I was just visiting the Peace Collection website for some information and was inspired to create this quick blog post inviting you to visit the archives website. The collection of peace movement organizations and individuals is really remarkable. What a fine resource to have right at our finger tips! Do you know what is IN the Peace Collection? Take a quick browse through the handy “Document Groups” page. Here are a few of the items you will find:
Gene Sharp [8″ x 10″ black & white photograph]
Albert Einstein Institution Records (DG 220)
125 linear feet
Founded in 1983; dedicated to advancing the study and use of strategic nonviolent action in conflicts throughout the world; committed to the defense of freedom, democracy, and the reduction of political violence through the use of nonviolent action; principal founder, Dr. Gene Sharp.
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Jane Addams,1900 [4″ x 6.25″ sepia photograph; credit: Waters ]
Jane Addams Papers (DG 001)
130 linear feet
A world-famous social reformer; co-founded the first settlement house in America in 1889. Known as Hull-House, it reached thousands of Chicago-area immigrants through social activities and classes. Addams and her co-workers championed many causes on behalf of the urban poor, such as protection of immigrants, child labor laws, industrial safety, juvenile courts, and recognition of labor unions. As a feminist and pacifist, Addams was a leading figure in the movement for international peace. From 1915 through 1919, she served as chairman of the Woman’s Peace Party (U.S.) and the International Committee of Women for Permanent Peace. Both organizations were forerunners of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF). Addams was international president of WILPF from 1919 through 1929, and honorary international president from 1929 until her death in 1935. Jane Addams was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931.
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The Phoenix at sail [6.5″ x 4.5″ black & white photograph, cropped]
A Quaker Action Group Records [AQAG] (DG 074)
19.75 linear feet
Founded in Philadelphia (PA) in 1966 to apply nonviolent direct action as a witness against the war in Vietnam; not an official body of the Religious Society of Friends; in 1971 transformed into Movement for a New Society.
Bayard Rustin with Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, India, 1949 (original includes other people) [7″x 5″sepia photograph, cropped; from box “Individuals: A-Z”]
Fellowship of Reconciliation Records [FOR] (DG 013)
171+ linear feet
Founded in 1915 by Christian pacifists; members are now drawn from many religious groups; seeks to apply principles of peace and social justice and nonviolent social change to issues such as disarmament, conscription, race relations, economic justice, and civil liberties. The FOR-USA is affiliated with the International Fellowship of Reconciliation.
Button “Taxes for Peace Not War; World Peace Tax Fund” [1.5″ metal;
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- National Campaign for a Peace Tax Fund Records (DG 155)
8 linear feet
Founded in Ann Arbor (MI) in 1971 as the World Peace Tax Fund to provide a means whereby a taxpayer conscientiously opposed to any participation in war could have his or her income, estate, and gift tax payments spent for non-military purposes only; national office moved to Washington (DC) in 1975; name changed to National Council for a World Peace Tax Fund in 1975, to National Campaign for a World Peace Tax Fund in 1983, and to National Campaign for a Peace Tax Fund in 1984 or 1985. Collection ncludes correspondence, office files, brochures, and newsletters. No finding aid available online.
Bayard Rustin & Evan Thomas at 13th Annual WRL Conference, 1942 [9.25″ x 6.5″ sepia photograph, cropped; credit: Sidney Moritz, New York (NY)]
34+ linear feet
Established by Dr. Jessie Wallace Hughan, together with colleagues from the Women’s Peace Society and the Women’s Peace Union, as an rganization with similar goals to War Resisters’ International; seeks to end war and social injustice through pacifist and nonviolent tactics.
Ron Kovac (Vietnam War veteran) protesting in front of Nixon headquarters, 1972 [3.5″ x 5″ color photograph, cropped]
- Women Strike for Peace Records (DG 115)
32 linear feet
Begun in 1961 as a one-day protest against nuclear weapons, led by Dagmar Wilson, in Washington (DC); a nation-wide grass-roots organization most active during the Vietnam War, when it operated draft counseling and amnesty programs, and lobbied against the continuation of the war; has local chapters throughout the U.S.; national headquarters in Philadelphia (PA); legislative office and National Information Clearing House in Washington (DC); also known as WISP (Women’s International Strike for Peace) or Women for Peace; disbanded ca. 1989.
Washington State Branch with No More War signs, Seattle (WA), Sept. 1922
[10″ x 8″ sepia photograph, cropped; larger size]
- Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (U.S.) Records [WILPF] (DG 043)
- 238+ linear feet
Established in January 1920, replacing the Woman’s Peace Party as the official arm of the WILPF in the United States; its aim was to “promote methods for the attainment of that peace between nations which is based on justice and good will and to cooperate with women from other countries who are working for the same ends”; an important leader in the peace movement of the 20th century, as well as in women’s issues; had a Legislative Office in Washington (DC) for many years; had/has many state and local branches established to carry out goals of the national program on a more local level; national office in Philadelphia (PA) closed in 2009; some activities currently being overseen from office in Connecticut (2010- ). Collection includes records from its predecessor organization, the Woman’s Peace Party, some files related to the International WILPF (especially reports of international congresses), the U.S. National records, and the files of the Jane Addams Peace Association [JAPA]. Available as well are photographs and/or negatives (several thousand), periodicals, posters, banners, scrapbooks, postcards, graphics, audiovisual material, campaign buttons, lapel ribbons and pins, bumperstickers and other stickers, and other memorabilia.