Frances Crowe Papers, 1960-2008 (ongoing)

The records of the American Friends Service Committee of Western Massachusetts are in the Special Collections of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

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Biographical Note

Born Carthage, Missouri, 1919; graduated Stephens College (Columbia, MO), 1939; Syracuse University in 1941; graduate work, Columbia University and New School for Social Research. Married Thomas Crowe, 1945, and moved to Northampton, MA; three children. Active in the Society of Friends and the American Friends' Service Committee, particularly the Peace and Social Concerns Committee. Became Western Massachusetts Representative for the AFSC in 1980s. During the Vietnam War she worked as a draft counselor. In the 1960s, she founded the Northampton chapter of Women's International League for Peace and Freedom; the Sane Nuclear Policy Committee; and the Valley Peace Center in Amherst, MA. Also a founding member of the Traprock Peace Center, Deerfield, MA, and the Committee to End Apartheid, Springfield, MA. A peace activist since the bombing of Hiroshima, Crowe has participated in numerous protests which have led to arrests, trials, and imprisonment.

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Scope and Contents of the Collection

Papers document over twenty years of social activism in the Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts, including activities of local chapters of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, Women Against the War, War Resisters' League, and Amnesty International. Extensive records from Crowe's work as the western Massachusetts representative for American Friends' Service Committee (1970s-90s), and numerous subject files on a variety of causes. Writings, memorabilia, and printed material document her trip to China in 1974.

NOTE: The container list for this collection is available in the Sophia Smith Collection. Please contact us to request a copy.

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