HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION,
1919-1959
[written by Archivist Eleanor Barr in
1987]
The United States Section of the Women's International League
for Peace and Freedom originated in January 1915 as the Woman's Peace
Party. At a conference in Washington (DC), called by Jane Addams and
Carrie Chapman Catt, approximately 3,000 women approved a platform
calling for a conference of neutrals to offer continuous mediation as
a way to end war, the extension of suffrage to women, and the
establishment of the Woman's Peace Party (WPP). Additional provisions
called for the limitation of armaments and the nationalization of
their manufacture, organized opposition to militarism, education of
youth in the ideals of peace, democratic control of foreign policy,
and the removal of the economic causes of war. Addams was elected
chairman of the WPP.
In April 1915, representatives of the WPP participated in the
International Congress of Women held at The Hague (The Netherlands).
This congress adopted a program similar to the platform of the WPP
and established the International Committee of Women for Permanent
Peace (ICWPP), made up of not more than five women from each of the
twelve nations represented at the congress. Addams, who had chaired
the Hague Congress, was selected as international chairman. At the
first annual meeting, held in January 1916, the WPP voted to become
the U.S. Section of the ICWPP.
The 1915 Congress at The Hague had voted to hold a second
international congress of women at the end of the war at the same
time as the negotiations to frame the terms of peace. In May 1919,
the second International Congress of Women was held in Zurich
(Switzerland), while the Paris Peace Conference was in session. When
the terms of the Treaty of Versailles were made public, the women at
the Zurich congress passed a number of resolutions pointing out the
dangers to permanent peace contained in the provisions of the treaty.
The delegates to the Zurich congress, representing nineteen
countries, were unable to reach agreement on supporting the League of
Nations, so no position was officially taken. All agreed in desiring
a world league representing the will of the people, with membership
open to all states; immediate reduction of armament on the same terms
for all; universal free trade; and "sanctions" in no case to involve
military force or food blockades.
The delegates voted to form a permanent organization, changing its
name to the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
(WILPF). Headquarters were moved from Amsterdam (The Netherlands) to
Geneva (Switzerland) to be near the proposed site of the League of
Nations. Jane Addams was made international president, and Emily
Greene Balch of Massachusetts was elected international
secretary-treasurer in charge of the Geneva office.
In November 1919 the WPP voted to change its name to the Women's
International League for Peace and Freedom, Section for the United
States. Anna Garlin Spencer was selected as national chairman. The
headquarters of the WPP had been in Chicago, home of Jane Addams. The
U.S. Section of WILPF established its national office in New York
City (NY) in early 1920, but moved to Washington (DC) in November
1921.
The WILPF is an international organization with headquarters in
Geneva. There are members all over the world, and established
national sections in many countries. These national sections are
autonomous in terms of organization, finance, and action, and are
free to interpret the broad principles and policies adopted by the
international congresses held approximately every three years.
The U.S. Section is governed by a National Board of Directors
consisting of the national officers, state presidents, chairs of
certain committees, and a number of elected and appointed members.
The National Board has the authority to administer the affairs of the
U.S. Section, subject to instructions from the Annual Meeting. The
size and composition of the National Board are stated in the WILPF
constitution and have been changed periodically. Since 1972, a
majority of the board members have been elected on a regional
basis.
The National Board elects the officers of the U.S. Section and
appoints the chairs of standing committees. Much of the work of the
U.S. Section is done by administrative and program committees.
Committee chairs work closely with paid staff members to plan WILPF
activities and to disseminate information to local branches and the
general public. The number, names, and organizational structure of
WILPF committees have changed through the years. In December 1954
there were 33 divisions, committees and subcommittees.
The Annual Meeting of the U.S. Section, attended by delegates from
branches throughout the country, discusses and approves a policy
statement and program for the coming year. Reports are given by
national officers, staff members, and committee chairs. Resolutions
are passed stating WILPF positions and asking for specific actions by
government officials and others. The budget also is adopted at the
Annual Meeting. At the Annual Meeting in 1970, it was decided to hold
national membership meetings biennially (starting in 1971), with
regional meetings in the years when a Biennial Meeting was not
scheduled.
The United States Section of WILPF is made up of many local branches.
As the membership grew quickly, from about 500 to over 1300 in 1921,
state chairs became necessary to coordinate the work of local groups
formed in various areas. By May 1924, the U.S. Section had 26
branches and the membership had increased to about 6,000.
Local branches carry out the active legislative and educational work
of the organization. They hold public meetings, conduct study groups
and service projects, and participate in various campaigns and
activities coordinated by the state and national offices. Local
branches often undertake joint activities with other
organizations.
The importance of the state branch within the organizational
structure of the U.S. Section has varied from state to state and from
one time period to another. Among the states which had strong state
branches prior to 1959 are the following: California, Maryland,
Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York and
Pennsylvania. Most of these states maintained offices with paid staff
members, sent out regular newsletters, and acted as service centers
for local branches within the state.
WILPF officers, board members, and committee chairs are assisted in
their work by a small paid staff. Prior to the appointment of Amy
Woods in October 1922, there was considerable turnover in the
position of executive secretary. Woods was followed by Dorothy
Detzer, who served as executive secretary from 1924 to 1946. Detzer
focused much of her attention on legislative activities and was well
known as a lobbyist on Capitol Hill. Her Branch Letters are
full of detailed reports on legislative issues of interest to
WILPF.
Mildred Scott Olmsted served as executive secretary of the
Pennsylvania Branch from 1922 to 1946. Beginning in 1934, she also
served as national organization secretary of the U.S. Section, with
primary responsibility for maintaining close contact with branches
and for developing branch work and organization. Her Organization
Letter was an important channel of communication between the
national officers and committee chairs and the state and local branch
presidents and other members of the National Board. Olmsted became
national administrative secretary in 1946. She retired as executive
director in 1966 after 44 years of dedicated service to the
Pennsylvania Branch and the U.S. Section.
By 1940, the U.S. Section had 13,000 members and over 100 branches.
Membership dropped significantly during World War II, however. In
January 1955, there were 4,336 members in ten state branch and 62
local branches. The Jane Addams Branch was formed in 1948 for
members-at-large who belonged to the U.S. Section but lived in areas
where there was no local branch.
The national headquarters of the U.S. Section was located initially
in New York City (NY), but moved to Washington (DC) in late 1921. In
1946, when Olmsted became administrative secretary, the national
office was moved to Philadelphia (PA), where it is still located. At
the same time, a separate Legislative Office was established in
Washington (DC) under the direction of a legislative secretary. The
strength of WILPF in the Philadelphia area and the availability of of
dedicated volunteers have been factors in the decision to keep the
national office in Philadelphia. The New York office of WILPF was
established in 1950 when Gladys D. Walser became US. Section observer
to the United Nations. For several years, her apartment served as the
WILPF office in New York. In 1953, space was rented in the Carnegie
Building at United Nations Plaza, to be used by the WILPF observer to
the United Nations, and by the Committee for World Development and
World Disarmament. The Jane Addams Peace Association also used this
office from 1955 to 1959.
WILPF was the first international organization of women devoted to
efforts to establish permanent peace. Throughout its history, WILPF
members have sought to work by nonviolent means for the establishment
of those political, economic, social and psychological conditions
throughout the world that can assure peace, freedom, and justice for
all.
The object of the U.S. Section, as stated in its 1919 constitution,
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."
Membership was open to all women who substantially supported the
platform of the U.S. Section and who paid the prescribed dues. Men
became eligible for associate membership in 1921.
Statements of principles and policies reiterated through the years
have stressed the interdependence of peace, freedom and justice....
Through educational and legislative campaigns, WILPF has supported
total and universal disarmament, measures to remove the economic
causes of war, pacific settlement of international disputes, and the
establishment of legal machinery for such settlement. WILPF members
have stressed the importance of education for peace and have
campaigned against militaristic toys. The following paragraphs
provide a brief summary of some of the specific issues that were of
concern to the U.S. Section between 1919 and 1959, but they are not
intended to provide a complete historical account of all the U.S.
Section attempted to do or actually accomplished during this
period.
In January 1920, WILPF appealed to the State Department for the
release of political prisoners and conscientious objectors, protested
against the deportation of those designated as "reds," and opposed
compulsory military training as a feature of plans for the
reorganization of the U.S. Army. The U.S. Section also urged that the
U.S. government recognize the Bolshevik government of Russia and take
measures to alleviate the suffering and starvation caused by the
prolonged blockade of that country.
The Fourth International Congress of WILPF was held in Washington
(DC) in 1924. Following the congress, many of the European delegates
went on a speaking tour on the "Pax Special" train
[see photograph collection]. They
visited 23 cities, holding meetings and making speeches in an attempt
to arouse sentiment for a "New International Order." Amy Woods,
national secretary from 1922-1924, stated that "the opposition to all
forms of peace work which has recently shown itself throughout the
country is the symptom of our growing strength."
In the period 1925-1927, the U.S. Section focused attention on the
problem of economic and financial imperialism. Members succeeded in
having drafted and introduced into both houses of Congress a bill
that was devised to prevent the United States from becoming involved
on behalf of citizens' investments in foreign countries. IN 1926, a
goodwill mission was sent to investigate conditions in Haiti, under
the sponsorship of WILPF and with the cooperation of the Fellowship
of Reconciliation and the American Friends Service Committee. Its
recommendations to President Coolidge, published under the title
Occupied Haiti, eventually led to an official inquiry under
President Hoover which resulted in the withdrawal of all Marines and
new treaty arrangements. A nationwide campaign by WILPF and other
groups in 1926 1927 against intervention in Mexico was followed by a
reversal of State Department policy and the turning back of the U.S.
Army near the border of Mexico. WILPF also was effective in
influencing U.S. government policy in regard to Cuba, Nicaragua and
Liberia.
Sine 1919 the U.S. Section had supported the idea of democratic world
government but had reservations about whether the United States
should enter the League of Nations. After lengthy discussion, a
resolution was finally passed at the Annual Meeting in 1927, stating
that the WILPF "desires to see the United States enter the League of
Nations, providing only that it does so with the understanding that
the United States is exempt from any obligation to supply military
forces or to join in exerting military pressure in any case."
In the late 1920s, WILPF sought to develop support for treaties that
would outlaw war as a means of settling international disputes. At
the request of WILPF, Professor Francis B. Sayre (of the Harvard Law
School) drafted a model arbitration treaty that was widely
circulated. Also in 1927, WILPF presented a petition bearing 30,000
signatures asking President Coolidge to initiate treaties to outlaw
war. WILPF actions helped to lay the foundation for the acceptance of
the Kellogg-Briand Pact for the Renunciation of War, signed in August
1928 by fifteen countries and ratified by the U.S. Senate in
1929.
During 1931, Jane Addams was selected for several significant awards.
She received the Bryn Mawr Award for Distinguished Service and the
Pictorial Review Prize as the most famous woman in America. In
December 1931 it was announced that the Nobel Peace Prize was to be
awarded jointly to Addams and to Nicholas Murray Butler, president of
Columbia University. Addams announced that her part of the award
would be used to further the projects of the Geneva office of the
WILPF.
When the World Disarmament Conference at Geneva was convened in 1932,
peace advocates presented over 8 million signatures on petitions for
disarmament. Of these, 6 million, for total and universal
disarmament, had been collected by WILPF members in many countries.
The U.S. Section organized a Peace Caravan from Los Angeles (CA) to
Washington (DC) that traveled 10,000 miles across the country,
holding meetings and gathering signatures [see
Photograph Collection].
For a number of years, WILPF had sought to find a way to curb private
profit and traffic in the weapons of war. At the 1933 Annual Meeting,
the U.S. Section adopted a resolution urging President Roosevelt to
propose a senatorial investigation into the private manufacture of
arms. Dorothy Detzer is credited with influencing Senator Gerald P.
Nye to introduce, in January 1934, a resolution to investigate the
manufacture of armaments. WILPF supported this investigation and
helped to give nationwide publicity to the influence of arms
manufacturers in precipitating international and civil war and in
preventing world disarmament. The Nye Commission proposed a
comprehensive program of interlocking legislative measures to
maintain peace and to safeguard the rights of U.S. citizens. The
Neutrality Bill, providing for an embargo on arms and loans to
nations at war, was the only legislation even partially enacted into
law, an dit was not passed in the form proposed by the Nye
Commission. The U.S. Section continued to seek amendments to
strengthen the Neutrality Act.
In 1934, legislative also was passed to give independence to the
Philippines, a goal for which WILPF had worked since 1921.
The U.S. Section had long advocated that the United States join the
World Court, stating in 1922 that "the establishment of the World
Court on a permanent and secure basis offers a medium for the
transfer of international disputes from the battle field to the court
of law." The issue came before Congress in 1935 but was defeated by a
tiny margin in spite of lobbying efforts by many peace groups,
including WILPF. The U.S. finally joined the world Court at the end
of World War II.
WILPF celebrated its 20th anniversary in 1935. A banquet was held in
Washington (DC) on May 02, 1935, to honor Jane Addams. Eleanor
Roosevelt was one of the main speakers. The following day, an
around-the-world broadcast was arranged, the first of its kind,
during which ambassadors and statesmen paid tribute to the League and
to Addams as one of its founders (she died just three weeks
later).
The Peoples Mandate to Governments to End War was one of the last
projects approved by Addams before her death. This campaign grew out
of the work of WILPF's Disarmament Campaign Committee, a petition
drive begun in 1931 and managed by Mabel Vernon. The Peoples Mandate
was launched as an international campaign on September 07, 1935, the
75th anniversary of Addams' birth. The purpose of the Peoples Mandate
was "to express such overwhelming opposition to war that governments
will not dare resort to it." The goal was to secure 50 million
signatures from citizens in 50 countries and to present the mandate
to the Council and Assembly of the League of Nations. The Peoples
Mandate Committee for the Western Hemisphere and the Far East was
established as a separate organization in January 1936. Later the
name was changed to the Peoples Mandate Committee for Inter-American
Peace and Cooperation [see DG
109: Peoples Mandate for more
information]. Mabel Vernon served as the director of the
mandate campaign in the United States.
Also in the mid-1930s, WILPF joined with some forty other national
organizations to set up the National Peace Conference, as a way of
unifying and coordinating the efforts of various groups interested in
world justice and peace. In 1936-1937, WILPF participated in the
Emergency Peace Campaign, a nationwide effort to keep the United
States out of war and to promote world peace [see
DG
012: Emergency Peace Campaign for more
information].
During the late 1930s, WILPF members sought to give aid to refugees
from Nazi persecution in Europe, some of whom were women they had met
at WILPF international congresses. A Committee on Refugees was
established in 1938 to promote WILPF efforts in this regard,
particularly in securing affidavits of support for refugees.
As the situation in Europe deteriorated, it became apparent that
differences of opinion existed within the WILPF membership concerning
WILPF policies. Early in 1939 the National Board agreed to conduct a
"poll of opinion" among WILPF members. Material on two patterns of
political and economic action that the United States might follow,
described as the "collective security" position and the
"proneutrality" position, was sent to the membership for discussion.
Results indicated that 75 percent of the members favored the
proneutrality position of the WILPF, based on a program calling for
mandatory neutrality, the war referendum, a peacetime embargo on all
munitions, and similar policies.
An emergency meeting of the National Board, held on December 10,
1941, issued a statement that said, in part: "The Women's
International League for Peace and Freedom, which was born in the
throes of the first world war, has devoted 26 years to the task of
working for those political and economic arrangements on which alone
a lasting peace would have been possible. The war in which we find
ourselves today is the inevitable result of a world organized for war
and not for peace.... Finally, we would point out that the entire
breakdown of political efforts into active warfare convinces us anew
that neither the United States nor the rest of the world can ever be
truly free until the conditions of peace have been established for
all nations and all peoples. Mankind must some day be released from
the violence and suffering and waste of this recurring tragedy. For
us, war remains the final infamy."
When the United States entered the war, the opportunities for WILPF
action necessarily changed. During the war, the WILPF program
stressed mediation, the establishment of a peace aims commission, the
importance of democratic world government, and the protection of
civil liberties. Members continued to do what they could to assist
European refugees and to combat active anti-Semitism. They befriended
and helped to resettle Japanese-Americans evacuated from California.
They opposed conscription of women and of 18- and 19-year-old men,
and supported me who were conscientious objectors. WILPF also worked
for federal anti poll tax legislation and for the abrogation of the
Chinese Exclusion Act.
At the close of the war, WILPF observers followed closely the
discussion from Dumbarton Oaks to San Francisco as the charter of the
United Nations was developed. The participation of WILPF and other
organizations in the San Francisco Conference established a precedent
that later led to the formal recognition of nongovernmental
organizations (NGOs) at the United Nations.
In the early postwar period, the U.S. Section urged a vast program of
reconstruction aid to countries devastated by the war. Many WILPF
members participated in relief activities, packing food and clothing
to send abroad, although they stressed that efforts to create a world
in which people could live together in peace were far more important
in the long run than short-term efforts to relieve suffering.
In August 1946, the 10th International Congress of WILPF was held in
Luxembourg on the theme of "A New World Order." Thirteen sections
were able to send representatives; ten were not. Exhausted and
disillusioned by their experiences during the war, some had lost
their enthusiasm for peace work and thought that the League should
not continue as a separate women's organization. A motion for
dissolution by the Dutch section was introduced but was
overwhelmingly defeated. Resolutions were passed on many aspects of
peace and international relations, and the League again pledged
itself to try to organize a world in which the rights and liberty of
all human beings were assured.
The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Emily Greene Balch,
international president of WILPF, and to John Raleigh Mott, in
December 1946. Balch and Jane Addams are the only American women to
have received the award.
By 1948 support for the United Nations had become a major part of
WILPF's program. Members of the U.S. Section believed that the
weakness and inadequacy of the United Nations was due to the climate
of fear and distrust among member nations. They sought to create a
climate in which states would cooperate to strengthen the
international organization, gradually transforming the United Nations
into a world government. WILPF International was granted consultative
status with the UN Economic and Social Council in 1948, and in later
years similar status was granted by UN agencies such as UNESCO, FAO,
and UNICEF. Soon the U.S. Section appointed an accredited observer to
the United Nations, and established a separate office in New York
City for work with that body.
A Special Committee for World Reconstruction and World Disarmament
was organized in 1950 to do research, offer publications, and conduct
widespread community meetings, conferences, and workshops on these
issues. In 1952, the name of the committee was changed to the
Committee for World Development and World Disarmament. The New York
office of WILPF served as the headquarters of this committee. The
work of CWDWD was funded by the Jane Addams Peace Association (JAPA),
incorporated in 1948 to pay for educational projects undertaken by
the U.S. Section. Tax-exempt status was granted by the federal
government in 1951 [see DG 069: CWDWD for more
information]. Other projects carried out under JAPA
include Art for World Friendship [see DG 066: Art
for World Friendship for more information], the Jane
Addams Children's Book Award, and a variety of international
conferences and scholarship programs.
Disarmament has been a major focus of WILPF activity through the
years. In the 1950s, the U.S. Section advocated a bold program for
total universal disarmament under the supervision of the United
Nations. They supported measures leading toward this goal, such as
cessation of nuclear weapons testing and the neutralization an
eventual demilitarization of tension areas in Central Europe, the
Middle East, the Far East, and Latin America. The U.S. Section
supported international economic development to relieve human
suffering and international problems caused by the low economic
status of so much of the world. They preferred aid programs carried
on through the United Nations and its specialized agencies, because
they furnished safeguards against economic exploitation and lessened
the fear of imperialistic aims.
WILPF
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