National Public Radio showcases Conscientious Objectors
NPR’s evening news program, “All things Considered” presented a story on December 30 about CO’s work in mental hospitals during WW II. Groups specifically mentioned included the Church of the Brethren as those who chose not to bear arms during the conflict but accepted alternative service, specifically in the nation’s mental hospitals. Out of 10 million draftees, 40,000 refused to serve in the armed forces. Of that number 3,000 were assigned to 62 mental hospitals in the US. Most were Brethren, Mennonite and Quakers.
The conditions they found in the hospitals were appalling and many of the regular attendants treated the inmates like animals... or worse. The CO’s remembered the filth and smell of the places. The CO’s tried to show the patients and attendants the difference between violence and force. They may have to restrain a person but not beat them in the process.
Near the end of the war the Pacifists were worried that when the war was over they would be gone and nobody would be there for the inmates. So they came up with a plan. A Quaker, Charlie Lord, began to secretly take photographs of the conditions inside the institution where he worked. They met with newspapers describing the conditions in the mental hospitals.
NPR says one of the first people to see the photographs was Eleanor Roosevelt. She was finally convinced they were authentic and from a local hospital and began writing to Government health officials and journalists.
The biggest break came in May 1948 when LIFE Magazine published the photographs and ran the story. The immediate reaction from people was that these were photos from the Nazi concentration camps. They couldn’t believe that Americans treated people this way. A national uproar was created. Legislation was passed and the hospitals began to use humane treatment for mental patients in state hospitals.
While good men were fighting overseas against oppression, Conscientious Objectors were fighting against inhumanity here on the home front. If you want to see more about this story log on to www.NPR.org and type in Conscientious Objectors.
If you have a story about CO’s that you would like to share in the Newsletter, Please send it to me at crosbygm@juno.com or Gil Crosby, 1174 N. Elm Ct., East Peoria, IL 61611
The conditions they found in the hospitals were appalling and many of the regular attendants treated the inmates like animals... or worse. The CO’s remembered the filth and smell of the places. The CO’s tried to show the patients and attendants the difference between violence and force. They may have to restrain a person but not beat them in the process.
Near the end of the war the Pacifists were worried that when the war was over they would be gone and nobody would be there for the inmates. So they came up with a plan. A Quaker, Charlie Lord, began to secretly take photographs of the conditions inside the institution where he worked. They met with newspapers describing the conditions in the mental hospitals.
NPR says one of the first people to see the photographs was Eleanor Roosevelt. She was finally convinced they were authentic and from a local hospital and began writing to Government health officials and journalists.
The biggest break came in May 1948 when LIFE Magazine published the photographs and ran the story. The immediate reaction from people was that these were photos from the Nazi concentration camps. They couldn’t believe that Americans treated people this way. A national uproar was created. Legislation was passed and the hospitals began to use humane treatment for mental patients in state hospitals.
While good men were fighting overseas against oppression, Conscientious Objectors were fighting against inhumanity here on the home front. If you want to see more about this story log on to www.NPR.org and type in Conscientious Objectors.
If you have a story about CO’s that you would like to share in the Newsletter, Please send it to me at crosbygm@juno.com or Gil Crosby, 1174 N. Elm Ct., East Peoria, IL 61611
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