Henry W. Hamilton papers, 1920-1931

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Summary

Creators:
Hamilton, Henry W.
Abstract:
Correspondence, reports, bulletins, and photographs relating to social conditions in Poland and the Soviet Union and to American Friends Service Committee relief work.
Extent:
3 manuscript boxes, 1 oversize folder (1.4 Linear Feet)
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Henry W. Hamilton papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Background

Scope and content:

The Henry W. Hamilton papers include correspondence, reports, bulletins, photographs, and a map relating to Hamilton's time working for the American Friends Service Committee between 1923 to 1924 as a Relief Officer in Horodec, Poland; teaching agricultural farming to orphans in KoΕ‚pin, Poland; and doing relief work on the Kirgiz Steppes in Russia.

Biographical / historical:

Henry W. Hamilton was a Quaker (Society of Friends) from Aux Vasse, Missouri and an American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) relief worker in Poland and the Soviet Union from 1923 to 1924. This was along the old "Eastern Battle Front," where, as chief of an out-post with 32 Russian workers and 160 horses, he directed housing and agricultural reconstruction in an area burned out by the Russians in their "scorched earth" policy. For a time, he was on the Kirgiz Steppes in Russian Siberia, where 60% of the population starved to death in the great famine of 1919 to 1923.

After the end of the war in 1918, AFSCs began working in Russia, Serbia, and Poland with orphans and with the victims of famine and disease, and in Germany and Austria, where they set up kitchens to feed hungry children.

Hamilton published a book, The Aftermath of War: Experiences of a Quaker Relief Officer on the Polish-Russian border, 1923-1924, detailing his experiences as a relief worker for the AFSC in post-World War I Poland, Germany, and Russia, using correspondence and photographs included in the collection.

Acquisition information:
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library Archives. in 1985.
Physical location:
Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

The collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.

Terms of access:

For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Henry W. Hamilton papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Location of this collection:
Hoover Institution Library & Archives, Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-6003, US
Contact:
(650) 723-3563
hooverarchives@stanford.edu
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