WFC to conduct survey, explore how to preserve materials at U.S. college related to Reynolds, founder of WFC
Jan. 30, 2023
by Hiromi Morita, Staff Writer
The World Friendship Center (WFC), a non-profit organization based in Nishi Ward of Hiroshima, will send Junko Hattori, 60, director of the WFC, to the Peace Resource Center (PRC) at Wilmington College in Ohio, U.S., early next month. The PRC was established by Barbara Reynolds (1915-1990), an American peace activist and the founder of the WFC. Ms. Hattori will stay there for about a month and study the documents on the atomic bombing donated by Hiroshima citizens and other materials related to Ms. Reynolds with a view toward exploring measures for preserving and utilizing them.
The PRC has the Hiroshima and Nagasaki Memorial Collection, materials about the real state of the damage caused by the atomic bombings. The collection was established in 1975 at the suggestion of Ms. Reynolds. She called for cooperation from the college and Tomin Harada (1912-1999), then chairperson of the WFC. With the cooperation of the City of Hiroshima, Mr. Harada gathered peace groups and organizations, and the Hiroshima Appeal Committee (HAC) was launched. The HAC sent books and materials at the request of Ms. Reynolds. Members of the WFC also helped translate Japanese documents into English and produce slides.
Ms. Reynolds came to Hiroshima in 1951 with her husband Earle, who was a researcher at the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission (ABCC, now Radiation Effects Research Foundation). She grieved over the suffering caused by the atomic bombing and began devoting herself to anti-nuclear and peace activities. She visited nuclear weapon states and other countries with A-bomb survivors on the World Peace Pilgrimage in 1962 and 1964, communicating the horrors of the atomic bombings. She established the WFC in 1965. She continued her efforts through the PRC and others after she went back to the U.S. in 1969.
The documents and other materials sent by the citizens of Hiroshima are valuable records of the relationships between Ms. Reynolds and the A-bombed city. After the dissolution of the HAC in 1988 and the death of Ms. Reynolds, there was a period of time when exchanges between the WFC and the PRC ceased. But around 2015, the two organizations’ spirit was revived and they have been organizing materials and sharing information ever since.
Ms. Hattori is an interpreter and has been involved in organizing and researching the huge number of materials kept by the WFC and its former chairperson, Hiromu Morishita, 92. She will travel to the U.S. and check how the materials are preserved at the PRC and also investigate whether any materials missing from the WFC are still in the U.S.
At the WFC, they have already found a list of documents donated to the PRC, a manuscript of a translation of a book, letters indicating correspondence with the U.S. side, and documents related to expenses, among others. Ms. Hattori said, “From the materials, I can feel the enthusiasm of the people of half a century ago as if I could hear them breathing. How should we preserve them and hand them down to the future? We would like to share these materials between Japan and the U.S. and work on digitization of the materials, among other tasks. Shizuo Tachibana, chairman of the WFC, commented, “Preserving and utilizing materials that tell the story of the A-bombed cities after the war will lead to peace education and the sharing of them globally. It is necessary for the citizens to work on how to do this.”
(Originally published on January 30, 2023)
The World Friendship Center (WFC), a non-profit organization based in Nishi Ward of Hiroshima, will send Junko Hattori, 60, director of the WFC, to the Peace Resource Center (PRC) at Wilmington College in Ohio, U.S., early next month. The PRC was established by Barbara Reynolds (1915-1990), an American peace activist and the founder of the WFC. Ms. Hattori will stay there for about a month and study the documents on the atomic bombing donated by Hiroshima citizens and other materials related to Ms. Reynolds with a view toward exploring measures for preserving and utilizing them.
The PRC has the Hiroshima and Nagasaki Memorial Collection, materials about the real state of the damage caused by the atomic bombings. The collection was established in 1975 at the suggestion of Ms. Reynolds. She called for cooperation from the college and Tomin Harada (1912-1999), then chairperson of the WFC. With the cooperation of the City of Hiroshima, Mr. Harada gathered peace groups and organizations, and the Hiroshima Appeal Committee (HAC) was launched. The HAC sent books and materials at the request of Ms. Reynolds. Members of the WFC also helped translate Japanese documents into English and produce slides.
Ms. Reynolds came to Hiroshima in 1951 with her husband Earle, who was a researcher at the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission (ABCC, now Radiation Effects Research Foundation). She grieved over the suffering caused by the atomic bombing and began devoting herself to anti-nuclear and peace activities. She visited nuclear weapon states and other countries with A-bomb survivors on the World Peace Pilgrimage in 1962 and 1964, communicating the horrors of the atomic bombings. She established the WFC in 1965. She continued her efforts through the PRC and others after she went back to the U.S. in 1969.
The documents and other materials sent by the citizens of Hiroshima are valuable records of the relationships between Ms. Reynolds and the A-bombed city. After the dissolution of the HAC in 1988 and the death of Ms. Reynolds, there was a period of time when exchanges between the WFC and the PRC ceased. But around 2015, the two organizations’ spirit was revived and they have been organizing materials and sharing information ever since.
Ms. Hattori is an interpreter and has been involved in organizing and researching the huge number of materials kept by the WFC and its former chairperson, Hiromu Morishita, 92. She will travel to the U.S. and check how the materials are preserved at the PRC and also investigate whether any materials missing from the WFC are still in the U.S.
At the WFC, they have already found a list of documents donated to the PRC, a manuscript of a translation of a book, letters indicating correspondence with the U.S. side, and documents related to expenses, among others. Ms. Hattori said, “From the materials, I can feel the enthusiasm of the people of half a century ago as if I could hear them breathing. How should we preserve them and hand them down to the future? We would like to share these materials between Japan and the U.S. and work on digitization of the materials, among other tasks. Shizuo Tachibana, chairman of the WFC, commented, “Preserving and utilizing materials that tell the story of the A-bombed cities after the war will lead to peace education and the sharing of them globally. It is necessary for the citizens to work on how to do this.”
(Originally published on January 30, 2023)
