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Wilder V. Immel '35 World War II Atomic Bomb Protest Scrapbook
2009.55.r
2009.55.r
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Title: Wilder V. Immel '35 World War II Atomic Bomb Protest Scrapbook, 1945-1985
Identifier/Call Number: 2009.55.r
Contributing Institution:
Frank Mt. Pleasant Library of Special Collections and Archives, Leatherby Libraries
One University Drive
Orange, CA, 92866
(714) 532 - 7711
rboyd@chapman.edu
Language of Material:
The majority of the collection is in English
Container: 1
Physical Description:
1.0 Linear feet
1 scrapbook
Date (bulk): Bulk, 1945
Date (inclusive): 1945-1985
Abstract: A scrapbook documenting the protest of the dropping of the nuclear weapons on Japan during World War II by a San Francisco
preacher during the war.
creator:
Immel '35, Wilder V., 1906-1987
Wilder V. Immel, 1906-1987, a member of the 1935 class of Chapman College, served as a Disciples of Christ minister in Sacramento,
California, affiliated with the Disciples of Christ. His ministry began on December 7, 1941, coinciding with the Japanese
attack on Pearl Harbor. After the United States dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima on August 6, Immel wrote to the
editor of the Sacramento Bee, a local perodical, protesting the bombing. His letter was published on August 13, setting off
a storm of debate over the "atomic bomb question". Immel continued in his ministry until 1971. After Immel's death in 1987,
Harmon Wilkinson donated money in his name for the Wilder and Mary Immel Scholarship, awarded to those students in Peace Studies.
Protest against World War II and the use of the atomic bomb was rare, but still a major part of American sentiment about the
war. Though the majority of Americans supported use of the bomb, particularly after the war came to an end, there were a few
who felt that the bomb would bring more ill than good. Many understood the dangerous possibilities that came with the atomic
bomb, possibilities which would come to haunt Americans from that moment forth. Others, many of them clergy such as Immel,
felt that use of the bomb against civilian populations was tantamount to the Nazi slaughter that had just been uncovered.
This is a scrapbook of newspaper clippings and letters regarding Immel, who protested the dropping of the atomic bombs during
WWII.
Box 1 Scrapbook, A Preacher Protests the Atomic Bombing 1945
24 Leaves, sleeved
Ephemera, loose, relating to Immel's protest.
The collection is arranged as it was received from the donor.
Conditions Governing Access note
This collection is open for research.
There are no restrictions on the use of this material.
[identify item], Wilder V. Immel '35 World War II Atomic Bomb Protest Scrapbook, 1945-1985 (2009.55.r), Frank Mt. Pleasant
Library of Special Collections and Archives, Chapman University, CA.
Immediate Source of Acquisition note
Gift of Clarice Friedline '52
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Friedline '52, Clarice E.
Atomic bomb -- Japan
Atomic bomb -- Moral and ethical aspects
Atomic bomb -- United States -- History
Chapman University -- Alumni and alumnae.
Hiroshima-shi (Japan) -- History -- Bombardment, 1945
World War, 1939-1945