Papers Session: Quakers, the Holocaust, and the Cold War
Abstract for Online Program Book (maximum 150 words)
During the early years of the Cold War Quakers became increasingly engaged in diplomacy both formally and informally. In this paper presentation I will explore the relationship between Quakerism and diplomacy. I will show how individuals, motivated by religious belief, worked tirelessly to produce a “Quaker concept of international cooperation.” Indeed, over the course of the twentieth century, the tenor of Quaker organizing shifted from providing ostensibly apolitical humanitarian aid to participating in a complex web of advocacy and activism. I will argue that as Quakers worked to change the world, the world of international politics in turn changed them and their international political agendas.