Scope and Content Note
The papers of Frederick Joseph Libby (1874-1970) span the years 1846-1973 with the bulk of the material concentrated between 1890 and 1970. The collection is organized into the following series: Diaries, Correspondence, Speeches and Writings, a Subject File, and Oversize.
The Diaries are the centerpiece of the papers and document over fifty years of Libby's life and career. They relate most notably to his activities as executive secretary of the National Council for Prevention of War (NCPW), a clearinghouse of organizations seeking a worldwide reduction of armaments and promoting education for peace in the wake of World War I. Libby was a founding member of the NCPW and led the organization from its inception in 1921 until his death in 1970. His war relief service in Europe in 1918-1920 fortified his pacifism, and he emerged as one of the leading peace activists in the United States. His diaries include observations on international political events and leaders, descriptions of conferences and leaders in the peace community, thoughts on pacifism, and personal activities. An entry on February 9, 1928, focused on a meeting with President Calvin Coolidge to press for a reduction in the number of United States naval warships proposed for construction, an effort that eventually proved successful. He recorded Coolidge's comments and depicted him smoking a cigar with his foot propped on the edge of a table and dropping the “g” in his “ing's.” Many of Libby's recollections for his book To End War, the story of the NCPW, are drawn from his diaries. Other items include a diary he kept during a journey through the South in 1908 with descriptions of Charleston, South Carolina, and Savannah, Georgia, and a diary by his father Abial Libby recording his activities as a surgeon with Union forces during the Peninsular Campaign in Virginia in 1862.
The Correspondence series consists chiefly of letters received, with the exception of Libby's travel letters relating his journeys as a student, for pleasure and in war relief service. Circulated to various family members, the travel letters were intended to be collected and preserved as a journal and include descriptions of activities pertaining to his war relief service in France with the American Friends Service Committee in 1918-1919 and observations on the people and customs of Damascus and Jerusalem in the Middle East in 1903. Family correspondence includes letters exchanged between family members and close family friends. General correspondence with friends and professional colleagues is concentrated in the period 1900-1920 and largely reflects Libby's pastorate of the Union Congregational Church in Magnolia, Massachusetts, and his faculty position at Phillips Exeter Academy and briefly touches on his association with the American Friends Service Committee. Correspondents include Markham W. Stackpole and pacifists Harold Studley Gray and Leyton Richards. Copies of Libby's correspondence appear in files for the 1950s and 1960s.
The Speeches and Writings series includes articles, essays, prayers, notes, and a large group of sermons and lectures in outline form. Additional articles by Libby are in issues of the News Bulletin in the National Council for Prevention of War files in the Subject File. The Subject File consists primarily of printed background material representing Libby's activities and interests in the 1900s and 1910s. Topics include Bible study, birth control, child labor, military preparedness, and prostitution. Other important files relate to his work with the American Friends Service Committee, the National Council for Prevention of War, and Phillips Exeter Academy.