IV. International Organizations, Foreign Exchanges and Students Files,, 1932-1966

Summary: This series shows the level of dedication Abernethy had to promoting foreign exchanges and supporting international relief organizations. His participation in the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), Operation Crossroads Africa, and the World University Service organizations was extensive. He was also active in looking after the welfare of foreign students at Rutgers.

The majority of the files in this series are for AFSC, a Society of Friends organization that promoted foreign exchanges and sponsored seminars and camps that brought people of diverse backgrounds together to discuss issues of the day. Abernethy's files reflect his deep level of involvement, which included taking a year and a half leave from Rutgers to act as the director of European seminars in Geneva, Switzerland from 1953-1955. He also led a seminar in Lake Tahoe.

Several folders document Abernethy's activities on AFSC's International Students Program Committee, which later became the International Conferences and Seminar Programs Committee. These folders contain meeting minutes and agendas for the committee along with correspondence.

The Operation Crossroads Africa files show Abernethy's activities in this organization, which sent Americans, mostly college students, to Africa during the summer to work with young people. Abernethy and his wife went to Sierra Leone with Crossroads in 1958. Abernethy also encouraged Rutgers and Douglass students to participate in this program (see folders labeled "Operation Crossroads Africa—Rutgers Applicants) and was often able to give them financial aid.

World University Service files pertain to an organization that originated as World Student Relief with the intention of giving aid to students affected by World War II (it existed as a smaller organization in the 1920s after World War I, but later expanded). A number of organizations existed under its umbrella, including the International Student Service, and the World Student Service Fund.

This series also includes files on foreign students at Rutgers. These demonstrate the concerns Abernethy and the Rutgers community had regarding foreign students. For example, the "Rutgers Foreign Students" files contain letters inviting foreign students to Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations.