Moral Re-armament (Organization)

Worldwide movement dedicated to spiritual and ethical reawakening.

From the description of Records of the Moral Re-armament, 1812-1991 (bulk 1873-1966). (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 71131695

Biographical Notes and Organizational History

Frank Nathan Daniel Buchman

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 1918: Houseparty strategy of conversion begun in China by Frank Nathan Daniel 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

From the guide to the Moral Re-armament Records, 1812-1991, (bulk 1873-1966), (Manuscript Division Library of Congress)