Survey of AFSC Archives on Korea (1938-2000) Created by Elizabeth Douglas ’13 in Spring 2012 The AFSC in Korea: A Brief Summary The American Friends Service Committee’s (AFSC) archival on Korea first begin in 1938 when Gilbert Bowles travelled to Japanese occupied Korea. The AFSC did not begin work in the country until 1946, when it began to provide aid to the devastated country. Through the rest of the 1940s and 1950s, the AFSC provided relief to victims of both World War II and the Korean War. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, the AFSC worked to expose the human rights violations perpetrated by the South Korean government. From since the 1960s, the AFSC organized various conferences and seminars on the possibility of reunifying North and South Korea. Throughout this time, AFSC delegates visited the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea; each time they toured the country, they wrote detailed reports describing their experiences and observations. The AFSC’s work continues into the 21st Century, and the archives are updated to reflect the AFSC’s current projects. How to Use this Survey: The following survey was designed to give a brief overview of the AFSC’s collection of materials on Korea. I have first listed the contents of the AFSC reference files on Korea and then the individual boxes chronologically. Within in each year is a list of relevant boxes and their pertinent contents. As the AFSC’s archives on Korea span a considerable period, there is much variance in organization systems. Although I did not list the names of every folder in every box, I gave a brief summary of relevant materials in each box; these summaries are not comprehensive but merely give an overview of the material. I have also estimated the amount of material in each folder (although, I do not guarantee with any degree of certainty that these estimates are very accurate). After the chronological section of the survey, I have included a separate section listing the photographs that the AFSC archive has. You can also search the document for specific places, people or AFSC projects. AFSC Archives on Korea (1938-2000) (about 69 boxes = approximately 34.5 cubic feet) General File About Korea (located in the reference filing cabinets) I. Folder: AFSC –For. Serv. –Korea. (200 sheets: selected contents below) 1. Item: Press release announcing AFSC’s involvement in the new American Relief for Korea, dated November 7th, 1950. (typed; 2 pages) 2. Item: Statement by Consultative Committee on Foreign Affairs defending AFSC’s stance to remain netural in conflict in Korea, dated November 22nd, 1950. (typed; 3 pages) 3. Item: American Relief for Korea pamphlet explaining humanitarian situation, intervention by ARK, and what the public can do to help. (typed; 1 pamphlet). 1 of 14 4. Item: “Report on a Mission to Korea, 16th November -4th December, 1952” by Jonathan Rhoads and Lewis Waddilove. (typed; 32 pages) 5. Item: Press release announcing AFSC’s decision to start medical relief work in South Korea in the begining of 1953 –also includes brief description of AFSC aid work around the globe. (typed; 4 pages). 6. Item: “Report of Trip Made by Frank and Patricia Hunt to Cholla Pukto Province, July 29 to August 6, 1953.” (typed; 8 pages) 7. Item: “Preliminary Report of the Medical Team in the Kunsan Hospital” by Ingle Wright, dated Oct. 30, 1953. (typed; 5 sheets) 8. Item: “Report on Korea from Louis W. Schneider,” dated November 11, 1954. (typed; 7 pages) 9. Item: “Korea Revisted” by Herbet Bowles and Don Bundy: report dated December 1958 describing their trip to Korea nine months after the Friends Service Unit’s in Kunsan ended. (typed; 22 pages) 10. Item: “Report on Visit to Korea by Robert & Gladys Gray,” dated March 1959. (typed; 17 pages) 11. Item: Press release expressing support of political prisoners on trial in Korea for criticizing the Park government, dated June 24th, 1976. (typed; 2 pages). 12. Item: Press release arguing for promoting the reunification of Korea and condemning the oppressive government of South Korea, dated September 13th, 1979. (typed; 2 pages) 13. Item: “Information Packet: 1980 Edition –The US and Korea” published/distributed by AFSC. (typed; 20 sheets) 14. Item: “Resistance Builds in South Korea: a report by Maud and David Easter,” dated May 27th, 1980. (typed; 18 pages) 15. Item: “Report of the American Friends Service Committee Delegation to North Korea –September 2-13, 1980” by Maud Easter, David Easter, and Steve Thiermann. (typed; 13 pages) 16. Item: “AFSC Perspectives on Korea,” dated 1984. (typed; 37 pages) 17. Item: “Impression and Reactions: AFSC Delegation to North Korea, September 18-October 2, 1984” by Roland Warren, Jim Harvey, Robert Levenbach, and Dorothy Ogle. (typed; 7 pages) 18. Item: “Report on a Trip to North and South Korea, June 1-June 30, 1991” by Joseph Elder and Edward Reed, dated August 1991. (typed; 32 pages) 1938: I. Box: General Files, 1938, Foreign Service: France to Refugee Services (Staff and Volunteers) Relevant Contents: 1 folder (typed; 3 sheets) with letter from Gilbert Bowles describing his trip to Japanese-controlled Korea. 1946: I. Box: Foreign Service, 1946, Country –Japan (L) to Country –Norway (Z). 2 of 14 Relevant Contents: 1 folder (typed; 10 sheets) including correspondence and reports and LARA, and the relationship between the work of the US army and LARA. 1947: I. Box: Foreign Service, 1947, Country –Korea to Country –Poland (I). Relevant Contents: 2 folders (typed and handwritten; 60 sheets) including correspondence/reports about LARA and a report by Stewart Meacham entitled “Report on Korean Labor.” 1948: I. Box: Foreign Service, 1948, Country –Japan (Japan Friends) to (Visitors). Relevant Contents: 1 folder (typed; 10 sheets & 2 photographs) including correspondence regarding donation of medical supplies to Korea and 2 duplicate photographs of Korean medical personnel with donated supplies. 1950: I. Box: Foreign Service, 1950, Country –Japan (Personnel –E. Sharpless) to Country – Norway Relevant Contents: 4 folders (typed; 40 sheets) including correspondence/reports about growing tensions between communists and anti-communists in the country, and proposal for creation of American Council of Voluntary Agencies to provide relief in Korea. 1951: I. Box: Foreign Service, 1951, Country –Japan (Numbered Letters to JF) to Country – Korea (Gov’t). Relevant Contents: 10 folders (typed and handwritten; 0.2 feet3 of paper) including files about various relief projects and correspondence describing the situation on the ground (letters’ tone indicate general sympathy lies with the South Koreans). II. Box: Foreign Service, 1951, Country –Korea (Individuals) to Displace Persons Services (Coms. & Orgs. –Standing Conf. of Vol. Agencies Coop. with IRP). Relevant Contents: 6 folders (typed; 60 sheets) including personnel files, reports/correspondence about relief work and shipping needed supplies to Korea, reports about refugee situation in the country. 1952: I. Box: Foreign Service, 1952, Country –Jordan to Country –Korea (Reports). Relevant Contents: 17 folders (typed; 0.25 feet3 of paper) including files about various relief projects, personnel files, and letters of appreciation, commentaries about the situation on the ground including a report by J. Rhodes and L. Waddilove entitled “Report on a Mission to Korea, 16th November -4th December, 1952.” II. Box: Foreign Service, 1952, Country –Korea (Supplies, Reports…) to Displaced Persons Services (Chinese Refugees in Hong Kong) Relevant Contents: 2 folders (typed; 200 sheets) including files about relief shipments (including charts detailing supplies). 3 of 14 1953: I. Box: Foreign Service, 1953, Country –Jordan (STA) to Country –Korea (General – Dong Surveys & Cave Interviews). Relevant Contents: 16 folders (typed and handwritten; 0.25 feet3 of paper) including files about various organizations running relief projects, survey/interviews of refugees describing their living conditions and current needs. II. Box: Foreign Service, 1953, Country –Korea (General Welfare) to (Supplies – Medical). Relevant Contents: 33 folders (typed and handwritten; 0.5 feet3 of paper) including correspondence to and from Korea, personnel files, files on the various relief projects with which the AFSC was involved in Korea, publicity materials, reports on conditions on the ground, reports about supply shipments. 1954: I. Box: Foreign Service, 1954, Country –Korea (Coms. & Orgs. –K.A.V.A.). Relevant Contents: 12 folders (typed; 100 sheets) including files about various organizations running relief projects and publicity materials. II. Box: Foreign Service, 1954, Country –Korea (Coms. & Orgs. –Save the Children Fund) to (Welfare Program –Refugees, Kunsan Camp). Relevant Contents: 49 folders (typed; 0.5 feet3 of paper) including files about various relief projects (including aid to war widows and supplying medical clinics), correspondence to and from Korea, publicity materials, finance and budget reports, and personnel files. III. Box: Foreign Service, 1954, Country –Korea (Welfare Program –Refugees, Oku Gu Camps) to International Centers (World Peace Council). Relevant Contents: 7 folders (typed; 20 sheets) including files about various relief projects (including aid to war widows and refugees). IV. Box: General Files 1954, Foreign Service (China to Refugees & Migration) Relevant Contents: 1 folder (typed) including information about general administration of foreign service in Korea. 1955: I. Box: Foreign Service, 1955, Country –Jordan (STA –Minutes Staff Meetings) to Country