Call Number:

CDG-A.No Foreign War Committee

Repository:

Swarthmore College Peace Collection

Extent:

0.17 linear ft. (2 linear in.)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Cite as: Swarthmore College Peace Collection, CDG-A., No Foreign War Committee..

Date:

1940-1941 (inclusive)

Abstract:

Emerging from a preliminary group called the No Foreign War Campaign Steering Committee, the No Foreign War Committee was a short-lived (December 1940-April 1941) organization which was the East Coast counterpart of the America First Committee. The No Foreign War Committee's chairman, Verne Marshall, had been the editor of the Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Gazette. He was not a pacifist, and his assumption of the chairmanship of the group caused all of the original founders to resign and to disavow Marshall's tactics. Under his chairmanship, the primary function of NFWC was to castigate the Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies. Marshall was an isolationist who espoused "impregnable defense" and who was known to have antisemitic opinions. The Committee failed to gain wide support or attract prominent backers. It succeeded in alienating mainstream peace leaders.