Public Sanctuary Movement in the 1980's.
Norm Berryessa, a management and financial consultant, involved in sanctuary during Vietnam War
Marilyn Chilcote, Presbyterian minister, who became director of the East Bay Sanctuary Covenant
Bob Fitch, United Church of Christ minister and photojournalist
Maureen Hally, RSM
Kathleen Healy, PUBM, who facilitated the process for Presentation sisters and church to declare public sanctuary
Bernie Mazel, instrumental in raising millions of dollars for National Sanctuary Defense Fund (NDSF) through direct mail
Rev. Bob McKenzie, Presbyterian minister
Fr. Bill O'Donnell, Catholic pastor and co-founder of the Public Sanctuary Movement
Rev. Peter Sammon, pastor at St. Teresa's, the first public sanctuary in San Francisco
Arleen Schaupp, a leader in the Sanctuary movement in the South Bay
Sr. Bernadette Wombacher OP, Dominican sister, who facilitated the process for her congregation to declare public sanctuary

Interviews of several refugees were conducted but the recordings were lost during Purcell's illness.

Purcell grew up in San Francisco. She received a BA in History from Stanford University (1976), completed a year in both the Social Work and African American Studies MA programs at Boston Univesity, and earned an MSW from San Jose State (1979). She attended the Summer Institute, Columbia University Oral History Research Office, in 1998.

In the 1980's, she became a United Farm Worker volunteer and shortly after, one of the original organizers of the National Sanctuary Movement. She traveled extensively in El Salvador and to refugee camps in Honduras and conducted fact finding trips with religious and congressional leaders. She served as a fulltime organizer for the Archdiocese of San Francisco and later became the executive director of the SHARE Foundation in Washington, DC. As of 2009, she is the Senior International Representative for Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

Scope and Content of Collection

The collection documents the Sanctuary Movement. The collection contains recorded interviews in audio cassette and transcript form of 12 religious and lay leaders mostly from the Bay Area with associated documents. Also included are posters that comemmorate religious martyrs of Central America.

Arrangement

The collection is organized as received: transcripts and documents to support the interviews, audio cassettes, and posters.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.

Subjects

Sanctuary movement.

Church work with refugees--United States.

Refugees, Political--Central America.

Christianity and justice--United States.

Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Moral and ethical aspects.

Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Religious aspects.

Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Desertions--United States.

Mazel, Bernard (1917- )

Berryessa, Norman

Chilcote, Marilyn (1944- )

Fitch, Robert (1939- )

Hally, Maureen (1938- )

Healy, Kathleen (1926-)

McKenzie, Robert (1930- )

Sammon, Peter (1923- )

O'Donnell, Bill

Purcell, Eileen

Schaupp, Arleen (1934- )

Wombacher, Bernadette (1925- )

Schultz, Gustav H., (1935-2007)

Other Finding Aids

Gustav Schultz Sanctuary Collection, GTU 90-5-01; National Sanctuary Defense Fund Collection, GTU 98-9-04.

Collection Contents

Series 1 Supporting documents and transcripts 1997-2005

Physical Description: 1 linear feet

box-folder 1 : 1

The Public Sanctuary Movement 2005 June 29

box-folder 1 : 2

Bernie Mazel, Release, Index and Transcript 1998 June 30

box-folder 1 : 3

Norm Berryessa, Release, Index and Transcript 1998 March 3

box-folder 1 : 4

Marilyn Chilcote, Release, Index and Transcript 1998 January 29

box-folder 1 : 5

Bob Fitch, Release, Index and Transcript 1998 March 25

box-folder 1 : 6

Maureen Hally, RSM, Release, Index and Transcript 1998 November 6

box-folder 1 : 7

Kathleen Healy PVBM, Release, Index and Transcript 1998 May 7

box-folder 1 : 8

Rev. Bob McKenzie, Release, Index and Transcript 1998 January 21

box-folder 1 : 9

Fr. Bill O'Donnell, Release, Index and Transcript 1998 February 13

box-folder 1 : 10

Rev. Peter Sammon, Release, Index and Transcript 1998 February 5

box-folder 1 : 11

Arleen Schaupp, Release, Index and Transcript 1999 May 3

box-folder 1 : 12

Sr. Bernadette Wombacher OP, Release, Index and Transcript 1999 April 6

box-folder 1 : 13

Rev. Gus Schultz, Release, Index and Transcript 1997 November 25 - 1998 April 1

box-folder 1 : 14

Bob Fitch, Release, Edited Copy, Correspondence, Research, Sample Questions 1998

box-folder 1 : 15

Marilyn Chilcote, Release, Edited Copy 1998

box-folder 1 : 16

Norm Berryessa, Release, Edited Copy, Correspondence, Research, Sample Questions 1972, 1998

box-folder 1 : 17

Maureen Hally, Release, Edited Copy, Correspondence, Research 1985, 1998

box-folder 1 : 18

Kathleen Healy, Release, Edited Copy 1998

box-folder 1 : 19

Kathleen Healy, Correspondence, Research, Sample Questions 1998, 2002

box-folder 1 : 20

Bernie Mazel, Release, Edited Copy, Correspondence, Research 1984-86, 1998

box-folder 1 : 21

Bernie Mazel, Edited Copy, Research 1998-99, 2002

box-folder 1 : 22

Rev. Bob McKenzie, Release, Edited Copy, Correspondence, Research, Sample Questions 1998

box-folder 1 : 23

Fr. Bill O'Donnell, Release, Edited Copy, Correspondence, Research, Sample Questions 1998, 2003

box-folder 1 : 24

Rev. Peter Sammon, Release, Edited Copy, Correspondence, Research, Sample Questions, Memorial 1998, 2002

box-folder 1 : 25

Arleen Schaupp, Release, Edited Copy, Correspondence, 1999

box-folder 1 : 26

Rev. Gus Schultz, Release, Edited Copy, Sanctuary Resolutions 1988, 1998

box-folder 1 : 27

Rev. Gus Schultz, Research 1997-99

box-folder 1 : 28

Rev. Gus Schultz, Research 1997-99, 2007

box-folder 1 : 29

Sr. Bernadette Wombacher OP, Release, Edited Copy, Correspondence, Research, Sample Questions 1984, 1999

box-folder 1 : 30

Fr. Michael Rollie Jones, For Me To Live In Christ 1992

Series 2 Audiocasettes, Interviews 1997-1999

Physical Description: .4 linear feet

box-folder 2 : 1-2

Bernard Mazel 1998 June 30

box-folder 2 : 3

Norman Berryessa 1998 March 3

box-folder 2 : 4-5

Marilyn Chilcote 1998 January 29

box-folder 2 : 6-7

Bob Fitch 1998 March 25

box-folder 2 : 8

Maureen Hally, RSM 1998 November 6

box-folder 2 : 9-10

Kathleen Healy PUBM 1998 May 7

box-folder 2 : 11-12

Rev. Robert McKenzie 1998 January 21

box-folder 2 : 13

Rev. Peter Sammon 1998 February 13

box-folder 2 : 14

Fr. Bill O'Donnell 1998 February 5

box-folder 2 : 15-16

Arleen Schaupp 1999 May 5

box-folder 2 : 17-18

Sr. Bernadette Wombacher OP 1999 April 6

box-folder 2 : 19-31

Rev. Gus Schultz 1997 November 25 - 1998 April 1

Series 3 Posters 1989-2007

Physical Description: .4 linear feet

poster 1

Que significa hoy ser jesuita? who were killed on November 16, 1989, 8 x 10.5 inches No date

poster 2

24 de Marzo de 1993 XIII anniversario, Centro Monsenor Romero, 10.75 x 16.74 inches 1993

poster 3

International Women of Hope Rigoberto Menchu, Guatemala (signed), 18 x 24.25 inches Circa 1999

poster 4

St. Oscar Romero of the Americas, 15.88 X 19 inches 1983

poster 5

In Memorium, Seguda aniversario de los martires de la UCA 1989-91, 15.5 x 23.25 inches 1991

poster 6

Queremos La Verdad No A La Impunidad, 1980 2 de diciembre, 12.5 x 19 inches 1998

poster 7

No los olvidamos, A todas los martires de El Salvador (3 copies), 15 x 20.5 inches 1998

poster 8

VI Aniversario de los Martires de la UCA, 13.75 x 20 inches 1995

poster 9

XVI Aniversario Martirial de Monsenor Romero, 15 x 22.5 inches 1996

poster 10

P Jon de Cortina, S.J., 1934-2005 (3 copies), 13 x 16 inches Circa 2005

poster 11

Donde estan? Ayudanos a encontrarlos, 28 x 20 inches No date

poster 12

Romero 27 aniversario 1980-2007, 19.75 x 28 inches 2007

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