Levi T. Pennington was a prominent Quaker leader in the early 20th century and a long-time Lyceum and Chataqua lecturer, spreading his message of peace. Pennington was president of Pacific College, Newberg, Oregon, (now George Fox University) from 1911 to 1941. His enthusiasm for the Quaker peace stance influenced many college students to volunteer time in Europe for war relief work after the First World War. Many of his lectures and and pamphlets address the topics of temperance during the prohibition era.
As a national Quaker leader much of the material reflects Pennington's communications with various yearly meetings. Emphasis on Northwest Indian fishing rights and the Vietnam War draft issues comprise much of Pennington's interaction with the American Friends Service Committee in the mid-1960s and early 1970s. A close friendship with former President Herbert Hoover is also reflected in the correspondence. In his later years Dr. Pennington compiled and published a number of writings including short stories, poems and longer fiction.
This collection consists primarily of correspondence but also includes addresses, notebooks, diaries, writings and manuscripts (both published and unpublished), scrapbooks, minutes, reports, and some photographs. Materials include information about efforts to minimize war, revealing Pennington's interaction with organizations such as the American Friends Service Committee, the Oregon Peace Corps, Friends Forward Movement, Friends World Conference or the Friends Committee on National Legislation. There are also a number of guidebooks and other materials relating to his trip to England.
Collection is available for research