Converted to EAD3 : Encoded Archival Description (EAD), Version 3 : Release: 1.1.1 : Release Date: 2019-12-16. Validating against latest version of schema.
Contact information: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mss.contact
Catalog Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/mm82030114
Collection material in English
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the LC Catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically.
The papers of Frederick Joseph Libby, clergyman and pacifist, were given to the Library of Congress from 1971 to 1977 by his wife, Faith Ward Libby.
Items have been transferred from the Manuscript Division to other custodial divisions of the Library. Most maps have been transferred to the Geography and Map Division. Most photographs have been transferred to the Prints and Photographs Division. All transfers are identified in these divisions as part of the Frederick Joseph Libby Papers.
Copyright in the unpublished writings of Frederick Joseph Libby in these papers and in other collections of papers in the custody of the Library of Congress has been dedicated to the public.
The papers of Frederick Joseph Libby are open to research. Researchers are advised to contact the Manuscript Reading Room prior to visiting. Many collections are stored off-site and advance notice is needed to retrieve these items for research use.
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: container number, Frederick Joseph Libby Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
The papers of Frederick Joseph Libby (1874-1970) span the years 1846-1973 with the bulk of the material concentrated between 1890 and 1970. The collection is organized into the following series: Diaries, Correspondence, Speeches and Writings, a Subject File, and Oversize.
The Diaries are the centerpiece of the papers and document over fifty years of Libby's life and career. They relate most notably to his activities as executive secretary of the National Council for Prevention of War (NCPW), a clearinghouse of organizations seeking a worldwide reduction of armaments and promoting education for peace in the wake of World War I. Libby was a founding member of the NCPW and led the organization from its inception in 1921 until his death in 1970. His war relief service in Europe in 1918-1920 fortified his pacifism, and he emerged as one of the leading peace activists in the United States. His diaries include observations on international political events and leaders, descriptions of conferences and leaders in the peace community, thoughts on pacifism, and personal activities. An entry on February 9, 1928, focused on a meeting with President Calvin Coolidge to press for a reduction in the number of United States naval warships proposed for construction, an effort that eventually proved successful. He recorded Coolidge's comments and depicted him smoking a cigar with his foot propped on the edge of a table and dropping the “g” in his “ing's.” Many of Libby's recollections for his book
The Correspondence series consists chiefly of letters received, with the exception of Libby's travel letters relating his journeys as a student, for pleasure and in war relief service. Circulated to various family members, the travel letters were intended to be collected and preserved as a journal and include descriptions of activities pertaining to his war relief service in France with the American Friends Service Committee in 1918-1919 and observations on the people and customs of Damascus and Jerusalem in the Middle East in 1903. Family correspondence includes letters exchanged between family members and close family friends. General correspondence with friends and professional colleagues is concentrated in the period 1900-1920 and largely reflects Libby's pastorate of the Union Congregational Church in Magnolia, Massachusetts, and his faculty position at Phillips Exeter Academy and briefly touches on his association with the American Friends Service Committee. Correspondents include Markham W. Stackpole and pacifists Harold Studley Gray and Leyton Richards. Copies of Libby's correspondence appear in files for the 1950s and 1960s.
The Speeches and Writings series includes articles, essays, prayers, notes, and a large group of sermons and lectures in outline form. Additional articles by Libby are in issues of the
The collection is arranged in five series:
Bound volumes.
Arranged alphabetically by name of diarist and chronologically thereunder.
Letters received and sent.
Arranged as received, with family correspondence filed alphabetically by name of person or topic and chronologically thereunder, and general correspondence filed chronologically.
Articles, essays, sermons, prayers, school papers, and notes.
Arranged alphabetically by type of material and chronologically thereunder.
Printed matter, notes, financial accounts, certificates, and newspaper clippings.
Arranged alphabetically by topic, type of material, or name of organization and chronologically thereunder.
Broadsides, certificates, ship's papers, and maps.
Arranged and described according to the series, containers, and folders from which the items were removed.