Moral Re-armament records, 1812-1991

Title Page | Collection Summary | Biographical/Organizational Note | Scope and Content | Arrangement

Biographical Notes and Organizational History

Frank Buchman

Date	Event
1878, June 4	Born, Pennsburg, Pa.
1899	B.A., Muhlenberg College, Allentown, Pa.
1899-1902	Attended Mt. Airy Seminary, Philadelphia, Pa.
1902	Ordained Lutheran minister
1905	In charge of Luther Hospice, Philadelphia, Pa.
1908	Traveled to Europe and England
1909-1915	Secretary, YMCA at Pennsylvania State College, State College, Pa.
1915-1919	Toured Asia under YMCA auspices
1916-1922	Part-time lecturer, Hartford Theological Seminary, Hartford, Conn.
1921	Visited Cambridge and Oxford, England, where the foundation was laid for the fellowship later called the Oxford Group
1926	Honorary doctorate, Muhlenberg College, Allentown, Pa.
1929	Traveled to South Africa with the Oxford Group
1931-1938	Led Oxford Group teams to Scandinavia, Holland, Canada, and the United States
1938	Inaugurated campaign for Moral Re-armament at East Ham Town Hall, London, England
1939	Launched campaign for Moral Re-armament in New York, Washington, D.C., and California
1940	Initiated You Can Defend America program
1942	Suffered paralytic stroke
1942-1947	Conducted Moral Re-armament summer training sessions, Mackinac Island, Mich.
1946	Presented first annual World Assembly for Moral Re-armament, Caux, Switzerland, headquarters
1952-1957	Traveled with Moral Re-armament teams throughout Asia, Australia, and Europe
1961, Aug. 7	Died, Freudenstadt, West Germany

Ray Foote Purdy

Date	Event
1889	Born, Brooklyn, N.Y.
1920	B. A., Princeton University, Princeton, N.J.
1920-1922	Master, Taft School, Watertown, Conn.
1923	Assistant to the president, Eastman Dillon & Co., New York, N.Y.
1923-1924	Attended Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, N.J.
1923-1927	General Secretary, Philadelphian Society, Princeton, N.J.
1925	Married Elsa Toennies
1927	Attended Mansfield College, Oxford, England
1928	Ordained to ministry, Throop Avenue Presbyterian Church, Brooklyn, N.Y.
1928-1965	Full-time service and director, Oxford Group and Moral Re-armament; director, Oxford Group and Moral Re-armament
1965, Oct. 30	Died, Atlanta, Ga.

Kenaston Twitchell

Date	Event
1903, Apr. 8	Born, Brooklyn, N.Y.
1924	B.A., Princeton University, Princeton, N.J.
1927	Married Marian Dominick Smith
1929	Traveled to South Africa with the Oxford Group
circa 1930	M. A., Balliol College, Oxford University, Oxford, England
1947	Convened meeting of Konrad Adenauer and other postwar German leaders, Caux, Switzerland
1950	Traveled to Japan, where he brought the mayors of Nagasaki and Hiroshima and a later prime minister, Yasushiro Nakasone, to a Moral Re-Armament conference
1973	Retired from Moral Re-armament
circa 1981	Published Regeneration in the Ruhr: The Unknown Story of a Decisive Answer to Communism in Postwar Europe. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press
1988, Oct. 30	Died, Princeton, N.J.

Organizational History of Moral Re-armament

Date	Event
1918	Houseparty strategy of conversion begun in China by Frank Buchman
1921	Foundation laid for First Century Christian Fellowship and later the Oxford Group
1925-1926	"Buchmanism" investigated by Princeton University, Princeton, N.J.
1929	Oxford Group toured South Africa
1931-1937	Oxford Group teams sent to Scandinavia, Holland, Canada, the United States, and South America
1933-1940	Oxford Group supplement published in the New Witness
1936	National Assembly, Stockbridge, Mass.
1937	Rising Tide published
1938	Campaign for Moral Re-armament begun at East Ham Town Hall, London, England World Assembly for Moral Re-armament, Interlaken, Switzerland
1939	Moral Re-armament movement launched in the United States World Assembly for Moral Re-ReArmament, Monterey, Calif.
1940	Peter Howard joined movement (died 1965)
1941-1945	"You Can Defend" America program
1942	Premier of the movie, The Forgotten Factor
1943-1945	Controversy regarding Selective Service deferments for members of Moral Re-armament
1946	First annual World Assembly for Moral Re-armament at Caux, Switzerland, headquarters New World News published
1947	Purchase of Westminster Theatre, London, England
1948	Production of the play, The Good Road in Germany World Conference for Moral Re-armament, Los Angeles, Calif.
1949	The College of the Good Road organized
1951	Assembly for the Reconstruction of Pacific Relations, Los Angeles, Calif. Production of the play An Idea Takes Wings Production of the play Jotham Valley
1952	Assembly of the Americas, Miami, Fla.
1953	Condemned by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions
1954-1955	Report on Moral Re-armament issued by the Church of England Social and Industrial Council
1955	Production of the play Vanishing Island
1955-1956	Statesmen's missions to Europe and Asia
1957	Production the plays Freedom and The Crowning Experience
1961	Peter Howard assumed worldwide leadership of the movement Production of the play, The Tiger
1963-1964	Production of the play, Space Is So Startling
1964	Production of the motion picture, Tomorrow's American
1965	Up With People launched First of several yearly Up With People "Sing Outs" Founding of Mackinac College, Mackinac, Mich. Peter Howard died and no successor appointed; each country developed own leadership
1970	All Moral Re-armament publications ceased
1975	Up With People separates from Moral Re-armament
1976	Moral Re-armament presents Buchman's Allentown, Pa., home to Lehigh County Historical Society, which opened it to the public
1989	United States President George H. W. Bush commemorated MRA on its fiftieth anniversary International conference, Caux, Switzerland