James Morgan Read, II (1908–1985) was a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

and President of Wilmington College,

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

from 1960 to 1969. He also served as

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

Deputy High Commissioner from 1951 to 1960, and was a vice president of the Charles F. Kettering Foundation from 1969 until his retirement in 1974.

Early life

Read was born in

Camden, New Jersey Camden is a City (New Jersey), city in Camden County, New Jersey, Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the Delaware Valley metropolitan region. The city was incorporated on February 13, 1828.Snyder, John P''The Story of ...

, the son of James Morgan Read Sr., a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

Minister. He graduated from

Dickinson College Dickinson College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1773 as Carlisle Grammar School, Dickinson was chartered on September 9, 1783, ...

, Pennsylvania, in 1929, and went on to earn a D. Phil. from

Marburg University The Philipps University of Marburg () is a public research university located in Marburg, Germany. It was founded in 1527 by Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, which makes it one of Germany's oldest universities and the oldest still operating Protes ...

in 1932, and a Ph.D. from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

in 1940.

Career

From 1932 to 1934 Read taught history at

Lycoming College Lycoming College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1812, Lycoming College is affiliated with the United Methodist Church but operates as an ind ...

and served as Associate Professor of History and then Chairman of the Social Sciences Department at the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public university, public research university in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. Chartered in 1798 as the Jefferson Seminary, it became in the 19t ...

from 1935 to 1943. In 1940 he married Henrietta Morton. In 1941 he authored ''Atrocity Propaganda, 1914-1919'', a book critical of allied deception techniques in

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded l ...

during the

first world war World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, originally published for the University of Louisville by

Yale University Press Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day and Clarence Day, grandsons of Benjamin Day, and became a department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and ope ...

. From 1943 to 1945, as a

conscientious objector A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of conscience or religion. The term has also been extended to objecting to working for the military–indu ...

, Read was employed in the

Civilian Public Service The Civilian Public Service (CPS) was a program of the United States government that provided conscientious objectors with an alternative service, alternative to military service during World War II. From 1941 to 1947, nearly 12,000 draftees, wil ...

, after which he took a job as Associate Secretary of the

Friends Committee on National Legislation The Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) is a national nonprofit, nonpartisan Quaker organization. As a 501(c)(4) advocacy organization, FCNL and its network lobby Congress and the administration to promote peace, justice, and enviro ...

in Washington DC, where he focused his efforts on legislation for

displaced person Forced displacement (also forced migration or forced relocation) is an involuntary or coerced movement of a person or people away from their home or home region. The UNHCR defines 'forced displacement' as follows: displaced "as a result of perse ...

s. He continued this work as Secretary in the Foreign Service Section of the

American Friends Service Committee The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) is a Religious Society of Friends ('' Quaker)-founded'' organization working for peace and social justice in the United States and around the world. AFSC was founded in 1917 as a combined effort by ...

from 1947 to 1949, overseeing the organization's relief work in the immediate postwar period. In 1949, Read joined the Society of Friends as a member of the

Gwynedd, Pennsylvania Gwynedd is an unincorporated community in Lower Gwynedd Township in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. Gwynedd is located at the intersection of U.S. Route 202 U.S. Route 202 (US 202) is a spur route of U.S. Route 2, ...

, Monthly Meeting. In 1950 he was named Chief of the Division of Education and Cultural Relations of the United States High Commissioner for Germany. From 1951 to 1960 he served as the United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees in

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, and was briefly appointed Acting High Commissioner for a few months in 1956. He returned to the academic world as President of Wilmington College, Ohio from 1960 to 1969. Read stepped down as President of Wilmington College in 1969 to become vice-president of the Charles F. Kettering Foundation. In 1974, when he attained the mandatory retirement age, Read chose to continue his association with the Foundation, serving as Senior Consultant in International Affairs. Two years after Henrietta Read's sudden death from cancer in 1976, James Read married Theresa K. Dintenfass. In his capacity as Senior Consultant in International Affairs, Read was involved in three of the Dartmouth Conferences (XII, XIII, and XIV), a series of informal talks between leading citizens of the US and USSR initiated at the suggestion of

President Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary ...

and administered and co-sponsored by the Kettering Foundation. He also acted as Rapporteur for the third Soviet-American Writers Conference held in the USSR in 1979. Read also wrote a report for Kettering on the

Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank focused on Foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy and international relations. Founded in 1921, it is an independent and nonpartisan 501(c)(3) nonprofit organi ...

' fifth Conference on the US-Canada Relationship in 1981. Read maintained his involvement with the American Friends Service Committee, serving on the AFSC Board of Directors as member and Chair of the AFSC Information and Interpretation Committee. He was also Clerk of the Quaker United Nations Committee in New York and made a study of the Special Committee of the UN General Assembly Banning the Use of Force. His experience with the UN also led to his involvement with the US Committee for the

United Nations Institute for Training and Research The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) is a dedicated training arm of the United Nations system. UNITAR provides training and capacity development activities to assist mainly developing countries with special attention ...

. In 1983, he acted as a Consultant to Crosscurrents to study the possibility of establishing an office for the

Friedrich Naumann Foundation The Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom ('' German: Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung für die Freiheit e.V.; Abbreviation: FNF'') is a German foundation for liberal politics, related to the Free Democratic Party and funded by the Federal Min ...

Selected bibliography

*''Atrocity Propaganda, 1914-1919''. New Haven:

for

, 1941. Reprinted by

Arno Press Arno Press was a Manhattan-based publishing house founded by Arnold Zohn in 1963, specializing in reprinting rare and long out-of-print materials. History Zohn served 48 missions on a bomber crew during World War II, and when he returned home he ...

in 1972.

References

* *Th
James Morgan Read Papers
held a
Friends Historical Library at Swarthmore College
{{DEFAULTSORT:Read, James Morgan American Quakers Converts to Quakerism Dickinson College alumni University of Marburg alumni University of Chicago alumni Lycoming College faculty University of Louisville faculty Wilmington College (Ohio) 1908 births 1985 deaths American conscientious objectors Members of the Civilian Public Service People from Camden, New Jersey 20th-century Quakers