Zachary Wone is an Australian student from Southern Cross University of Lismore, Australia, who as part of KAICIID’s “Talking Dialogue” project, has been conducting archival work in Swarthmore, USA. Zachary’s research has been centred on the World Alliance for International Friendship through the Churches (also known as the World Alliance), an ecumenical organisation founded at the beginning of the 20th century which led the condemnations of the totalitarian regimes which appeared in Europe in the interwar period.

 

“Talking Dialogue”: Detective work at the archives of the World Alliance for International Friendship through the Churches

In July, I was sent by KAICIID to conduct research at Swarthmore College’s Peace Collection archive in Philadelphia as part of the “Talking Dialogue” project.

I was assigned to look into an organisation called the World Alliance for International Friendship through the Churches. The organisation, which was founded in 1914 and continued to hold conferences until 1947, was remarkably progressive and courageous for its time in its stances on some of the most important issues of the early 20th century, including the League of Nations, the International Court of Justice but also racial equality, immigration and disarmament.

The purpose of my research was to identify and describe some of the key episodes in the formation of the organisation, with a focus on key actors as well as the Alliance’s goals and methods in their broader historical and geopolitical context.

For example, the first major meeting of the Alliance was held in Konstanz, Germany from the 1st to the 5th of August 1914. Unfortunately, the dates coincided with the outbreak of the First World War in Europe, and as a result the conference had to be cut short. This is only one example of the many  interesting parallels and connections that I discovered between the Alliance’s activities and some of the most significant historic events and trends of the early 20th. Despite its inauspicious beginnings, however, the organisation continued its peace advocacy work for more than three decades.

As this was my first time conducting archival research, I was not quite sure what to expect, but my initial concerns were soon put to rest as I found that everyone was very helpful in answering my queries and happy to share their experience and knowledge with me.

My time in the archive was quite different from any other research I had conducted. At times, it felt almost like detective work, as I pieced together the story of the organisation relying almost entirely on primary sources from the early 20th century.

Sifting through letters and original drafts handwritten and typed by the key actors and participants, I was able to feel a much more direct connection to the Alliance’s history, which allowed me to relate in a more personal way to events of the past and to gain a deeper understanding of the history of the organisation as a series of human events. I left with a renewed appreciation for the role of archives and archivists in preserving important history.

I feel privileged to have been given the opportunity by KAICIID to undertake this research and also honoured to have played a part in uncovering a largely untold but important story which I hope can now serve as an example to ours and future generations.

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