52. Reunion and Reconciliation: The Peace Sculpture by Josefina de Vasconcellos

This week’s Object links to Bradford University’s work for peace and reconciliation and has become a global symbol of these ideas.  The sculpture Reconciliation is on permanent display in the square outside the J.B. Priestley Library, on the University’s city campus.  It shows two exhausted figures, a male and a female, kneeling and embracing.

Reconciliation sculpture with view of trees, J.B. Priestley Library, University of Bradford. Photo by John Brooker.

Its creator, Josefina de Vasconcellos (1904-2005), was born to “an English Quaker mother and an atheist Brazilian diplomat father”: a figurative sculptor, her work was driven by her religious faith and concern for others.  She married painter Delmar Banner in 1930; the couple made their home in the Lake District.  Find out more about her fascinating life (she was also a “musician, composer, poet, dancer and inventor”) in two works quoted in this piece: the Guardian obituary by Linda Clifford and the biography Josefina de Vasconcellos: her life and art, by Margaret Lewis (Flambard, 2002).

The sculpture at Bradford has its origins in a small bronze figure called Reunion, exhibited by Josefina in a 1955 joint exhibition with Delmar at the Royal Watercolour Society.  She explained that,

“the sculpture was originally conceived in the aftermath of the [Second World] War … I read in a newspaper about a woman who crossed Europe on foot to find her husband, and I was so moved that I made the sculpture. Then I thought that it wasn’t only about the reunion of two people but hopefully a reunion of nations which had been fighting.”

Twenty years later, like many other people who supported the idea, Josefina was inspired by the proposal to create a Chair of Peace Studies at Bradford University.  She offered to create a larger version of her sculpture to be sited on the University’s campus.   The result was unveiled by Nobel Peace laureate Sean MacBride on 4 May 1977.  He and Josefina were awarded honorary degrees (DLitt) as part of the celebrations.

Poster advertising the unveiling of Reunion on 4 May 1977 (University Archive ref UniC6)

Josefina’s links with Bradford University continued until her death: she donated paintings by Banner, created a wall piece, After the Storm, in memory of our first Vice-Chancellor Ted Edwards, and exhibited works by herself and her late husband at Bradford locations including the University in 1987.  The image below shows her at a second unveiling in 1994 following repairs to the statue.

Josefina de Vasconcellos with Reconciliation, 1994, photo from November 1994 News and Views (University Archive ref UniO5)

The original name, Reunion, was changed to Reconciliation to emphasise the wider idea behind the design and to tie in with the work of Peace Studies.  The design has become a worldwide symbol of reconciliation.  Bronze casts of Reconciliation were unveiled in Coventry Cathedral and in Hiroshima Peace Park in 1995, fifty years after the dropping of atomic bombs on Japan; others were sited at the Chapel of Reconciliation at the former Berlin Wall and at Stormont in Belfast.

30. “A Great Stay and Strength”: Dr Raistrick’s Quaker books

This week’s Object sheds light on another aspect of the life and ideas of Dr Arthur Raistrick (we already encountered his Yorkshire map inscriptions in Object 10).  It is an inscription by Dr Raistrick on a copy of A book of Quaker saints by Lucy Violet Hodgkin, published in 1917.  The book contains mini-biographies of George Fox and other key individuals in Quaker history.  In the inscription, Dr Raistrick explained what the book meant to him when imprisoned as a conscientious objector in Durham Jail during the First World War:

“I think this came into the small Quaker library in Durham Jail soon after publication in 1917.  It was a great discovery for all of us and helped to bring Fox’s Journal, Sewell’s History and a lot of the early journals to life.   Two which I was reading when this appeared were Stephen Grellette and Caroline Stephens, and I bought copies of all three as soon as I could, after my release,  and still value them.  They are very precious.  It was a great stay and strength in jail for many of us”.

The annotation is a wonderful example of provenance: how evidence left by a book’s owner can tell us more about the book itself and the person involved.

Raistrick at the time he was imprisoned was not actually a member of the Society of Friends: he joined later, in 1919.  However he was clearly already sympathetic to their ideas.   This little note shows how important Quaker ideas and history became to him.   It also illustrates his deep interest in the writings of past Friends.   He built up a large collection of such publications, many now held by Special Collections at the University of Bradford, in the Quaker and Raistrick book collections.  His interest in Quaker history also linked up with his love of Yorkshire landscape, as he developed interests in the study of lead mining and other industries with strong Quaker connections, especially the London (Quaker) Lead Company.  Witness books by Dr Raistrick such as Two centuries of industrial welfare, Silver and lead, and Dynasty of iron-founders (about the Darbys of Coalbrookdale).

Raistrick’s books generally are full of intriguing provenance: he was a great annotator and liked to explain how he came by his books.  For instance, this copy of Quaker saints also includes the note, “Arthur Raistrick 1919 given to me on my release from prison Sept. 1919″.

It is particularly pleasing that we have Raistrick’s copies of the other works he mentioned in the featured inscription: a memoir of Stephen Grellet by William Guest,  and Quaker strongholds by Caroline Stephen.  An inscription in the latter gives us another aspect of Raistrick’s wartime imprisonment: “A. Raistrick No. 4559 B.2.17. H.M.P. W.Scrubbs. 1.4.1918.” i.e. Wormwood Scrubs.

24. Weaving a Story: Barbara Bruce, a “wild woman” in India

This week’s Object is a rather faded and grubby green woven bag, which accompanied the Archive of Barbara Bruce.   Archives received in Special Collections often contain objects as well as documents.  Sometimes, as in this case, these survivals can shed new light on the archives that contain them.

Barbara Bruce (1906-1976) was a Quaker, sculptor and volunteer nurse and relief worker in India in the 1940s.  She immersed herself in Indian life, culture and ideas, and in particular the philosophies of Gandhi, spending time at Sevagram, the ashram and village community which he created.  Barbara returned to England permanently in 1950, but kept in touch with her many friends and colleagues in India.  Her contacts included David Hoggett, founder of Commonweal Library, which was based on Gandhi’s idea of sarvodaya: the good of all.

Barbara Bruce in Almora, Uttar Pradesh, c1940, with the anthropologist Walter Evans-Wentz. She described herself in this photo as a “wild woman of India”.

Barbara’s Archive is a rich collection of letters and photographs which vividly illustrate her interests and friendships in India.  It also includes fascinating postcards, like this one.

Hand painted postcard featuring trees by the wayside, 1930s

So what about the bag?  It is a clue to Barbara’s interest in another Gandhian idea.   Her story was researched by our Project Archivist, Helen Roberts, as part of the PaxCat Project, which brought our collections about peace history to life.   It became clear to Helen as she worked on the archive that the bag was significant.  As she wrote on the PaxCat blog,

“It’s a reasonable assumption that Barbara wove it herself.   During early 1942 she spent time at Khadi Bhangar rural spinning centre in Narsinghpur in the Central Provinces.   The charka (spinning wheel) and khadi (handspun, handwoven cloth) were symbolic of the Gandhian idea of village development and self reliance upon which the goal of Indian independence was based.  Barbara’s friend and fellow nurse Margaret Jones wore khadi, as did Barbara.   She reports the reaction from her English colleagues at a hospital in Bombay in a letter from April 1941: ‘See! She wears khadi – she is anti-British!’”.

Thus the little bag symbolises Barbara’s engagement with India, with Gandhi’s ideas and her commitment to them in her own life.  Find out more about her extraordinary story on the PaxCat blog, the Archive web page, and the entry for the Archive on the Archives Hub.

20. A Concern for Peace: the Quaker Peace Studies Trust appeal

This week’s Object marks the beginning of the story of over 30 years of peace studies at the University of Bradford.  It also explains why Special Collections contains so many significant collections on peace campaigns, social change, conflict, politics …

Peace Studies at Bradford owes its origins to George Murphy, whose concern was to raise funds to establish the study of peace and conflict resolution in British universities.  He was appointed Chair in Finance at Bradford University’s Management Centre in 1970 and found support for establishing a Chair of Peace Studies at the University from Pro Vice Chancellor Robert McKinlay, who was also a Quaker.  In 1971 the Quaker Peace Studies Trust (QPST) was set up by the Society of Friends to oversee a public appeal for funds for this project.   Ernest Stockdale, a local Friend, was appointed appeal secretary, Alec Horsley appeal organiser and George Murphy treasurer.

The appeal found influential sponsors (the University’s Chancellor Harold Wilson, J.B. Priestley, Joan Baez, U Thant …) and was a great success: the funds were raised within 10 weeks of the launch in March 1972.  The first Chair of Peace Studies, Adam Curle, was appointed in 1973 and other academic appointments and  undergraduate and postgraduate programmes soon followed.

QPST have continued to support peace education at Bradford, notably the annual Peace Jams which bring together young people and Nobel peace laureates.

The Archive of QPST itself is part of Special Collections and was catalogued by our Project Archivist, Helen Roberts, last year.  The story of the origin and growth of Peace Studies is a key theme in the University’s own archive and Quaker history and values appear in many other places in Special Collections.