Biography:

Wilbur K. Thomas (1882-1953), a Quaker born in Indiana, was executive secretary of the American Friends Service Committee from 1918 to 1929. He graduated from Friends University in 1904, served as pastor of various Quaker churches, graduated from Yale Divinity School in 1907, earned a Ph.D. from Boston University in 1914, and was a member of Boston Friends Meeting after 1909. He was director of the Carl Schurz Memorial Foundation in Philadelphia from 1930 to 1946. The collection contains biographical material, correspondence (1918-1933), speeches and writings relating to his work with the AFSC and as a pastor in Quaker communities. Topics covered include peace, civil liberties, social service, prisons, and relief activities in Russia in 1922, as well as his Ph.D. dissertation, "the Social Service of Quakerism."