Interchurch World Movement records, 1919 -- 1962

Collection context

Creator:
Interchurch World Movement of North America
Abstract:
The Interchurch World Movement was founded under the Foreign Mission Board and allied agencies to unite and coordinate Protestant churches and their programs in North America. The collection includes a manuscript of the Movement's history, correspondence, reports, minutes, pamphlets, and notes.
Extent:
0.75 linear feet (0.75 linear feet; 2 boxes)
Language:
English .
Scope and content:

This collection contains the records of the Interchurch World Movement(IWM) including pamphlets, typed and handwritten notes regarding the reorganization of the Movement, budget proposals, reports and minutes, a survey of the IWM in Japan, newspaper clippings, and correspondences arranged chronologically to A.L. Warnshuis from various board members of the Interchurch World Movement. The collection also contains This series an unbound ten-chapter manuscript documenting the history of the Interchurch World Movement, and correspondence to and from Barbara Ann Griffis, the Ecumenical Librarian at Union Theological Seminary in 1962, regarding the manuscript.

Biographical / historical:

The Interchurch World Movement (IWM) began on December 17, 1918, when 135 representatives of the Home and Foreign Missions Boards and allied agencies gathered for a conference under the aegis of the Foreign Mission Board of the Presbyterian Church of the United States. The purpose of this conference was to discuss the feasibility of a united Christian campaign. The Movement was a direct response to the end of World War I; initial considerations for this movement were begun by the Executive Committee of the Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church days after the signing of the armistice between the Allies and Germany. The purpose of the Movement was to unite Protestant churches in North America and coordinate Christian services and programs. In 1919, the Interchurch World Movement formed the Interchurch Department of Industrial Relations in order to take an active role in the Great Steel Strike of 1919-1920.The Industrial Relations department was specifically concerned with objectively documenting and studying industrial disputes and their social consequences. On October 5, 1919 the Interchurch Department of Industrial Relations formed a Commission of Inquiry to investigate the steel strike because of concerns from Protestant church leaders that the public was misinformed about the basic facts surrounding the steel strike. In 1920, the Movement published its findings in a book titled, Report on the Steel Strike of 1919, which countered popular views of the steel strike and highlighted the poor wages and working conditions of steel workers. This report and its supplementary volume are considered to have influenced U.S. Steel's decision to improve workers' hours and wages. On May 10th, 1920 at the General Committee Meeting in Cleveland, a sub-committee was appointed and charged with the complete reorganization of Interchurch World Movement in order to curtail expenses and decrease the Movement's growing debt. However, by the end of 1920, the Interchurch World Movement was disbanded and its assets liquidated due to financial difficulties.

Access and use

Restrictions:

This collection is open for research.

Onsite storage.

Terms of access:

Some material in this collection may be protected by copyright and other rights. Information concerning copyright, fair use, and reproduction requests can be consulted at Columbia's Copyright Advisory Office.

Preferred citation:

Item description, WAB: Interchurch World Movement Records, 1919-1962, series #, box #, folder #, The Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary, Columbia University in the City of New York.

Location of this collection:
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Contact:
burke@library.columbia.edu