Records of the Women's Peace Union, 1942-1950

DG 044

© Swarthmore College Peace Collection  
Swarthmore, Pennsylvania 19081-1399  
Seal of Swarthmore College
Table of contents
Abstract
The Women's Peace Union was founded in August 1921 to encourage the formation of a peace group to encompass all the women of the western hemisphere, to work for complete disarmament and the abolition of all constitutional and legal sanctions for war. Records in the Swarthmore College Peace Collection are those of the United States branch

Background note:
The Women's Peace Union was founded in 1921 at a meeting of American and Canadian women in Niagara Falls. The Women's Peace Union for the Western Hemisphere that resulted from this conference had branches in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and several other Latin American countries. Each group worked for complete disarmament and for the abolition of legal sanction for war.

The Women's Peace Union ascribed to a pledge that advocated noncooperation with any war effort. To this end, in 1926, the members of the U.S. section of the WPU drafted an amendment that would make the waging of war unconstitutional. The WPU gained the support of Senator Lynn J. Frazier of North Dakota, who introduced the amendment in every session of Congress from 1927 until 1940. Of the many women who worked in the WPU Caroline Lexow Babcock was especially active in the early Congressional lobbying campaigns. Tracy D. Mygatt, another absolute pacifist, worked with the WPU from its inception and was instrumental in representing the organizations work against conscription from 1939 to 1940.

Scope and content
The records of the Women's Peace Union in the Swarthmore College Peace Collection are those of the U.S. Branch. Correspondence makes up a large part of the collection. There are also minutes from meetings, reports, form letters, WPU literature, information on the history of the Women's Peace Union, petitions, and material on the Frazier amendment.

Correspondents and others in the collection include Jane Addams, Caroline Lexow Babcock, Elizabeth Black, Katherine Devereux Blake, Elinor Byrns, Lynn J. Frazier, Yella Hertzka, Lida Gustava Heymann, Jessie Wallace Hughan, Frieda L. Lazarus, Lola Maverick Lloyd, Tracy D. Mygatt, Rosika Schwimmer, Lydia G. Wentworth, Mary E. Winsor, and Frances M. Witherspoon.

Administrative information
Restrictions
No

Preferred citation
Swarthmore College Peace Collection, Records of the Women's Peace Union, 1921-1940

Provenance
Issuing Body: Women's Peace Union

Received: 1942 (Acc. No. 42-56)

1947 (Acc. No. 47-16)

Acquisition: (1942) Tracy D. Mygatt; and (1947) Frances M. Witherspoon

Additional descriptive information
Notes
Microfilm: Yes

Finding aid revised by Peace Collection staff.

EAD finding aid completed by Wendy E. Chmielewski, August 2002.

This checklist is the property of the Swarthmore College Peace Collection

Added entries
Subjects
  • Women's Peace Union,U.S. Branch,Archives

    Contact information

    Swarthmore College Peace Collection
    500 College Ave.
    Swarthmore, Pennsylvania 19081-1399
    U.S.A.

    Telephone: (610) 328-8557
    FAX: (610) 690-5728
    Email: wchmiel@swarthmore.edu



    Sponsor:
    Encoding made possible by a grant from the Gladys Kriebel Delmas Foundation to the Philadelphia Consortium of Special Collections Libraries

     

    Collection inventory

    Reel 88.1
    Box 1

    History, Minutes, Resolutions, 1922-1930

    Office System, and Agreement on Renting Office in, 1928

    History of the Women's Peace Union

    Minutes, 1922

    Minutes, 1923

    Minutes, 1924

    Minutes, 1925

    Minutes, 1926

    Minutes, 1927

    Minutes, 1928

    Minutes, 1929

    Minutes, 1930
    Reel 88.2
    Box 2
    Minutes, Press Releases, Form Letters, 1921-1940

    Minutes, 1931

    Committee for Total Disarmament

    Minutes, 1935

    Minutes, 1936

    Minutes, 1937

    Minutes, 1938

    Minutes, 1939

    Press Releases

    Minutes of Geneva Committee

    Women's Peace Union Form Letter and Releases, 1921-1940
    Box 3
    Women's Peace Union Literature

    Literature (folder 1)
    Reel 88.3


    Literature (folders 2 to 10)
    Box 3a
    Women's Peace Union Literature and Bulletins

    Political Bulletin

    No More War Bulletin, 1922

    Peace Plans, 1924
    Box 4
    Women's Peace Union Petition, Speeches

    Women's Petition, 1928, 1940

    Babcock's Speeches

    T.D. Mygatt's Speeches

    I. Palmer's Speeches

    Radio Speeches

    Inter-American Conference, Buenos Aires, 1936-1938
    Reel 88.4


    North Dakota Campaign, 1927-1928

    Frazier Hearings, 1927-1929
    Box 5
    Frazier Hearings and Amendments, Correspondence

    Frazier Amendment Congressional Hearings and Resolutions, 1926-1939
    Reel 88.5


    Frazier Hearing, April 12, 1930

    Fish and Ludlow, Congressional Resolutions, 1937-1938

    Sample Correspondence with Candidates in Different States, 1924-1926
    Box 6
    Correspondence--Frazier, and Correspondence--A. 1926-1937;

    Frazier, 1926-1937

    A, 1921-1925

    A, 1926

    A, 1927

    A, 1928
    Reel 88.6


    A, 1929

    A, 1930

    A, 1931

    Anthony, Helen, 1921-1931
    Box 7
    Correspondence, A, (Cont'd); B, 1921-1931

    Armistice Day (Radio Celebration), 1927

    Ashby, Isabel, 1921-1931

    B, 1921-1925

    B, 1926
    Reel 88.7


    B, 1927

    B, 1928

    B, 1929
    Box 8
    Correspondence, B 1921-1931

    B, 1930

    B, 1931

    Babcock, E.S., 1924-1931
    Reel 88.8


    Baer, Gertrude, 1922-1930

    Barker, Mrs. Christine, 1921-1929

    Black, Elisabeth, 1922-1930

    Blake, K. Devereux, 1922-1929
    Box 9

    Correspondence B, and Correspondence C, 1921-1931

    Brokaw, V.B., 1926-1931
    Reel 88.9


    Byrns, Elinor, 1923-1931

    C, 1921

    C, 1922

    C, 1923

    C, 1924

    C, 1925
    Box 10
    Correspondence C, (Continued)1921-1931

    C, 1926

    C, 1927
    Reel 88.10


    C, 1928

    C, 1929

    C, 1930

    C, 1931

    Churches, 1923-1926

    Colleges, 1925

    Committee on Militarism in Education, 1926-1931

    Cook, Mrs. Elisabeth C.

    Cope, Mrs. Walter

    Cox, Lucy, 1926-1931
    Box 11
    Correspondence D ;and Correspondence E, 1921-1931

    D, 1921-1925

    D, 1926

    D, 1927

    D, 1928
    Reel 88.11


    D, 1929

    D, 1930

    D, 1931

    Dennett, Mary W., 1928-1931

    Doukhobors, 1929-1930

    E, 1922-1925

    E, 1926

    E, 1927

    E, 1928

    E, 1929

    E, 1930

    E, 1931

    English Parliament, 1926-1930
    Box 12

    Correspondence E (Cont'd); Correspondence F, and Correspondence G, 1921-1931

    Embassy Letters, 1926-1927

    F, 1922-1925

    F, 1926

    F, 1927

    F, 1928

    F, 1929

    F, 1930

    F, 1931

    Fendall, M.C., 1924-1925
    Reel 88.12


    Flanagan, 1926-1928

    Floyd, William

    G, 1921-1925

    G, 1926

    G, 1927

    G, 1928
    Box 13

    Correspondence G, (Cont'd); and Correspondence H, 1921-1931

    G, 1929

    G, 1930

    G, 1931

    Graves, A., 1923-1931

    H, 1921-1925
    Reel 88.13


    H, 1926

    H, 1927

    H, 1928

    H, 1929

    H, 1930

    H, 1931
    Box 14

    Correspondence, H, (Cont'd); and Correspondence I-J-K 1921-1931

    Heimisch, Isabel, 1928-1931

    Heymann, Lida G., 1926

    Hoover, 1929

    Hughes, Miss Ruby, 1926-1930

    I, 1921-1925

    I, 1926

    I, 1927

    I, 1928

    I, 1929

    I, 1930

    I, 1931
    Reel 88.14


    J, 1921-1925

    J, 1926

    J, 1927

    J, 1928

    J, 1929

    J, 1930

    J, 1931

    K, 1921-1925

    K, 1926

    K, 1927
    Box 15

    Correspondence K, (Cont'd); and Correspondence L, 1921-1931

    K, 1928

    K, 1929

    K, 1930

    K, 1931

    L, 1921-1925

    L, 1926
    Reel 88.15


    L, 1927

    L, 1928

    L, 1929

    L, 1930

    L, 1931

    La Follette, R., 1925-1929

    Lazarus, Freida, 1927-1930

    League to Abolish Capital Punishment, 1925-1928

    Leber, Alma, 1922-1931

    Ledletter, Florence, 1928-1930

    Lloyd, Lola Maverick, 1925-1931
    Box 16
    Correspondence M ; and Correspondence N, 1925-1931

    M, 1925

    M, 1926

    M, 1927

    M, 1928

    M, 1929
    Reel 88.16


    M, 1930

    M, 1931

    Magazines, 1927

    Mobilization Day, 1924

    N, 1921-1925

    N, 1926

    N, 1927

    N, 1928
    Box 17