Papers of Harry Mister relating to the Danilo Dolci Trust

Archive reference: Cwl HMDDT

Danilo Dolci (1924-1997), the social activist often known as the "Sicilian Gandhi", visited the village of Trappeto in Sicily in 1952 as a young architect. Shocked by the poverty, corruption and violence he saw, he devoted his life to action to help the Sicilians. Dolci adopted nonviolent Gandhian methods, as seen in the 1956 "upside-down" or "reverse" strike in which workless men repaired a road, resulting in his imprisonment. The Danilo Dolci Trust was established in 1966 to raise funds to support Dolci's work and was registered as a charity the following year. Harry Mister was invited to join the Trustees in October 1966.  He brought a range of experience and knowledge, as a peace activist, business manager of Peace News and co-founder and manager of Housman's bookshop. Harry Mister resigned as a Trustee in July 1976 as he felt "the time has come to make a vacancy for someone able to play a more useful role".

This small collection of papers was donated by Harry Mister to Commonweal Library. They consist of correspondence with activists and organisations, notes, printed ephemera, circulars, press cuttings, issues of journals and magazines.