Here on the edgep ppt
I grew up in Oregon and although my parents weren t in the Northwest during WWII they shared some stories of what happened here during the war the shelling of Fort Stevens the internment of the Japanese and Japanese Americans the incendiary balloons that Japan launched toward the Northwest forests the beach patrols and black outs But if they knew about the Civilian Public Service camps I don t remember them sharing that information McQuiddy has written about a fascinating piece of WWII history The peace churches Friends Mennonites and Brethren went to President Franklin Roosevelt with a proposal to run camps for conscientious objectors CO s who refused to serve in the military in noncombatant roles The proposal was for the CO s to do work of national importance in camps run by the churches In the Northwest that mostly meant forestry work tree planting trail and road building and maintenance fire fighting etc McQuiddy tells the story of Angel Camp near Waldport Oregon and of the men who lived and worked there The camp 56 became a nexus for the arts One of their publications offered this mission statement These are the years of destruction we offer against them the creative act This is an amazing story and McQuiddy does a very good job of writing it I think he goes a little far in intimating that this small band of men and a few women was the seed from which grew the San Francisco renaissance and peace movement of 60 s 0870716255 This book which I picked up at the Cloud Leaf boosktore at Manzanita Beach this summer was soul quenching on so many levels I felt as if I had found my people the conscientious objectors of World War II who were also artists writers musicians craftspeople designers and actors too bad they lived in a previous generation and I couldn t get to know them personally Where are we now We need to come together again and form a new revolutionThank you Steve McQuidddy for bringing this group back to life 0870716255 The subject is covered with incredible detail but what is lost is an overall picture of how this small group of conscientious objectors fits in the broader cultural context Best for a reader with a particular rather than broad interest in the subject 0870716255 This is the kind of drill down by an outside observer that has generally been lacking in histories of Civilian Public Service one of the most important experiments in democracy that our country has ever undertaken From 1940 to 1947 some 12000 conscientious objectors to war were classified 4 E and assigned to work camps run by CPS a collaboration of the USA s three major historic peace churches Mennonites Church of the Brethren and Quakers. Sit right here on the edge of this pier McQuiddy s book is valuable because he s fascinated by the idea of CPS and conveys his interest on every page including the kind of detail that may eventually lose some readers despite his best efforts But it s also valuable because of the CPS camp he chose to profile Waldport 56 a converted CCC camp located 200 yards from the Oregon coast which as Lewis Clark s men discovered can be a miserable place to spend the winter There some 120 conchies chopped wood for fuel put out forest fires in the summer and did their best to set a good example for their suspicious neighbors. Here on the edge book series They also McQuiddy makes clear had a lot of fun The author focuses his book on the kind of CO who was emerging at this time the political on non religious objector to war and on the Waldport group s efforts to make the best of their shared internment through a Fine Arts group This group which eats up the middle third of the book published a number of poetry and literary journals that circulated among the CPS camps across the land and put on Shakespeare plays and whatnot They also partied and had sex with the few young women who graced their camp and got into scrapes with the same townsfolk their pious campmates and supervisors were trying to impress McQuiddy clearly enjoys telling of the bohemian ways of this group After all this was wartime and as anyone who has read the story of CBS news reporters in London The Murrow Boys knows war was a time when the conventional rules did not apply especially to noncombatants. Back from the edge Still it is a lot of detail and I don t want anyone diving in to think this is a scintillating read start to finish And I never really got any of the flavor of the camp outside the remnant that eschewed religion or took part in Fine Arts The opening chapters give a very good overview of COs and life at a CPS camp and in general the book is going to be a valuable record of a time that was never really that well documented outside of the participating churches 0870716255 When I started this book I was afrid it was going to be too academic It was very detailed but also very readable and interesting I learned about so many interesting ideas and events 0870716255
Here on the Edge answers the growing interest in a long neglected element of World War II history the role of pacifism in what is often called The Good War Steve McQuiddy shares the fascinating story of one conscientious objector camp located on the rain soaked Oregon Coast Civilian Public Service CPS Camp 56 As home to the Fine Arts Group at Waldport the camp became a center of activity where artists and writers from across the country focused their work not so much on the current war but on what kind of society might be possible when the shooting finally stopped.
Here on the edgem book They worked six days a week planting trees crushing rock building roads and fighting forest fires in exchange for only room and board At night they published books under the imprint of the Untide Press They produced plays art and music all during their limited non work hours with little money and few resources This influential group included poet William Everson later known as Brother Antoninus the Beat Friar violinist Broadus Erle founder of the New Music Quartet fine arts printer Adrian Wilson Kermit Sheets co founder of San Francisco s Interplayers theater group architect Kemper Nomland Jr and internationally renowned sculptor Clayton James.
Here on the edge of forever After the war camp members went on to participate in the San Francisco Poetry Renaissance of the 1950s which heavily influenced the Beat Generation of Jack Kerouac Allen Ginsberg and Gary Snyder who in turn inspired Ken Kesey and his Merry Pranksters leading the way to the 1960s upheavals epitomized by San Francisco s Summer of Love.
Book here on the edge of the world As camp members engaged in creative acts they were plowing ground for the next generation when a new set of young people facing a war of their own in Vietnam would populate the massive peace movements of the 1960s.
Here on the edgequest lyrics Twenty years in the making and packed with original research Here on the Edge is the definitive history of the Fine Arts Group at Waldport documenting how their actions resonated far beyond the borders of the camp It will appeal to readers interested in peace studies World War II history influences on the 1960s generation and in the rich social and cultural history of the West Coast Here on the Edge How a small group of World War II conscientious objectors took art and peace from the margins to the mainstream
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