Barbara Reynolds
Barbara Reynolds, founder of the Peace Resource Center, devoted the major portion of her life to the effort of bringing to the world the message of the hibakusha (A-bomb survivors) that there must never again be a Hiroshima or a Nagasaki anywhere in the world. Barbara's collection of documentary films, books, photographs and research files on the atomic bombings are preserved and made available to the public through the Wilmington College Peace Resource Center.
Barbara lived in Hiroshima for more than fifteen years. In 1965, she established the World Friendship Center, which still continues its work of trying to build "bridges of friendship" throughout the world. (www.wfchiroshima.net) Three times she traveled the world with groups of survivors, personally providing or raising most of the necessary funds herself. Twice she and her family sailed into restricted zones—one U.S. and one Russian—to protest nuclear testing. In 1975 she was named an honorary citizen of Hiroshima. At the time, she was only the fourth person and the first woman to be given that award.
When she returned to the United States at the end of the 60s, she began to search for a Friends College where her collection of documentary films, books, and research files on the atomic bombings could be preserved and made available to the public. This search ended with her coming to Wilmington College where she established the Peace Resource Center and Hiroshima/Nagasaki Memorial Collection in August, 1975—the 30th anniversary of the atomic bombings.
Barbara Reynolds retired from the Center in 1978 and moved to California to be near her daughter and family. She returned to PRC in 1990 to do some research in her World Friendship Center files, but died suddenly in the midst of the project.
After Barbara Reynolds death, her daughter, Jessica Shaver, completed the task Barbara had begun of depositing her papers into the care of the Peace Resource Center. These include:
Barbara Reynolds Papers:
- Personal correspondence
- World Friendship Center files
- Voyage of the Phoenix files
- Hiroshima Peace Pilgrimage, 1962 files
- World Peace Study Mission, 1964-65 files
- Peace Ambassadors, 1970 files
- "Thirty Years After" Conference, 1975 files
- Personal photos, scrapbook, awards
A complete index list of the Barbara Reynolds files can be found at http://www.watswonlibrary.og/collections_reynolds.htm. For additional information on the files' contents, please contact the Peace Resource Center.
"Rest Here in Peace; For Never Again Will We Repeat the Error" is the message inscribed on this Cenotaph, whic stands in Hiroshima's Peace Park. It is a monument symbolizing an ancient house that provides shelter for the souls of those who died as a result of the atomic bomb.
Wilmington College Peace Resource Center
Pyle Center Box 1183
Wilmington OH 45177
Phone: (937) 382-6661
James Boland, Director, ext. 275
Charlotte Pack, Administrative Assistant, ext. 371
Location: 51 College Street
Office hours: 9:00 am to 4:00 pm (ET) Monday through Friday
E-mail: prc@wilmington.edu