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Women's International League for Peace and Freedom : United States Section, 1919-1959

The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) is an international organization founded in 1919. The US Section of WILPF began as the Woman's Peace Party, founded in 1915 by Jane Addams and Carrie Chapman Catt. Addams also served as first president of WILPF's international organization. Both Addams and Emily Greene Balch, WILPF's first international secretary-treasurer, received Nobel Peace Prizes for their work. At its peak in 1940, WILPF's US Section had more than one hundred branches and thirteen thousand members. Insight into the organizational history and mission-related work of the US Section of WILPF can be found in the historical records, correspondence, and serials of this collection. Historical records make up more than one-third of the materials here and include complete sets from 1920 to 1959 of handbooks, annual meeting information, national board minutes and resolutions, and anniversary celebration documents. Committee and fieldwork files treat topics related to the issues of the time, such as US imperialism and disarmament in the 1920s and 1930s; neutrality in the upcoming war in the late 1930s; support for conscientious objectors and European refugees during World War II; and postwar reconstruction activities and United Nations monitoring. Literature files include both public-facing materials, such as pamphlets and speeches, and materials for members, such as form letters. More than half of the collection comprises WILPF national office correspondence from 1919 to 1955. This includes letters to state and local WILPF branches, other peace and justice organizations, government entities, and individuals. Correspondence relates to the many peace-related events organized by WILPF as well as wide-ranging topics such as penal reform and the World's Fair. The final group of materials consists of nearly a dozen periodicals issued by WILPF, including yearly Branch Letters from 1922 to 1959. This collection is essential for researchers studying WILPF and pacifism in the United States during the twentieth century, as well as women's studies researchers and those focused on Jane Addams, Emily Greene Balch, and other WILPF members

Online Women's Studies Archive

Women's International League for Peace and Freedom Collection

The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom ( WILPF next hit ) Collection contains oral history interviews on audiocassettes and reel-to-reel tapes, transcripts (full and excerpts), photographs, and supplemental materials and related monographsThe Women's International League for Peace and Freedom Collection consists of 232 audiocassettes housed in 7 boxes and 38 7" open reel tapes housed in 2 boxes. The collection also contains supplemental print and manuscript materials housed in 4 boxes. The oral history interviews that comprise the core of this collection were recorded between roughly 1979 and 1989. Some of the 7" open reel tapes contain recordings of the 1967 National Conference at Asilomar. The print and manuscript material have varied date ranges. The interviews are the product of the Women's Peace Oral History project, which began in 1979. As the director of the Women's Peace Oral History project, Judith Porter Adams was instrumental to the creation of these interviews, as well as their collection and arrangement at the Archive of Recorded Sound. Adams' book, "Peacework: Oral Histories of Women Peace Activists," is also a part of the collection. The interviewees are prominent members of WILPF and Women Strike for Peace, with very few exceptions (for example, Linus Pauling and Alice Cox's mother, Helen Perrin). Older women were frequently chosen by the project because of their years of experience; many of these women are now deceased. Interviewees discuss their involvement in the peace movement and peace activities, as well as their personal histories. Transcripts of some of the interviews are included with the paper materials

Women's International League for Peace and Freedom bulletin

Online Women's Studies Archive