Memorial Markers for World Fellowship

The World Fellowship of Faiths in Albany, NH, was established in the late 1930s as a retreat focused on social justice issues. We've written a little about the World Fellowship before, but today we'll look at their "Save and Name a Tree" campaign. Cutting of the organization's pine and maple groves for lumber was "repeatedly urged" as a source of addtional funding, until the campaign began in 1943:

"We are reliably informed that about $3.50 is all that one of the World Fellowship's noblest, old, majestic pines would net us if slaughtered for lumber... we invite our friends to contribute Ten Dollars or More to Save a Tree and to place upon it, permanently, a small, modest marker bearing the tree's name (determined by the donor) with the donor's name and the date of his contribution."

The Charles F. Weller papers include mock-ups for the markers that would go on these trees. Most function as memorials, including beloved pets, family members, historical figures, and whole groups. Going through the markers is a fascinating peek into who and what members of the World Fellowship considered important in the 1940s and 1950s.

To check out the markers, ask for Box 5 of MS-1295, the Charles F. Weller papers.