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Celebrating 70 years with seagoing cowboys
In the wake of the destruction caused by the Second World War, the historical peace churches in the United States (Church of the Brethren, the Society of Friends or "Quakers," and the Mennonites) sponsored relief missions to war-ravaged Europe, typically in cooperation with the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA). These relief missions usually took the form of transporting farm animals (such as heifers or horses), by transatlantic ship, to Poland and other countries where much of the livestock had been killed in the war. The men who tended the animals aboard these boats were called seagoing cowboys.
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Heifer International, an organization founded by a member of the Church of the Brethren, mirrors those war relief programs by continuing, in the 21st century, to operate international relief missions that promote sustainable community agriculture by giving heifers and other farm animals to help people around the world. The organization encourages recipients to "pass on the gift," so that recipients become donors once the animal they receive produces offspring.
A sixtieth anniversary conference commemorating and studying the historical significance of the seagoing cowboys in these relief efforts from 1946 through 1948 was held August 12–14, 2005, at the Church of the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Maryland.
From the 60th anniversary Seagoing Cowboys conference brochure: "From 1946-48, more than 4,000 cows passed through the town of Union Bridge, Maryland on their way to the port of Baltimore where they were loaded onto liberty ships for Europe. The 'seagoing cowboys' who accompanied and cared for these animals came from farms across America. They had one goal in mind: to provide a continuous supply of milk to the children and their families of war-torn Europe by replenishing their lost livestock. This effort was known as Heifer Relief."
One of the cowboys was the future scientist Owen Gingerich.
Seagoing cowboys paul libby
