Woman's Peace Party Records

Date created 1915-1919
Creator Woman's Peace Party | Hull, Hannah Clothier, 1872-1958 | Addams, Jane, 1860-1935 | Lewis, Lucy Biddle, 1861-1941 | Balch, Emily Greene, 1867-1961
Abstract Consists of general organizational files of the national office (in Chicago) such as meeting minutes and correspondence, as well as material from the State Branches.
Additional Description The Woman's Peace Party existed between 1915 and 1919, becoming the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) US Section. Headquartered in Chicago and with branches in several states, Philadelphia- and Pennsylvania-related materials are scattered throughout this collection. The two Philadelphia women most involved in the organization were Hannah Clothier Hull and Lucy Biddle Lewis, who played important roles in crafting and debating the group's agenda. Both are featured in annual meeting minutes, which often include detailed transcripts. Additionally, state branches were relatively autonomous, and this collection includes a fair number of meeting minutes, programs, pamphlets, and clippings that shed light on the Pennsylvania branch's specific activities. There is also some correspondence between Pennsylvania branch members and national office members, including Jane Addams.
Research Interest With the centennial of these events underway, the Pennsylvania-specific parts of this collection will be interesting to researchers studying World War I's effects on the Commonwealth. Additionally, they will be useful to historians interested in the relationships between state and national offices, debates within the peace movement, the interrelatedness of peace and suffrage, how activists' strategies changed once the US entered the war, or the biographies of such women as Hull and Lewis.
Full collection description Home repository description for Woman's Peace Party Records
View full item http://archives.tricolib.brynmawr.edu/resources/scpc-dg-043-part_i
Local identifier DG 043
Contributing institution Swarthmore College Peace Collections