Newport College Student Center

Another step towards our goal

The Newport College Peace Resource Center has a long-standing commitment to peace and justice. Since 1975 it has taken an active role in providing peace education materials both locally and throughout the country.

The Center houses the world's largest collection (outside of Japan) of reference materials related to the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Peace education is accomplished through a book purchase service, audio-visual rentals and circulating libraries in both English and Japanese.

In addition, since 1998 the Peace Resource Center has operated the Institute for Problem Solving. The Institute conducts Mediation Training, ProjectTRUST, and Positive Discipline workshops. The workshops are for anyone who wants to learn more about peace and develop conflict resolution skills.

Newport is a Quaker related college, and the Peace Resource Center (PRC) exists as one of the major ways to implement the peacemaking and reconciliation elements in the Mission Statement of the College. The Center was founded in August, 1975 when Barbara Reynolds, Quaker peace activist, formally presented her Hiroshima/Nagasaki Memorial Collection to the College.

The Peace Center’s steadily expanding library in English (currently numbering about 2000 titles) includes books on nonviolence, conflict resolution, the atomic bombings, war/peace issues, and stories of individual peacemakers, as well as Quaker writings and a large number of peace education curriculum pieces for children and youth. The audio-visual library now located in the Watson Library provides informational films and videos for school and college classes, and peace education programs for churches, peace groups, and others.

The Japanese library is an outstanding collection of research materials on the atomic bombings. This library, too, has grown steadily over the years, now containing 600+ titles.