In these days filled with conflict, confusion and despair, it is good to be reminded of acts of bravery and hope from the past.
Through the magic of social media, the Facebook page of one of our Quaker meetings in Iowa reminds us of the remarkable story of the Scattergood Hostel. Fortunately, after hearing of this from Scattergood School’s history teacher and historian Bob Berquist, Michael Luick-Thrams has documented the story of the Scattergood Hostel years, including the creation of this wonderful video account.
Apparently, in 1938 a conference of young people at Iowa Yearly Meeting (Conservative) resulted in a letter to the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) suggesting some of the European Jews fleeing Nazi Germany be brought to the site of Scattergood School, on a farm outside West Branch, Iowa. Over the next four years, 186 refugees came to the school. The video does a remarkable job of telling the story.
Quakers, social justice and revolution 