This collection was found in the Berkeley, California, office of Acts for Peace/Turn Toward Peace and was donated to the Society in 1968 along with records of those two organizations by Robert Pickus. The papers span almost the entire period that Etter headed the Northern California office of the Fellowship of Reconciliation and, although generally routine in content, provide a detailed record of the activities and concerns of West Coast pacifists during the immediate postwar years and during the height of the Cold War. While a small group of the papers relate to Etter's relations with other pacifist groups, there are no personal papers in the collection.
The collection is ordered by organization, with the Fellowship of Reconciliation records subdivided into papers related to the internal operation of the Northern California office and external papers received from national (some from A. J. Muste), regional, international, and local offices. Within the local office files, the records are arranged alphabetically by state and then by city; those from California FOR offices are the most voluminous. Minutes and financial and membership records also form an extensive portion of the collection. Both the internal and external FOR records consist of minutes, correspondence, financial records, and press materials. Topics of concern include arrangements for conferences and speaking tours, work with conscientious objectors, and recurrent financial difficulties. Other organization files include records of the Northern California office of the American Friends Service Committee, of which Etter was a member, the National Service Board for Religious Objectors, and the Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors.
