AMERICAN FRIENDS SERVICE COMMITTEE

(AFSC), organization to promote peace and reconciliation through programs of social service and public information, founded by American and Canadian Friends (Quakers) in 1917. In World War I, the AFSC helped conscientious objectors to find work in relief projects and ambulance units as an alternative to military service. In World War II it broadened the scope of alternative-service possibilities to include duty in mental hospitals and other humanitarian work. In peacetime the AFSC continued such national and international programs as community development, racial reconciliation, aid to migrant workers, relief to civilians in war-torn areas, and refugee work. Its program of Voluntary International Service Assignments (VISA) served as a model for the U.S. Peace Corps. In 1947 the AFSC was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace jointly with the Friends Service Council, its British counterpart. The AFSC is financed by contributions from individuals, foundations, and, in some cases, governments of countries where its programs are carried out. Headquarters of the organization are in Philadelphia. Additional reading Mary Hoxie Jones, Swords Into Ploughshares (1937, reissued 1971), chronicles the early history of the organization, 19171937.