NOTE: The numbers cited in parentheses, e.g. 1:5, refer the researcher to the Series#:Folder# in which that name/topic will be found.
INTRODUCTION
The Joseph Gruendler Papers are a highly specialized collection that focuses primarily on draft counseling efforts, draft resistance, and conscientious objection during the Vietnam Conflict. Gruendler worked as a draft counselor and was active in anti-war efforts in Greensboro. The collection consists mostly of printed materials such as newsletters, pamphlets, booklets, handbooks, and brochures with only a scant amount of correspondence. Researchers interested in conscientious objection, the draft, military procedures, and anti-war activities will find this collection useful.
Arrangement: The Joseph Gruendler Papers are organized into fifteen series according to subject and document type. The series are: American Friends Service Committee, Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors, Conscientious Objectors, Conscientious Objector Service, Correspondence, Directories, Greensboro Peace Center, Legal, Miscellaneous, Peace and Freedom Through Non-Violent Action, Printed, Southern Student Organizing Committee, United States Army, War Tax Resistance Movement, and Winnipeg Committee to Assist War Objectors. There are nine books which were removed and placed in the book collection. The titles are in the appendix at the end of the finding aid.
Provenance: This collection was donated by Joseph Gruendler in 1987 and assigned accession number 1987.157.1.
Processing: The processing of this collection was begun by Tim Cole, and the finding aid was completed by Christine Dumoulin, Archives Assistant, in June 2004.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Joe Gruendler was born on February 2, 1941, in Madison, Wisconsin. He earned a Ph.D. in engineering from the University of Wisconsin prior to coming to North Carolina. In 1968, he came to Greensboro to teach at North Carolina A&T. He was an anti-war activist and was involved in several activities, including leafleting around Greensboro, organizing demonstrations, and attending national anti-war demonstrations. He was also active in draft counseling, working with students at A&T and others who objected to military conscription. Gruendler was also involved with the Greensboro Peace Center, a local place where like-minded people could gather and organize. After the Vietnam conflict, he received a second Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and continued to teach at NC A&T until 2004.
Biographical Sources: The biographical information was gathered from the temporary finding aid and an interview conducted by Howard Hicks. Information was also gathered from an informal phone interview with Gruendler on June 24, 2004.
SCOPE & CONTENT NOTE
The types of materials in this collection are primarily printed items, such as bulletins, broadsides, manuals, handbooks, flyers, newsletters, and pamphlets. The bulk of the items relate to national organizations providing support and publications for conscientious objectors and draft resistance, draft education, non-violent resistance, and war tax avoidance with some materials from local groups. National organizations include the American Friends Service Committee, the Central Committee for Conscientious Objection (CCCO), and the Conscientious Objector Service. Local organizations include the Greensboro Peace Center and the Southern Student Organizing Committee.
There are numerous items pertaining to draft counseling, which entailed educating potential draftees on their options pertaining to military service. Educational materials for draftees include publications explaining draft procedures including medical reports for draft registrants (2:13), the draft lottery (2:20), draft laws (8:3), and addresses for the Armed Forces Examining and Entrance Stations (2:2). Materials for draft counselors include a circular for draft counselor training sessions (1:2), a draft counselors manual (2:10), and a draft law primer (8:2).
Several series contain materials on conscientious objection by reasons of religious or moral beliefs. A May 15, 1972 letter from Joseph Gruendler to Senator B. Everett Jordan states that he will no longer carry a draft card or cooperate with the Selective Service (5:1). Series three has pamphlets printed by different religious groups stating their position on war and conscription. The bulk are Christian based, such as “The Cross Before the Flag” (3:14), Catholics and Conscientious Objection (3:9), and Christian Pacifism (3:10). There is also a pamphlet on the Jewish perspective called “Can a Jew be a Conscientious Objector?” (3:8). Non-Religious publications include a newspaper discussing immigration to Canada (11:16), and a pamphlet “Services to Conscientious Objectors (2:18).
The anti-war materials consist of articles, a poster, flyers, circulars, and pamphlets published by the CCCO and other institutions. A newspaper from the Greensboro Peace Center focuses on the economic impact of war and gives ways for conscientious objectors to protest the war by economic means (7:4). A pamphlet called “The Air War and Its Costs” emphasizes the destruction and violence against the Vietnamese people by air raids (11:6), and an information packet with two articles documenting the horrors of war (1:2).
Series fourteen is of particular interest in that it contains materials on the war tax resistance movement. Participants refused to pay taxes that supported the conflict. There is a booklet on war tax resistance, what it means, and how to legally avoid paying taxes (14:1), a pamphlet on the war tax refusal campaign (14:14), and income tax refusal (14:5).
There are also nine books including a guide to the draft by activists Arlo Tatum and Joseph S. Tuchinsky, Handbook for Conscientious Objectors, guides about non-violence, and Ain’t Gonna Pay for No More War, a book about war tax resistance. (Filed separately. See appendix)
SERIES DESCRIPTIONS
1. American Friends Service Committee. 10 folders (12 items). 1950-1970.
This series contains items relating to different activities of the committee, especially education relating to the different aspects of the war, such as draft counseling, moral considerations, and conscientious objection. Several materials came from the south eastern regional office in High Point, NC. There is a circular announcing various draft counselor training sessions (1:1), a pamphlet on the responsibility of High Schools to properly inform students of the draft (1:8), and an information packet containing articles on the de-humanization of war and the military (1:2).
2. Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors. 20 folders (20 items). ca. 1968-1972.
The materials in this series relate to draft counseling and inductees on means of legally avoiding military service. The CCCO was a national, Quaker-affiliated organization that worked primarily with those facing pre-induction or induction into the military. The organization trained draft counselors to assist inductees on means of legally avoiding military service. There is a Draft Counselors Manual, containing information on draft procedures, the draft lottery, selective service classifications, and deferments (2:10). There is also The Draft Counselor’s newsletter (2:11), and publications for potential draftees, such as a fact sheet on the Vietnam draft (2:6), Compulsory work for Conscientious Objectors (2:9), and information on the draft lottery (2:20).
3. Conscientious Objectors. 20 folders (20 items). ca. 1965-1972.
This series contains items expressing views and providing education about conscientious objection to war. The bulk of these materials relate to religious groups and their statements on war and the Vietnam conflict. There is a booklet which gives options for alternative service as a non-combatant (3:1) and a handbook for conscientious objectors (3:4). The handbook gives information about what conscientious objection is, legal matters such as potential prosecution, and obtaining non-combatant status. Several of the pamphlets include views from the Catholic (3:9), Methodist (3:8), Baptist (3:7), and the Unitarian Universalist Churches (3:19) opposing war.
4. Conscientious Objector Service. 1 folder (1 item).
The item in this series is a guide to alternative service published by the National Interreligious Service Board for Conscientious Objectors. It provides information on finding alternative service jobs, hiring procedures, the CO on the job, foreign placement, and umbrella agencies.
5. Correspondence. 2 folders (7 items). 1970-1972.
Folder one contains letters pertaining to Joseph Gruendler. There is one letter from the CCCO inviting him to attend a seminar on the Selective Service (5:1). There are also two interesting letters from Gruendler protesting the war. The first one is to Senator Everett B. Jordan protesting U.S. involvement in Indo-China and a letter to the local selective service board, stating that he “can no longer in conscience cooperate with the selective service system” (5:1).
There is also a memo from the Bach-Mai Hospital Emergency Relief Fund asking for donations for medical assistance (5:2). The hospital was destroyed after a bombing raid by American forces.
6. Directories. 1 folder (1 item). 1971.
The item in this series is a National Draft Counseling directory listing the various draft counseling centers throughout the United States. The centers listed provided information and aid for free.
7. Greensboro Peace Center. 6 folders (11 items). 1972-1973.
The Greensboro Peace Center was a small organization of volunteers fundamentally against war activities. They provided draft counseling, information on conscientious objection, organized leafleting and anti-war marches. In this series are several newsletters discussing various aspects of the war as well as information on center meetings (7:4). There is also a December 15, 1972, letter that proposes a determination to “speak out and denounce the administration’s criminal venture in Asia” and an undated letter from Joe Gruendler proposing war tax resistance (7:2). There is also a pamphlet about the peace center and what it stands for (7:6).
8. Legal. 3 folders (3 items). ca. 1970.
This series contains two pamphlets on draft law (8:1-2) and an unidentified organizational document with an executive order to set up a new system (8:3).
9. Miscellaneous. 1 folder (4 items). ca. 1970.
This series contains a medical questionnaire given to potential draftees prior to conscription, an article on the experiences of three draft non-registrants, and a recommended list of reading materials for those interested in conscientious objection.
10. Peace and Freedom Through Non-Violent Action. 1 folder (1 item).
This item is a magazine called Win published by the organization Peace and Freedom Through Non-Violent Action. It contains an article called the “Manifesto for Nonviolent Revolution,” by George Lakey, a list of local War Resisters League groups, and a section on conscientious objectors who were imprisoned.
11. Printed Materials. 23 folders (30 items). ca. 1968-1970.
This series contains booklets, manuals, pamphlets, and newsletters relating to the draft, non-violence, immigration to Canada, and conscientious objection. A booklet outlines procedures for potential draftees meeting with their local draft board (11:1) and a pocket manual explains different aspects of draft resistance (11:17). There is also a training manual for non-violent responses (11:11) and guidelines for high school draft education (11:21). Other materials include a manual for draft age immigrants to Canada (11:10), a flyer called “The Air War and Its Costs” (11:6), and a memo outlining the criteria for classification of conscientious objectors (11:12).
12. Southern Student Organizing Committee. 1 folder (1 item). No date.
The item in this series is a print out from the Greensboro chapter discussing the purpose of the Selective Service System.
13. United States Army. 1 folder (1 item). ca. 1968.
This series contains a manual printed out by the medical services division of the U.S. Army explaining the standards of medical fitness for potential draftees.
14. War Tax Resistance Movement. 14 folders (14 items). ca. 1970.
he items in this series consist of printed materials relating to war tax resistance. War tax resistance was used as a means of protest by refusing to pay taxes that subsidized the conflict. There is a broadside that defines what a war tax center is (14:3), a booklet explaining different aspects of war tax resistance (14:1), and a newspaper called Tax Talk (14:10). There are also publications on how to avoid war taxes legally (14:9), income tax refusal (14:6), and tax resistance in North Carolina (14:11).
15. Winnipeg Committee to Assist War Objectors. 1 folder (1 item).
This one page document contains facts about the basic requirements for Americans interested in immigrating to Canada to avoid the draft.
FOLDER LISTING
| Series | Folder | Contents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | American Friends Service Committee | -- Circular-- Draft Counselor Training Sessions |
| 2 | -- Information Packet War Making by Machine | ||
| 3 | -- Memo-- Fellowship of Reconciliation | ||
| 4 | -- Newsletter -- Peace Education | ||
| 5 | American Friends Service Committee | -- The Reporter | |
| 6 | -- Pamphlet -- National Action Research on the Military Industrial Complex | ||
| 7 | -- Pamphlet -- Responsibilities of the High School | ||
| 8 | -- Pamphlet -- Vietnam: Political Illusions | ||
| 9 | American Friends Service Committee | -- Printed -- Magazine -- 50th Anniversary Issue | |
| 10 | -- Printed -- Poster (protest war) | ||
| 2 | 1 | Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors | -- Addresses -- Armed Forces Examining and Entrance Stations |
| 2 | -- Armed Forces Security Questionnaire | ||
| 3 | -- Broadside -- "Are You a Conscientious Objector?" | ||
| 4 | -- Broadside -- "So You Would Have Fought Hitler?" | ||
| 5 | Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors | -- Broadside -- "So You Would Fight if This Country Was Attacked?" | |
| 6 | -- Fact sheet on the Vietnam Draft | ||
| 7 | -- Letters in Support of Conscientious Objection Claim | ||
| 8 | -- Change Sheets | ||
| 9 | Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors | -- Compulsory Work for COS- Alternative Service Options | |
| 10 | -- Draft Counselors Manual | ||
| 11 | -- Draft Counselors Newsletter (1972) | ||
| 12 | -- Health Professional Medical Standards | ||
| 13 | Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors | -- Medical Reports for Draft Registrants | |
| 14 | -- Memos | ||
| 15 | -- Miscellaneous | ||
| 16 | -- Moral and Medical Standards | ||
| 17 | Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors | -- Newsletter -- "News Notes" | |
| 18 | -- Pamphlet -- Services to Conscientious Objectors | ||
| 19 | -- The Doctors Draft | ||
| 20 | -- The Draft Lottery | ||
| 3 | 1 | Conscientious Objectors | -- Booklet -- Guide to Alternative Service |
| 2 | -- Booklet -- Religious Statements on Conscientious Objection | ||
| 3 | -- Booklet -- Supplement to Religious Statements | ||
| 4 | -- Handbook for Conscientious Objectors | ||
| 5 | Conscientious Objectors | -- Leaflet -- A Statement of the Church of the Brethren | |
| 6 | -- Pamphlet -- A Christians Declaration on the Way of Peace | ||
| 7 | -- Pamphlet -- American Baptists Take a Stand | ||
| 8 | -- Pamphlet -- Can a Jew be a Conscientious Objector? | ||
| 9 | Conscientious Objectors | -- Pamphlet -- Catholics and Conscientious Objection | |
| 10 | -- Pamphlet -- Christian Pacifism | ||
| 11 | -- Pamphlet -- Conscience, War, and the Selective Objector | ||
| 12 | -- Pamphlet -- Conscientious Objection | ||
| 13 | Conscientious Objectors | -- Pamphlet -- Conscientious Objectors and the Draft | |
| 14 | -- Pamphlet -- Cross before the Flag | ||
| 15 | -- Pamphlet -- Declaration on the Draft | ||
| 16 | -- Pamphlet -- Lets think about the Christian | ||
| 17 | Conscientious Objectors | -- Pamphlet -- Statement on the Catholic | |
| 18 | -- Pamphlet -- The United Methodist Church | ||
| 19 | -- Pamphlet -- Unitarian Universalist Conscientious Objection? | ||
| 20 | -- Pamphlet -- Your Decision About Military Service | ||
| 4 | 1 | Conscientious Objector Service | -- Guide to Alternative Service |
| 5 | 1 | Correspondence | -- Joseph Gruendler |
| 2 | -- Memo -- Bach Main Hospital | ||
| 6 | 1 | Directories | -- National Draft Counseling Directory |
| 7 | 1 | Greensboro Peace Center | -- Broadside -- Notice Men of Draft Age |
| 2 | -- Correspondence (1972-73) | ||
| 3 | -- Newsletter | ||
| 4 | Greensboro Peace Center | -- Newspaper -- Economic Action for Peace | |
| 5 | -- Pamphlet -- Greensboro Peace Center | ||
| 6 | -- Pamphlet -- What Can I Do to End This War? | ||
| 8 | 1 | Legal | -- Executive Order |
| 2 | -- A Draft Law Primer | ||
| 3 | -- Pamphlet -- The Draft Law and Your Choices | ||
| 9 | 1 | Miscellaneous | |
| 10 | 1 | Peace and Freedom Through Non-Violent Action | -- Magazine--Win (1972) |
| 11 | 1 | Printed | -- Booklet -- Face to Face with Your Draftboard |
| 2 | -- Booklet -- Statements of Religious Bodies | ||
| 3 | -- Circular -- Air War | ||
| 4 | -- Circular -- When the Call Comes This is the Army | ||
| 5 | Printed | -- Flyers -- About the PRG 7 Point Plan | |
| 6 | -- Flyers -- The Air War and Its Costs | ||
| 7 | -- Magazine -- AMEX (April/May 1970) | ||
| 8 | -- Magazine -- Check Out the Odds | ||
| 9 | Printed | -- Manuals -- Draft Counseling Education Centers | |
| 10 | -- Manuals -- Manual for Draft Age Immigrants to Canada | ||
| 11 | -- Manuals -- Training for Non-Violent Responses | ||
| 12 | -- Memo -- Criteria for Classification of Conscience Objectors | ||
| 13 | Printed | -- News Clippings | |
| 14 | -- Newsletters -- Counterdraft | ||
| 15 | -- Newsletters -- The Peacemaker | ||
| 16 | -- Newspaper -- Immigration to Canada and its Relation to the Draft ... | ||
| 17 | Printed | -- Pamphlet -- A Pocket Manual on Draft Resistance | |
| 18 | -- Pamphlet -- Bloodbath: Myth or Reality? | ||
| 19 | -- Pamphlet -- Clergy and Laymen Concerned | ||
| 20 | -- Pamphlet -- Declaration on the Draft and Conscription | ||
| 21 | Printed | -- Pamphlet -- Guidelines for High School Draft Education | |
| 22 | -- Pamphlet -- Homosexuality and the Draft | ||
| 23 | -- Pamphlet -- Uptight About the Draft? | ||
| 12 | 1 | Southern Student Organizing Committee | -- The Purpose of the Selective Service System |
| 13 | 1 | United States Army | -- Manual -- Medical Services Standards of Medical Fitness |
| 14 | 1 | War Tax Resistance | -- Booklet -- War Tax Resistance |
| 2 | -- Broadside -- Community of War Tax Resisters | ||
| 3 | -- Broadside -- What is a War Tax Center? | ||
| 4 | -- Leaflet -- A Fund for Mankind | ||
| 5 | War Tax Resistance | -- Leaflet -- Do You Pay War Taxes? | |
| 6 | -- Leaflet -- Income Tax Refusal | ||
| 7 | -- Leaflet -- Saying No to War Taxes | ||
| 8 | -- Leaflet -- What is Philadelphia WTR? | ||
| 9 | War Tax Resistance | -- Legal -- Legal Avoidance of War Taxes | |
| 10 | -- Newspapers -- Tax Talk | ||
| 11 | -- North Carolina Resistance | ||
| 12 | -- Pamphlet -- A Call to War Resistance | ||
| 13 | War Tax Resistance | -- Pamphlet -- The War Has Taxed Us Enough | |
| 14 | -- Pamphlet -- War Tax Refusal Campaign | ||
| 15 | 1 | Winnipeg Committee to Assist War Objectors |
Index to the Joseph Gruendler Papers (ca. 1969-1973)
NOTE: The numbers following the name/subject entry — e.g. 1:1 — indicate in which Series#:Folder# (or, if no “:”, Series only) that name/topic can be found.
American Friends Service Committee: 1:1-10
AMEX : 11:7 (Magazine)
Bach-Mai Hospital Emergency Relief Fund: 5:2
Bach Main Hospital: 5:2
Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors: 2, 5:1
Check out the Odds: 11:8 (Magazine)
Conscientious Objectors: 2:3, 2:7, 2:9, 2:18, 3:1-20, 4:1, 11:2, 11:12, 11:19, 11:20, 15:1
Jewish: 3:8
Quakers: 2
Draft:
Counseling: 1:1, 2:10, 2:11, 2:18, 4:1, 6:1, 8:1, 8:2, 11:1, 11:9, 11:10, 11:17, 11:20, 11:21
Education: 2:1, 2:2, 2:10-13, 2:19, 2:20, 8:2, 8:3, 11:1, 11:9, 11:21
Homosexuality and: 11:22
Resistance: 3:1-20, 4:1, 5:1, 7:1-6, 11:10-12, 11:20, 15:1
Greensboro Peace Center: 7:1-7:6
Gruendler, Joseph: 5:1, 7:2
Homosexuality and the Draft: 11:22
Immigration to Canada: 11:10, 11:16, 15:1
Jordan, Senator Everett B.: 5:1
Lakey, George: 10:1
Magazines:
AMEX: 11:7
Check out the Odds: 11:8
Win: 10:1
Manifesto for Nonviolent Revolution: 10:1
Manuals:
Draft Counseling Education Centers:11:9
Draft Counselors Manual: 2:10
Guide to the Draft. 2nd Edition – Appendix
Guide to the Draft. 3rd Edition – Appendix
Manual for Draft Age Immigrants to Canada: 11:10
Medical Services Standards of Medical Fitness: 13:1
Military: 2:1, 2:2, 11:4
National Action Research on the Military Industrial Complex: 1:6
National Interreligious Service Board for Conscientious Objectors: 4:1
Non-Violence: 10:1, 11:11
Peace and Freedom Through Non-Violent Action: 10:1 (Magazine)
Selective Service:
Counseling: 1:1, 2:10, 2:11, 2:18, 4:1, 6:1, 8:1, 8:2, 11:1, 11:9, 11:10, 11:17, 11:20, 11:21
Education: 2:1, 2:2, 2:10-13, 2:19, 2:20, 8:2, 8:3, 11:1, 11:9, 11:21
Homosexuality and: 11:22
Resistance: 3:1-20, 4:1, 5:1, 7:1-6, 11:10-12, 11:20, 15:1
Southern Student Organizing Committee: 12:1
Tax Talk: 14:10 (Newspaper)
United States Army: 2:2, 11:4, 13:1
Waller, Signe Goldstein: 7:3, 7:4, 7:6
War Resisters League: 10:1
War Tax Resistance: 14:1-14
Win: 10:1 (Magazine)
Winnipeg Committee to Assist War Objectors: 15:1
Appendix: Books Removed and Placed in Rare Books
1. Calvert, Robert, Compiler. Ain’t Gonna Pay For War No More. New York: War Tax Resistance, 1972. (1987.157.1i)
2. Ferber, Michael and Staughton Lind. The Resistance. Boston: Beacon Press, 1971. (1987.157.1e)
3. Finn, James, Ed. A Conflict of Loyalties. New York: Pegasus, 1968. (1987.157.1g)
4. Gregg, Richard B. The Power of Non-Violence. New York: Shocken Books, 1969. (1987.157.1h)
5. Kendall, David and Leonard Ross. The Lottery and the Draft: Where Do I Stand? New York: Harper & Rowe, 1970. (1987.157.1c)
6. Suttler, David. IV-F: A Guide to Draft Exemption. New York: Grove Press, Inc, 1970. (1987.157.1d)
7. Tatum, Arlo and Joseph S. Tuchinsky. Guide to the Draft. 2nd Edition. Boston: Beacon Press, 1969. (1987.157.1a)
8. Tatum, Arlo and Joseph S. Tuchinsky. Guide to the Draft. 3rd Edition. Boston: Beacon Press, 1969. (1987.157.1b)
9. Tatum, Arlo. Handbook for Conscientious Objectors. Philadelphia: Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors, 1972. (1987.157.1f)
