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Mission to Palestine on Behalf of the American Friends Service Council and Friends Service Council of London

 Collection
Identifier: HC.MC-975-07-142

Scope and Contents

Edgar B. Castle's personal copy of his bound typescript account of the April 1948 mission to Palestine on behalf of the Friends Service Council (London) and the American Friends Service Committee. Likely the only copy, the volume includes an itinerary of the mission as well as a brief retrospective of the events in Palestine between early May 1948 and the report's finalization on October 3, 1948. Newspaper clippings, a pass from the Secretary-General of the Arab League, cablegrams, and a photograph of the three Quakers involved in the mission are inserted throughout.

Dates

  • Creation: 1948

Creator

Limitations on Accessing the Collection

The collection is open for research use.

Copyright and Rights Information

Standard Copyright Law Applies (U.S. Title 17)

Biographical / Historical

Edgar Bradshaw Castle (1897-1973) was a British Quaker professor. He was Headmaster of Leighton Park School between 1928 and 1947, Professor of Education at the University of Hull between 1948 and 1961, and Visiting Professor in the University College of Makerere, Uganda, between 1961 and 1965.

Between April 15 and May 4, 1948, James G. Vail, Kendall G. Kimberland, and Edgar B. Castle traveled through Cairo, Beirut, Damascus, Amman, and Jerusalem to investigate Jewish and Palestinian tensions at the conclusion of the British Mandate. Castle represented the Palestine Watching Committee of the Friends Service Council (London), Vail represented the American Friends Service Committee, and Kimberland was a resident of Cairo who had experience with the American Friends service Committee and a knowledge of Arabic. The group had three objectives: to examine the possibility of practical service that would facilitate further reconciliation, to investigate the feasibility of a truce in the Old City of Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives, and to press for international action in the immediate appointment of a governor for Jerusalem and a neutral police force.

Extent

0.1 Linear Feet (1 volume)

Language

English

Arabic

French

Overview

Edgar B. Castle's personal copy of his bound typescript account of the April 1948 mission to Palestine on behalf of the Friends Service Council (London) and the American Friends Service Committee.

Arrangement

1 volume

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Purchase by Quaker & Special Collections from George Hancock Rare Books, 2024.

Related Materials

Khalil A. Totah and Eva Marshall Totah papers (HC.MC.1210)

Daniel and Emily Oliver papers (HC.MC.1134)

Processing Information

Processed by Anna Smith; completed April, 2024.

Title
Mission to Palestine on Behalf of the American Friends Service Council and Friends Service Council of London
Author
Anna Smith
Date
April, 2024
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

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