29 Facts About Floyd Schmoe

Floyd Wilfred Schmoe was a Quaker, pacifist, author, college professor, marine biologist, and park ranger living in the Seattle, Washington, area for most of his life.

Floyd Schmoe earned Japan's highest civilian honor for his peace activism and was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize three times.

Floyd Schmoe's family belonged to the Religious Society of Friends, or the Quakers, from which he gained his commitment to non-violence.

Floyd Schmoe moved to Seattle in 1917 to pursue a degree in forestry from the University of Washington.

Floyd Schmoe sailed to Europe in May 1918 and spent the bulk of his 14 months in Europe taking care of refugees.

Floyd Schmoe returned from Europe in July 1919 and returned to his forestry studies at the University of Washington.

Floyd Schmoe ran out of money, and left school to become the winter caretaker of the Paradise Inn at Mount Rainier National Park in 1920.

Floyd Schmoe worked as a mountain guide during the summers of 1920 and 1921, while continuing his studies at the University of Washington.

Floyd Schmoe transferred to the New York School of Forestry and graduated in 1922.

Floyd Schmoe returned to Mount Rainier and became a Park Ranger on June 20,1922.

Floyd Schmoe lectured extensively on the park and its natural history all over the country.

Floyd Schmoe was an instructor in forestry at the University of Washington from 1935 to 1942.

Floyd Schmoe left the University of Washington in 1942 to head a regional office of the American Friends Service Committee in Seattle.

Floyd Schmoe sought to help University of Washington Students transfer to other schools where they could continue their education.

Floyd Schmoe looked after homes and other property Japanese-American families were forced to leave behind when they were removed, and visited the camps where they were sequestered.

Floyd Schmoe described the program as "adventures in good will".

Floyd Schmoe built approximately 40 residential buildings, some single family and some multi-family, from 1949 to 1953 using funds and volunteers from the US.

In 2012, the sole remaining house was re-opened as a museum, with his then-85-year-old son Wilfred P Schmoe attending along with Hiroshima mayor Kazumi Matsui.

Floyd Schmoe was awarded the Order of the Sacred Treasure in 1982 for his efforts in Japan.

In 1953, after the Korean War, Floyd Schmoe was sent to South Korea under the auspices of the United Nations Korean Reconstruction Agency to examine humanitarian needs in the war-torn country.

Floyd Schmoe founded "Houses for Korea" to rebuild residential structures, roads, bridges, and wells, and lectured all over the United States to raise money, just as he did for "Houses for Hiroshima".

At the urging of Gordon and Ester Hirabayashi, who were at the American University in Cairo at the time, Floyd Schmoe worked on helping refugees from the 1956 Sinai War.

Floyd Schmoe's writing on nature, particularly A Year in Paradise, published in 1958, For the Love of Some Islands, published in 1964, and The Big Sur, published in 1975, was well received.

Floyd Schmoe spoke out against the war in Viet Nam in 1966.

Floyd Schmoe marched on the United Nations for nuclear disarmament in 1982.

Floyd Schmoe assisted in the establishment of the Seattle-Tashkent Peace Park in 1988.

Floyd Schmoe was nominated three times for the Nobel Peace Prize by US Representative Jim McDermott.

Floyd Schmoe became engaged to Ruth Pickering of Wichita, Kansas in 1916.

Floyd Schmoe married Tomiko Yamazaki, who he met as a volunteer for the "Houses for Hiroshima" project, in 1970.