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Floyd Wilfred Schmoe papers and oral history interviews, 1903-1999

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Schmoe, F. W. (Floyd Wilfred), 1895-2001
Title
Floyd Wilfred Schmoe papers and oral history interviews
Dates
1903-1999 (inclusive)
Quantity
approximately 16.21 cubic feet (14 boxes, including 3 audio cassettes, and 2 vertical files and 1 oversized folder)
Collection Number
0496
Summary
Papers of a writer, ranger, and relief worker who helped build houses in both Japan (after World War II) and Korea (after the Korean War)
Repository
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections
University of Washington Libraries
Box 352900
Seattle, WA
98195-2900
Telephone: 2065431929
Fax: 2065431931
speccoll@uw.edu
Access Restrictions

Open to all users.

Request at UW

Languages
English
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Biographical Note

Floyd Schmoe was born in Kansas in 1895 and came to the University of Washington to study forestry in 1916. He graduated from Syracuse University in 1921 and returned to the University of Washington for graduate study. From 1918 to 1919, he volunteered with the American Friends Service Committee and American Red Cross for war relief in Europe. He was a ranger and park naturalist at Mount Rainier National Park from 1922 to the 1930s, and an instructor in Forestry at the University of Washington from 1935 to 1942. During World War II, he assisted Japanese Americans who were evacuated. Through his affiliation with the American Friends Committee, Mr. Schmoe worked closely with Bob O'Brien of the UW faculty to place the 550 Japanese on the UW in Quaker colleges at the time of the evacuation. He regularly visited the camps and worked to get jobs and sponsors for the Japanese to get out of the camps. He explained that the Quakers were more radical in their activites than the more middle-of-the-road Council of Churches. After the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Schmoe organized a relief committee and traveled to Japan. From 1949 to 1953 he operated Houses for Hiroshima, constructing housing for survivors of the atomic bomb. From 1943 to 1956 he served in Korea, operating Houses For Korea under the U.N. Korean Rehabilitation Agency and worked in Port Said, Egypt, in 1956. He wrote numerous articles and books including "A Year In Paradise" 1959, "For Love Of Some Islands, memoirs of some years spent in the San Juan Islands of Puget Sound" 1964, "What is man: that Thou art mindful of him" 1970, and "Japan Journey" 1950.

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Content Description

Papers include Schmoe's writings on nature, philosophy, pacificism, autobiography; also records regarding his projects building houses in Hiroshima after World War II and houses in Korea after the Korean War. There are also three tape recorded interviews with Schmoe.

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

Restrictions may exist on copying, quotation, or publication. Contact Special Collections, University of Washington Libraries for details.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

Organized into 5 accessions.

  • Accession No. 0496-004, Floyd Wilfred Schmoe interview, before 1972
  • Accession No. 0496-008, Floyd Wilfred Schmoe papers, 1903-1993
  • Accession No. 0496-009, Floyd Wilfred Schmoe interview, 1996
  • Accession No. 0496-010, Floyd Wilfred Schmoe papers, 1950-1999
  • Accession No. 0496-011, Floyd Wilfred Schmoe papers, 1997

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Detailed Description of the Collection

 

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Housing--Effect of wars on
  • Korean War, 1950-1953
  • Korean War, 1950-1953--Civilian relief
  • Korean War, 1950-1953--Refugees
  • Pacifism
  • Personal Papers/Corporate Records (University of Washington)
  • Quakers--Washington (State)--Seattle
  • World War, 1939-1945
  • World War, 1939-1945--Civilian relief
  • World War, 1939-1945--Refugees

Personal Names

  • Flett, J. B. (John B.)
  • Schmoe, F. W. (Floyd Wilfred), 1895-2001--Archives
  • Schmoe, F. W. (Floyd Wilfred), 1895-2001--Interviews

Geographical Names

  • Hiroshima-shi (Japan)
  • Korea
  • Nagasaki-shi (Japan)

Other Creators

  • Personal Names

    • Bruner, Catherine (creator)
    • Bruner, David (creator)
    • Bryant, Alice Franklin, 1900-1977 (creator)
    • Bullitt, Stimson (creator)
    • Ikeda, Yukihiko (creator)
    • Kawahara, Junko (creator)
    • Kawahara, Yoko (creator)
    • Magnuson, Warren G. (Warren Grant), 1905-1989 (creator)
    • Runnings, John (creator)
    • Ullman, Liv (creator)
    • Vaaja, Emere (creator)
    • Vining, Elizabeth Gray, 1902-1999 (creator)
    • Yamamoto, Hatsue (creator)
    • Yamamoto, Yuzo (creator)

    Corporate Names

    • American Friends Service Committee (creator)
    • Harper & Row, Publishers (creator)
    • KCTS (Television station : Seattle, Wash.) (creator)
    • University Monthly Meeting (Society of Friends : Seattle, Wash.) (creator)


2007 (Last modified: 9/14/2023)

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