To End All Wars: The Story of Conscientious Objection during WWI

My work-in-progress is about war and peace.  It asks questions related to conscience and the causes we feel committed to.  So naturally I am intrigued to hear of Adam Hochschild's book, To End All Wars.  It deals with conscientious objectors in England during The Great War.

"This is a book to make one feel deeply and painfully, and also to think hard." (Christopher Hitchens, "NY Times Book Reviewer) 

I'm thrilled to see my local library has this volume.  But I have a feeling I'll end up paying its price in overdues so I may as well just go ahead and buy my own copy.

This quote from the book trailer pretty much sums up how I feel about history and why I write historical fiction:  "We need to look at history in terms of the things that they maybe didn't tell us in high school and college." 



Another quote from the author: "What could be more glorious and hopeful than the idea that this war was going to end all wars forever?"

If only...

RESEARCH ON THE CHEAP

Months ago, Yolanda asked me to address the subject of research and money.

There are many answers to the question of funding research. I do most of mine on the cheap.

As in last weekend. After stopping in at my sister’s house in VA overnight, hubby and I drove to PA for a family wedding. The ceremony took place in NJ but Chuck’s brother lives nearby in PA and there were empty beds at his house. Voila!

We didn't go straight to the in-laws' house however. Chuck dropped me off at Swarthmore College so that I could spend the afternoon in their library and peace collection archive.

Can you say, adrenalin pumping!? I found some amazing personal letters written in 1942 and 43.  Photos, old newspaper articles.  Details I needed to make my story authentic.

When the library closed we headed to Bucks County, PA where one of my characters lives. I wanted to get the lay of the land.  Familiarize myself with names of rivers, townships, and businesses. 

We picked up calzone at Pizza Bella and proceeded to Ringing Rocks, a mysterious field of boulders that my father took our family to decades ago. I'm not sure, yet, whether it figures into my story but it was a memorable experience to balance myself on a rock and eat calzone (and to dodge the mouse who  wanted my meal). I could say much more about Ringing Rocks but follow the link above because it's been done so well already.

After Ringing Rocks we headed to Owowcow Creamery, a spot I discovered via google.  I was looking for the perfect place for my character to stop often to have ice cream with her BFF. And o wow cow!  This is it.

See how much fun research can be! Saturday, on the way to the wedding I even got to make another trip back to Owowcow.  More crrrrreamy ice-cream.  Yeeesh - the cost of research was adding up!

The wedding was a fun and perfectly beautiful affair at scenic Prawlsville Mill in Stockton, NJ.  I suspect something from this family day will find its way into a story sometime but probably not my work-in-progress. Although it was right on the Delaware River.  Hmmm, my character may want to go tubing.

On Sunday morning we drove to New Jersey where I attended a Quaker meeting.  This was a new experience for me and I liked it.  Maybe I wouldn't have loved it so much if I weren't writing about the Quaker experience, and if there hadn't been a Quaker teen to observe during the meeting, and if I weren't listening for what one hears in a Quaker meeting. But I did like it. I am liking silence more and more - there might be a little bit of Quaker in me.

Yas, also a writer, is one of my brand new experts.

The Quaker teen has agreed to answer questions for me and to read my manuscript and give feedback. He has so much in common with my character that I am feeling a little bowled over by my good fortune. (I actually met two young people who are available for Q & A!)

After Quaker meeting we enjoyed a delightful lunch with an expert (someone who knows more about the subject of my novel than I do). In this case he was a WWII era Conscientious Objector who worked in a mental hospital in place of military service.

Warren has been where my character has been and he remembers details!

I'd spoken with him on the phone several times but he knew I had more questions.  "Fire away," he said. Warren is no teenager but this does not stop him from getting things done.  And oh, he has a great big heart and a lifetime of experiences to share. After lunch he took us to his home where we sat with 4 other CO's and listened to their incredible stories of compassion during dark days of mental hospital work.

After our visit we headed south - which brings us back to the subject of financing research. There were some expenses.  Gifts for the experts who helped me. Ice Cream. Gas. Tolls. A few meals along the way. But hey, we were going to the wedding anyway!

Honestly, this is how a lot of research happens for me. I attach it to trips I’d be taking otherwise. Sometimes that doesn't feel like enough.  It’s hard to spend only 4 hours in an archive when I want to camp out there and stuff myself with research. But I think the little bites I take when I’m in the area anyway, allow for time to digest my findings in between. This was my second trip to Swarthmore. The first time I was on the way to a writer’s workshop.

I expect to stop in again, someday. On my way to somewhere else.

ON THE BANKS OF BUCK CREEK: CPS Camp # 19

Hubby and I went looking.

I thought we'd find what we were searching for beyond this barrier - up that path. It was a lovely hike in spite of gnats and stinging nettles. It led to the top of the mountain.I wanted it to take me to an old CCC turned CPS camp. (That's Civilian Conservation Corp turned Civilian Public Service). It did not. So we went back to the only other possible spot.
And discovered that this pile of rocks was not a pillar for a building but rather, someone had stacked them on a pallet to haul them away.
No wonder I did not find the large amounts of rocks I expected from the photos I'd seen! Someone has taken them.
We did find old road beds here. And saw that the power lines stopped at this site. Which seemed to indicate we'd found our spot.

Still, I wanted to find an artifact to help me know that this was the place. My hubby reached down and picked up this.
Yes, there were a few broken boards here. Not much considering the old dormitories, dininghalls, etc that used to grace this place.

Photo: Compliments of Guilford College Friends Historical Collection.

We also found this. A boxwood hidden in the undergrowth - definitely a sign that someone cared about this place at one time.

Not much else to go on.

I love old buildings. They make my heart beat faster. Or stand absolutely stock still. I wish I could've seen the foundations, at least.

But, in spite of what was missing, there were things I found - the damp mossy mountain smell that my character awoke to each morning. The stifling heat of a June day and the cooling restorative power of Buck Creek. The ever-present sound of water running over rocks, a huge moss-covered boulder where my character may have sat to ponder his choices.
I found a few broken boards and a plethora of weeds to remind me why I need to tell the story of idealistic young men who lived here. Perhaps some reader will discover that his great-grandfather served time here during World War II. The grandfather may not have chosen this place but he knew he could not choose war either.

He was a conscientious objector who wanted to do work of national importance. So the government gave him forestry work. It was tedious and backbreaking. He may have stuck it out or he might have asked for a more meaningful assignment. Perhaps he volunteered instead to be a human guinea pig for medical experiments. Or to fight forest fires in Montana. Or to work in a Virginia mental hospital.

But first he lived here (or in one of 150 other CPS camps) with like-minded individuals from various backgrounds. Here in this silent spot beside a gurgling stream he made his quiet stand against war.