Presenze straniere nell’opera dell’Unla: il contributo dell’American Friends Service Committee (1947-62)

Foreign Presences in Unla’s Work: The Contribution of the American Friends Service Committee (1947-62)

The history of the National Union for the Fight against Illiteracy (Unla) is still largely unexplored. The essay reconstructs the collaboration between this organization and the American Friends Service Committee (Afsc), an American Quaker, pacifist association that has always been involved in social work in many crisis areas of the world. The Afsc will work alongside Unla for fifteen years, guaranteeing it economic support for the implementation of its numerous projects. The study anticipates the results of a wider research dedicated to the dense web of international relations that characterizes the work of Unla and its main actors.

Keywords: History of Mezzogiorno; Quakerism in Italy