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Hamilton (Henry W.) papers
85072  
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Collection Details
 
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  • Access
  • Use
  • Acquisition Information
  • Preferred Citation
  • Biographical Note
  • Scope and Contents note

  • Title: Henry W. Hamilton papers
    Date (inclusive): 1920-1931
    Collection Number: 85072
    Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
    Language of Material: English
    Physical Description: 3 manuscript boxes, 1 oversize folder (1.4 Linear Feet)
    Abstract: Correspondence, reports, bulletins, and photographs relating to social conditions in Poland and the Soviet Union and to American Friends Service Committee relief work.
    Creator: Hamilton, Henry W.
    Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives

    Access

    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.

    Use

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

    Acquisition Information

    Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives. in 1985.

    Preferred Citation

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

    Biographical Note

    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.

    Scope and Contents note

    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 Kołpin, Poland; and doing relief work on the Kirgiz Steppes in Russia.

    Subjects and Indexing Terms

    World War, 1914-1918 -- Civilian relief
    Soviet Union -- History -- Revolution, 1917-1921 -- Civilian relief
    International relief
    Soviet Union -- Social conditions
    Poland -- Social conditions
    American Friends Service Committee