Mary Bye Papers 3202 Finding Aid Prepared by James R
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Mary Bye papers 3202 Finding aid prepared by James R. DeWalt. Last updated on November 09, 2018. First edition Historical Society of Pennsylvania ; 2016. Mary Bye papers Table of Contents Summary Information....................................................................................................................................3 Biography/History..........................................................................................................................................4 Scope and Contents....................................................................................................................................... 5 Administrative Information........................................................................................................................... 6 Related Materials........................................................................................................................................... 7 Controlled Access Headings..........................................................................................................................7 Collection Inventory...................................................................................................................................... 9 Activism................................................................................................................................................... 9 Native Americans...................................................................................................................................11 Peace Activism...................................................................................................................................... 12 Anti-Nuclear Activism...........................................................................................................................14 Energy.................................................................................................................................................... 18 Environment...........................................................................................................................................19 Animal Rights........................................................................................................................................ 23 Friends/Religion.....................................................................................................................................24 Personal.................................................................................................................................................. 25 - Page 2 - Mary Bye papers Summary Information Repository Historical Society of Pennsylvania Creator Bye, Mary, 1913- Title Mary Bye papers Call number 3202 Date [bulk] 1974-1991 Date [inclusive] 1969-1992, undated Extent 5.6 linear feet (; 15 boxes, 4 flat files) Language English Abstract Mary Bye (1913-2002) was a Quaker activist who lived in rural Bucks County. She became involved in the anti-war movement during the 1960s. She was also active in causes relating to social justice and the environment. During the 1970s she became involved with anti- nuclear activism, and was a principal opponent of efforts to expand the nuclear facilities at Limerick, Pennsylvania, and elsewhere. Late in life she became increasingly concerned with environmental protection, famously attempting to save a stand of oak trees near her home from destruction. Her other major causes included Native American rights and a continuing devotion to the anti-war movement. She was a Convener of the Friends Environmental Working Group, a leading figure in the Central Bucks Clean Energy Collective and the Movement for a New Society, and a supporter of numerous local and national activist organizations. The Mary Bye papers consist of 5.6 linear feet of textual documents recording Mary Bye’s activist career from 1969-1992 (bulk 1974-1991). The documents in this collection relate primarily to her - Page 3 - Mary Bye papers activity in opposition to nuclear energy and her efforts and concern for environmental protection. Of particular importance are documents relating to numerous local organizations in the form of newsletters, meeting notes, and correspondence, as well as a significant collection of documents relating to the nuclear facilities at Limerick, Pennsylvania, and the related Point Pleasant Pumping Station, a facility 30 miles to the east designed to bring water as coolant from the Delaware River to the Limerick station. Other topics include the American Indian Movement and the anti-war activities of the Plowshares Eight. Cite as: Cite as: [Indicate cited item or series here], Mary Bye papers (Collection 3202), The Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Biography/History Mary Bye was born on April 25, 1913 to Mary Maitland DuBois McCarty and Harry Downman McCarty, a prominent Baltimore physician. She graduated from Swarthmore College in 1936, where she studied mathematics and natural sciences, and later attended the School of Horticulture, now part of Temple University, where she studied landscape design. After practicing horticulture for several years, she married the watercolorist Ranulph de Bayeux Bye (1916-2003), known for his paintings of rural Bucks County scenes. They had five children: Dennis Latham (born 1942), Barbara Downman (born 1944), Richard Edwin (March 12, 1951-May 10, 1951), Stephen Gerard (born 1952) and Catherine “Katie” Maitland Castor (born 1955). Originally an Episcopalian, after marrying Ranulph Bye she became a Quaker and moved to rural Bucks County where she remained for the rest of her life. Mary and Ranulph Bye later divorced. Mary Bye became active in the anti-war movement during the Vietnam War. During her years as a peace activist, she was arrested ten times and jailed for civil disobedience after reading the names of war dead on the Capitol steps in Washington, D.C. She was detained by police while protesting a visit by Richard Nixon at Independence Hall, fired on with water hoses while protesting at a munitions plant in New Jersey, and arrested at a demonstration in support of the Harrisburg Seven, a group of anti-war activists led by Father Philip Berrigan, who were being tried in 1972 on several counts of conspiracy. She frequently opened her home to visiting peace activists and hosted community forums in support of - Page 4 - Mary Bye papers the movement. She commuted daily to Philadelphia where she worked for the Peace Committee of the Society of Friends, and was an active member of the anti-war coalition Concerned Citizens of Bucks County. She was a long-term tax resister, refusing to pay a portion of her taxes to the IRS in opposition to American military spending. Her other early causes included support of Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers, and opposition to apartheid in South Africa. She was active in the local group Movement for a New Society and its affiliated organizations. During the 1970s she became increasingly involved with anti-nuclear activism and opposition to nuclear reactor facilities. She participated in demonstrations and other direct actions at the Barnwell, South Carolina facility in 1978, and later became a determined critic and opponent of the nuclear facilities at Peach Bottom and Limerick, Pennsylvania and the related Point Pleasant Pumping Station, a facility designed to bring water as coolant from the Delaware River to Limerick. She participated in demonstrations and other actions aimed at directing attention to the dangers of nuclear energy, and consistently lobbied government officials on behalf of local anti-nuclear organizations such as Central Bucks Clean Energy Collective and Limerick Ecology Action. Concurrent with her opposition to nuclear energy, she became an advocate of energy conservation and supporter of alternative energy sources, notably solar energy, attempting to convert her home to solar photovoltaic cell technology. Later in life, Mary Bye became more broadly concerned with ecology and the environment, natural habitat, clean air and water, and animal rights. She served for several years as Convener of the Friends’ Working Group on Stewardship of the Environment (later Friends Environmental Working Group). She became a celebrity in her Bucks County community and beyond because of her 1988 attempt to save a stand of oak trees from cutting by literally hugging the tallest tree and refusing to leave. Her efforts were unavailing, and the trees were cut down. She continued to be involved in issues of social justice and peace activism, corresponding frequently with imprisoned members of the Plowshares Eight, a group of anti-war activists led by Philip Berrigan and his brother Daniel, who in 1980 damaged nuclear missile components at the General Electric Nuclear Military Facility in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. She suported several civil and human rights organizations, and opposed military intervention in Central America. She became an advocate of the American Indian Movement, supporting activists Dennis Banks, Russell Means and Leonard Peltier. Mary Bye entered a retirement home in Newtown, Bucks County sometime in 1991 or 1992. She died on November 1, 2002. Scope and Contents The Mary Bye papers comprise 5.6 linear feet of textual documents with additional flat and object files related to the political, social and environmental activities of Quaker activist Mary Bye, from 1969 to 1992 (bulk 1974-1991). The documents include correspondence, direct action planning documents,