Henry Hale Bucher, Jr. Papers

The correspondence, writings, and collected material in the papers of Henry Hale Bucher, Jr. are focused on specific areas that are complementary to other collections at the Yale, including his participation in ecumenical study abroad programs, his work with the University Christian Movement, and his draft resistance in a movement that involved Yale Chaplain William Sloane Coffin. This collection should be examined in connection with the papers of Henry Hale Bucher, Jr.'s parents, the Henry Hale Bucher and Louise Scott Bucher Papers (Record Group No. 249). Henry, Jr.'s early life is well documented in the papers of his parents.

This collection provides personal papers that complement organizational archives held at Yale, including the archives of the World Student Christian Federation (Record Group No. 46) and the University Christian Movement Archives (Record Group No. 235), and the papers of William Sloane Coffin (Yale Manuscripts and Archives, MS 1665) and Margaret Flory (Record Group No. 86).

The Family Correspondence of Series I dates from 1955 to 1968 and primarily documents Henry, Jr.'s participation in a Junior Year Abroad program at the American University of Beirut, a Seminary Year Abroad program at the University of Ghana, Legon, his work as a Frontier Intern in Mission in France and Gabon, his work with university students when based in New York, and his Vietnam War draft resistance. The General Correspondence of Series II covers the same general time period. There is a focus within it on Bucher's interest in mission history in Africa and efforts to gather documentation. Correspondence specifically related to his study programs and work is in Series III.

Series III, Activities Documentation, is a chronological gathering of correspondence and collected materials from the various eras of Bucher's life from his Junior Year Abroad in college to his involvement in Vietnam War-era draft resistance. Areas of particular interest are Bucher's documentation of the 1964 coup that occurred in Gabon when he was there as a Frontier Intern in Mission, his ongoing interest in issues related to the Middle East, and many clippings, articles, and court documents related to his draft resistance. More information about the draft resistance effort is available in a book documenting the Clergy and Laymen Concerned about Vietnam organization: "Because of their Faith : CALCAV and Religious Opposition to the Vietnam War by Mitchell K. Hall (New York : Columbia University Press, 1990).

Series IV, Writings, includes published and unpublished writings of Bucher, sermons, and journals.

Series V, Personal Items and Memorabilia, contains biographical documentation, photographs, audio material, and artifacts that generally correspond to the areas of Bucher's life documented in the earlier series. A button and pin collection of more than 480 items provides a valuable window on social and political issues in America since the 1960s, including civil rights, the Vietnam war, drug culture, peacemaking, and ecology.