![]() Small histories like that of her grandparents, Rumsey argues, provide a unique perspective on significant political and historical moments. Ben was not compensated for his work in the camps, and Miriam stayed home and worked as a day laborer, as a live-in maid, as a farmhand, and in the family butcher shop in order to earn enough money to support them both. Ben and Miriam's life during the war was extraordinarily ordinary, spanning six years of unrecognized and humble work for their country. In Blessed Are the Peacemakers: Small Histories during World War II, Letter Writing, and Family History Methodology, Rumsey has mined not only her grandparents' letters but also archival research on CPS camps and historical data from several Mennonite and Brethren archives to recapture the narrative of Ben's service at two different camps and of Miriam's struggle to support herself and her husband financially at the young age of seventeen. He, along with about 12,000 other men, opted to join the Civilian Public Service (CPS) and contribute to "work of national importance" at one of the 218 CPS camps around the country. Instead, Ben, a member of the Dunkard Brethren Church, was a conscientious objector. What is unusual about their story is that Ben Kesler was not writing from a theater of war. The letters, written between 19, were filled with typical wartime sentiments: love and longing, anguish at being apart, uncertainty about the war and the country's future, and attempts at humor to keep their spirits up. Finances and More Conflicts Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index.Īn uncommon and intimate account of the lives of two conscientious objectors In the summer of 2013, Suzanne Kesler Rumsey discovered hundreds of letters exchanged between her late grandparents, Miriam and Benjamin Kesler. Archives, Family History, and the Personal Ben's Work and Camp Life at Sideling Hill Conscription, Nonresistance, and Civilian Public Service
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |