Newsline: Civilian Public Service camps mark 70th anniversaries

[CoBNews <CoBNews@brethren.org>]

Newsline: Church of the Brethren News Service, News Director Cheryl 
Brumbaugh-Cayford, 800-323-8039 ext. 260, cobnews@brethren.org

Civilian Public Service camps mark 70th anniversaries

(April 5, 2012) Elgin, IL - This year marks the 70th anniversary of the opening 
of a number of the Civilian Public Service (CPS) camps where conscientious 
objectors worked during World War II. Some 15 CPS camps overseen by the 
Brethren Service Committee opened in 1942.

Under the agreement made between the National Service Board of Religious 
Objectors (NSBRO) and the US government to provide alternative service for 
conscientious objectors, the three Historic Peace Churches (Church of the 
Brethren, Mennonites, and Friends or Quakers) along with some other religious 
groups and organizations were given oversight of a number of the camps. 
However, the camps were operated by government departments or institutions like 
mental hospitals.

"Should local groups have energy and interest, this would provide an 
opportunity for local commemorations of the CPS experience and a way to reflect 
on issues of conscience today which were very active during the WWII era," 
notes Titus M. Peachey, peace education coordinator for Mennonite Central 
Committee US, who provided this list of Brethren CPS camps opened in 1942. "The 
anniversary offers a good opportunity for local history to be remembered and to 
reflect on the way we tried to protect freedom of conscience...even during the 
'good war.'"

-- Camp 24 in Williamsport, Md., operated by the Soil Conservation Service
-- Camp 27 in Tallahassee, Fla. operated by the Public Health Service
-- Camp 29 in Lyndhurst, Va., operated by the Forest Service
-- Camp 30 in Walhalla, Mich., operated by the Forest Service
-- Camp 34 in Bowie, Md., operated by the Fish and Wildlife Service
-- Camp 36 in Santa Barbara, Calif., operated by the Forest Service
-- Camp 42 in Wellston, Mich., operated by the Forest Service
-- Camp 43 in Adjuntas, P.R., operated by the Puerto Rican Reconstruction 
Administration
-- Camp 47 Sykesville, Md., at a mental hospital
-- Camp 48 in Marienville, Pa., operated by the Forest Service
-- Camp 51 in Ft. Steilacoom, Wash., at a mental hospital
-- Camp 56 in Waldport, Ore., operated by the Forest Service
-- Camp 69 in Cleveland, Ohio, at a mental hospital
-- Camp 73 in Columbus, Ohio, at a mental hospital
-- Camp 74 in Cambridge, Md., at a mental hospital

For more information about the history of Civilian Public Service and the 
experiences of conscientious objectors who took part, go to 
http://civilianpublicservice.org .

The Church of the Brethren is a Christian denomination committed to continuing 
the work of Jesus peacefully and simply, and to living out its faith in 
community. The denomination is based in the Anabaptist and Pietist faith 
traditions and is one of the three Historic Peace Churches. It celebrated its 
300th anniversary in 2008. It counts some 123,000 members across the United 
States and Puerto Rico, and has missions and sister churches in Nigeria, 
Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and India.

># # #

>For more information contact:

>Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford
>Director of News Services
>Church of the Brethren
>1451 Dundee Ave., Elgin, IL 60120
>800-323-8039 ext. 260
>cobnews@brethren.org