The Felix J. Rogers papers document Rogers' activities in local peace movements from the 1980s until 2005. The collection has been divided into four series of material which document aspects of Rogers' personal life and the three peace organizations with which Rogers was most closely associated: Physicians for Social Responsibility-Detroit, the Episcopal Peace Fellowship, and the Cranbrook Peace Foundation.
Felix J. Rogers is a cardiologist who operates a private practice in Trenton, Michigan and a clinical professor of internal medicine at Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine. In the 1980s, Rogers became involved with several peace organizations. He was an active member of Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) from 1982 until approximately 1996. He joined the executive committee of PSR-Detroit in 1985 and was elected chairman of the chapter in 1987. PSR was founded in Boston in 1961 by a group of Massachusetts physicians. Over the years, new regional chapters of this organization have been established including the Detroit chapter in the early 1980s. Nationally, PSR has opposed nuclear weapons testing as well as the construction of nuclear power plants. The group has fostered physician exchange programs between the United States and the Soviet Union in the interest of world peace. PSR continues to disseminate medical and scientific information about the dangers of nuclear war and seeks to educate an international constituency which includes medical professionals, government and military leaders, journalists and the general public.
As chapter chairman of PSR-Detroit, Felix Rogers was active in the development of the local organization. He participated in physician exchange programs with Soviet doctors on several occasions. He was a frequent speaker on television and radio regarding the medical consequences of a nuclear disaster. While chapter chairman, Rogers also organized a variety of symbolic demonstrations such as tree plantings and the release of balloons at the site of the Fermi II nuclear power plant. Rogers and other group members often registered complaints with government officials from France, the Soviet Union and the United States regarding the testing of nuclear arms.
In addition to his activities in PSR, Rogers also held various offices in both the local chapter and the national organization of the Episcopal Peace Fellowship. The purposes of the fellowship are to pray, study and work for peace; to aid Episcopalian conscientious objectors; to live out the Episcopal Church statements regarding peace and justice; and to aid other peace organizations in accomplishing specific goals. In practice, the fellowship organized adult education programs and developed various types of publicity designed to inform Episcopal congregations and the general public about peace issues. Christ Church Cranbrook in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan was the center for Rogers' local efforts on behalf of the fellowship.
Roger's involvement in peace action led his founding role in the Cranbrook Peace Foundation. In 1987, the Cranbrook Peace Foundation was incorporated as a non-profit, tax-exempt foundation; it described its purpose as "an endowment to kindle the promise of peace." Felix Rogers served as the Executive Director during the early years of the Foundation. The Foundation has two primary goals, that of education and that of supporting the peace-making activities of organizations in southeastern Michigan.
To support its educational goals, the Foundation sponsored an annual public lecture, presented by a prominent individual who made significant contributions to the cause of peace on either a national or global scale. The Peace Lecture was a significant event: it served as a fundraiser, through ticket sales for the lecture as well as dinner and a reception, but it was also a large expense, requiring additional preparatory fundraising. Speakers received honorariums and their travel expenses were paid. Pete Seeger, who spoke in 2000, declined an honorarium, but instead asked that Rogers bring audience members to the lecture who would not have otherwise attended, either for financial or political reasons. Other Annual Lecture speakers included Elie Wiesel, Jean Bertrand Aristide, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Sister Helen Prejean, Jonathan Schell, and Dennis Kucinich. Speakers were selected by the Annual Lecture Subcommittee, one of several subcommittees that comprised the Cranbrook Peace Foundation.
To support the foundation's second goal, the CPF raised funds which it then distributed to local non-profit organizations through a grant review process, beginning in 1989. The grants that the Foundation awarded supported a range of diverse peace-related projects, such as conflict resolution programs, art exhibitions, conferences, teach-ins, and global dispute mediation and resolution efforts. Calls for proposals were announced twice yearly, and the Grant Review Committee met to rank proposals according to the goals and priorities of the CPF:
Halting militarism and the proliferation of arms.
Developing a broader local peace movement base.
Supporting nonviolent conflict resolution.
Encouraging a broader understanding and acceptance of nonviolence.
Promoting economic and social justice and human rights
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(Take from "Grant Review Committee Evaluation Criteria and Format." Folder "Grant Evaluation Criteria" folder, Box 4).
