Objectors to War and Conscription |
Document Group: CDGA
Size: 10 linear inches
Provenance: Donated by War Resisters League
Restrictions: None
Microfilm: None
Finding Aid: Checklist created by Anne Yoder, Oct. 2002
This checklist is the property of the Swarthmore College Peace Collection.
Introduction
On Dec. 1, 1945, representatives from numerous groups (including the Fellowship of Reconciliation, the War Resisters League, and the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom) met in New York City to discuss setting up a committee that could work proactively on the question of amnesty for conscientious objectors. It was agreed to form the Committee for Amnesty for War Objectors and Selective Service Violators, with A.J. Muste as Chair; at its next meeting, on Jan. 12, 1946, the name of the group was changed to Committee for Amnesty for All Objectors to War and Conscription. The Committee's purpose was to seek an amnesty for "all objectors to war and conscription," which included men under army court-martial for their stance against war. Its main office was at 5 Beekman Street in NYC, but a Washington office (dissolved by June 1946) and a Chicago office were in existence as well. Stanley Murphy was Organizing Secretary until March 1946, whereupon Albon Man took over the position. Vivien Roodenko was employed as secretary in the Washington office, and later in the NYC office. Among the Committee's proponents were Emily Greene Balch, Pearl Buck, Dorothy Canfield Fisher, Harold Ickes, A.J. Muste, Robin Myers and Igal Roodenko. Its most widely publicized work was the sponsorship of picketing demonstrations at the White House in May and December 1946 calling for amnesty, but it also promoted its objectives through lobbying of Congressional and other government leaders, creating press releases and published literature, garnering support with signatures to petitions from around the country, and working as a liaison to other groups interested in the amnesty question.
It is unknown exactly when the Committee disbanded, but the last meeting minutes are dated June 30, 1948.
It is unlikely that this collection contains everything put out by the Committee during its existence. The War Resisters League gave the files in this collection to the Swarthmore College Peace Collection at the instigation of Albon Man.
Photographs were removed to the Photograph Collection.
Swarthmore College Peace Collection
For more information, contact Wendy Chmielewski, Curator, at
wchmiel1@ swarthmore.edu or call 610-328-8557.
For other resources, see the college's online library catalog (Tripod).