The University of Massachusetts Amherst
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Greenfield Peace Center

Greenfield Peace Center Records

1959-1973
1 box 0.5 linear feet
Call no.: MS 121

Formed in 1963, the Greenfield Peace Center viewed itself as an educational organization teaching about and advocating for world peace. Their activities included organizing peace marches, warning against the dangers of nuclear war, conducting teach-ins, campaigning against war toys, and counseling on the alternatives to the draft.

Correspondence, administrative documents, and news clippings relating to peace activism centered in Greenfield, Massachusetts and in the upper Pioneer Valley, especially by the Greenfield Community Peace Center, William Hefner, and Turn Toward Peace.

Background on Greenfield (Mass.) Peace Center

An educational organization that taught about and advocated for world peace, the Greenfield Peace Center was founded in 1963, in part by William K. Hefner, a radical pacifist who ran unsuccessfully for Congress in the 1st Massachusetts district three times from 1960 to 1964. Seeking to educate the community about peace-related issues both global and local, the group was active in Greenfield and throughout the Pioneer Valley into the early 1970s, organizing peace marches, warning against the dangers of nuclear war, conducting teach-ins, campaigning against war toys, and counseling on alternatives to the draft. Collaboration with other peace-centered organizations, like Turn Toward Peace, the Franklin County League for Political Action, and Political Action for Peace (PAX), was a regular part of the the Greenfield Peace Center’s work in promoting and advocating for a more peaceful foreign policy for the United States.

Scope of collection

The Greenfield Peace Center Records contain correspondence and administrative documents relating to peace activism centered in Greenfield, Massachusetts, and in the upper Pioneer Valley, especially by the Peace Center, William Hefner, and Turn Toward Peace. The collection also contains a large number of news clippings and letters to the editor from the Greenfield Recorder-Gazette relating to peace advocacy in the area and including some dissenting voices. A small grouping of academic anti-war articles are also included.

Inventory

Advertisements and informational materials
undated
Box 1: 1
Correspondence
1962 Aug-1964
Box 1: 2
“Don’t Quit” poem
undated
Box 1: 3
Emergency Peace Campaign sample resolution
undated
Box 1: 4
Feiffer, Jules: “Boom”
1957
Box 1: 5
Franklin County League for Peace Action Forum schedules
1965(?)
Box 1: 6
Greenfield Community Council member list and meeting agenda
1963 June
Box 1: 7
Greenfield Recorder-Gazette Letters to the Editor
1963
Box 1: 8
Greenfield Recorder-Gazette Letters to the Editor
1964
Box 1: 9
Greenfield Recorder-Gazette Letters to the Editor
1965
Box 1: 10
Greenfield Recorder-Gazette Letters to the Editor
1966
Box 1: 11
Greenfield Recorder-Gazette Letters to the Editor
1967
Box 1: 12
Greenfield Recorder-Gazette Letters to the Editor
1968
Box 1: 13
Greenfield Recorder-Gazette Letters to the Editor
undated
Box 1: 14
Greenfield Recorder-Gazette Letters to the Editor
undated
Box 1: 15
Hefner, William K.: notes
1965 Nov-1969 Nov
Box 1: 16
Hefner, William K.: platform statement
1962 Sep
Box 1: 17
Mumford, Lewis: “The Morals of Extermination”
1959 Oct
Box 1: 18
News clippings
1961-1963
Box 1: 19
News clippings
1964
Box 1: 20
News clippings
1965
Box 1: 21
News clippings
1966
Box 1: 22
News clippings
1967-1968
Box 1: 23
News Clippings
1969-1973
Box 1: 24
News clippings
undated
Box 1: 25
Political Action for Peace (PAX): advertisement
1962
Box 1: 26
Political Action for Peace (PAX): public statements
1965 Feb-Mar
Box 1: 27
Proposed programs and budgets
undated
Box 1: 28
Turn Toward Peace: policy framework
undated
Box 1: 29
Warburg, James: “Farewell to the Postwar Period”
1962 Sep
Box 1: 30
“10 Minutes for Peace” survey
undated
Box 1: 31

Administrative information

Access

The collection is open for research.

Provenance

From Irmarie Jones, 1986.

Processing Information

Processed by Nathan Giacalone, 2018.

See also:

Language:

English

Copyright and Use (More information )

Cite as: Greenfield Peace Center Records (MS
121). Special Collections and University Archives, University of Massachusetts
Amherst Libraries.

Search terms

Subjects

  • Peace movements–Massachusetts
  • Vietnam War, 1961-1975–Protest movements–Massachusetts

Contributors

  • Greenfield (Mass.) Peace
    Center [main entry]
  • Hefner, William K.

Genres and formats

  • Clippings (information artifacts)
  • Letters to the editor
Gift of Irmarie Jones, 1986

Subjects

Peace movements--MassachusettsTurn Toward PeaceVietnam War, 1961-1975--Protest movements--Massachusetts

Contributors

Hefner, William K