Reynolds, Earle L.

Biography

Earle Reynolds began his career as a physical anthropologist. In 1951 his life was forever changed after he went to Hiroshima to study the effects of the atomic bomb. When he embarked with his family on a world voyage aboard their yacht, The Phoenix of Hiroshima, fate set him on a path that would lead him to his life's work--the struggle for peace. The Earle Reynolds Archive is located in the Special Collections of McHenry Library, at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Earle Reynolds was born Earle Schoene in 1910 in Des Moines, Iowa. His parents were trapeze artists and he spent his early years traveling in vaudeville and with the circus. When he was eight years old his father was killed falling from a tightrope. His mother later remarried and Earle took the last name of his stepfather.

Earle Reynolds began writing at an early age, and continued throughout his life. After graduating from high school in Mississippi, he earned a BA and MA from the University of Chicago and his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin, all in Anthropology . He married Barbara Leonard and they had three children: Tim, Ted, and Jessica. From 1943 to 1951 he was an associate professor of anthropology and the chairman of the Department of Human Growth of the Fels Research Institute at Antioch College . During this time he was also writing plays, which were performed in Yellow Springs, Ohio. His plays met with local success, and even attracted attention from a Broadway producer.

In 1951 he was hired by the Atomic Energy Commission to take part in research on the effects of the atomic bomb. He and his family moved to Japan where he worked as a physical anthropologist and later as the coordinator of research for the Atomic Bomb Casualty Committee in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. There he studied the effects of atomic radiation on the growth and development of children.

1954 brought the realization of a dream for Earle when he and his family began an around the world voyage on their hand-built sailboat, the Phoenix . They stopped at over one hundred ports and Earle gave lectures on conditions in Hiroshima . Young Jessica documented this trip in her book, Jessica's Journal , which was later published. When they arrived in Hawaii in 1958 they met the crew of the Golden Rule, Quakers who were on trial for their attempt to sail into the nuclear test zone near Bikini Island to protest nuclear weapons and atmospheric testing. They had been arrested and prevented from completing their mission. After talking with the crew of the Golden Rule, Dr. Reynolds and his family decided to complete the mission in their place. He also believed that the government did not have a right to restrict access to the open ocean. After sailing into the restricted zone, he was arrested and sentenced to two years in prison. This verdict was appealed and eventually overturned. From this point on his life was dedicated to activism for peace and anti-nuclear causes, often using voyages on the Phoenix as a way to spread his message.

During this time he began lecturing about his voyages and on issues of peace. With his notoriety he lost his standing in the academic community and his teaching position at Antioch. In 1959, a film entitled The Reynolds Story was made about the trip into the nuclear test zone. Dr. Reynolds wrote about these events in The Forbidden Voyage, published in 1961. In 1960 he became a guest lecturer at the Hiroshima Women's College . During this time he formally joined the Quaker religion. The next voyage of the Phoenix was to Nadhoka, USSR, to protest Soviet nuclear testing. In 1962 Dr. Reynolds co-founded the Hiroshima Institute for Peace Studies (HIPS), which was affiliated with Hiroshima University .

Another voyage took place in 1962. Earle captained the Everyman III, when members of A Quaker Action Group (AQAG) sailed from London to Leningrad via Belgium, Holland, Germany, Denmark, and Sweden. During these years he carried out a busy schedule of lecturing, attending conferences, and serving on various committees concerned with promoting peace. Eventually, Earle and Barbara Reynolds became estranged as their interests and activities led them in different directions. Much of Barbara's focus was on working with the atomic bomb survivors. The couple divorced in 1964. Later that year Earle married Akie Nagami, a young Japanese woman who was his secretary and assistant. She was also committed to the cause of peace. In 1967 Dr. Reynolds and a crew of other peace activists, under the sponsorship of A Quaker Action Group, sailed to Vietnam . They delivered medical supplies to North and South Vietnam as an expression of the Quaker principle of neutrality. Goodwill voyages to China were attempted in 1968 and 1969. These voyages to China created conflict with the Japanese government and eventually led to Earle being deported.

After sailing from Tokyo to San Francisco, Akie and Earle Reynolds settled in small town of Ben Lomond on the central coast of California, where they became the resident hosts of the Quaker Center for three years. After selling the Phoenix they bought a house nearby. Dr. Reynolds taught classes in Peace Studies at the University of California at Santa Cruz, and at Cabrillo Community College . His seminar class founded the Peace Resource Center at UCSC in 1975. Meanwhile he continued an active schedule of teaching, writing, lecturing around the world, attending meetings, protesting, all the while staying active in campaigns against nuclear testing in Nevada and against nuclear weapons research.

Akie Reynolds returned to school, earning her second BA from UCSC and an MA in Peace Studies from Antioch College . She worked as a career counselor at UCSC, specializing in peace-making careers and in placing students in overseas jobs. Akie died of breast cancer in 1994. Earle Reynolds then moved to Southern California to be near his daughter, Jessica. He died in 1998 at the age of 87.