Main content
Women's Committee to Oppose Conscription Records
Notifications
Held at: Swarthmore College Peace Collection [Contact Us]500 College Avenue, Swarthmore 19081-1399
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Swarthmore College Peace Collection. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
This group was originally named the Committee to Oppose the Conscription of Women [WCOC], and then the National Committee to Oppose the Conscription of Women. It was formed to protest the Austin-Wadsworth legislative bills and similar measures, and as an independent committee with one objective it expected to educate and motivate a constituency no organized peace group could reach. At its height, the group had a governing committee of 150 members and a national mailing list of 3000. When the immediate threat of drafting women had passed, the group changed its name again, this time to the Women's Committee to Oppose Conscription, to reflect its stand against any conscription. Mildred Scott Olmsted served as Director, A.J. Muste as Treasurer, and Grace Rhoads as secretary. The Committee was headed by Katherine Pierce and Frances Chalmers of New York City.
The material in this collection came in 1948 from Grace Rhoads; in 1966 from Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (Mildred Scott Olmsted's files); and in 1969 from Mildred Scott Olmsted. It is difficult to know if this comprises all of the files kept by the Committee's office, though it is unlikely.
In 2001, the collection was rearranged and refoldered; because of time constraints, however, no attempt was made to do preservation photocopying (much of the paper in this collection is brittle), or to put into chronological order the material within the folders
Guide to the Swarthmore College Peace Collection, 2nd ed., p. 77.
Guide to Sources on Women in the Swarthmore College Peace Collection, p. 29.
Gift of Grace Rhoads, Mildred Scott Olmsted, and the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, U.S. Section ; 1948, 1966, 1969.
Collection re-processed and checklist revised by Anne Yoder in April, 2001; This finding aid was prepared by Chloe Lucchesi- Malone in August, 2009.
Organization
Subject
- Publisher
- Swarthmore College Peace Collection
- Access Restrictions
-
The collection is open for research use.
-
All or part of this collection is stored off-site. Contact Swarthmore College Peace Collection staff at peacecollection@swarthmore.edu at least two weeks in advance of visit to request boxes.
- Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendents, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
- Use Restrictions
-
None.
Collection Inventory
History of organization, undated.
Box 1 [SCPC-4614]
Meeting minutes, 1942.
Box 1 [SCPC-4614]
Meeting minutes, 1944 - January 1947.
Box 1 [SCPC-4614]
Governing Committee: biographical information, undated.
Box 1 [SCPC-4614]
Governing Committee: correspondence, undated.
Box 1 [SCPC-4614]
Scope and Contents
see also General Correspondence
Governing Committee: form letters sent to, undated.
Box 1 [SCPC-4614]
Statements of purpose, undated.
Box 1 [SCPC-4614]
Statements; testimony; reports, undated.
Box 1 [SCPC-4614]
Literature produced, undated.
Box 1 [SCPC-4614]
Literature development, undated.
Box 1 [SCPC-4614]
Literature produced: release/s and flyers, undated.
Box 2 [SCPC-4615]
Articles (draft) written, undated.
Box 2 [SCPC-4615]
Publicity, articles, and Letters to the Editor published, undated.
Box 2 [SCPC-4615]
Efforts re: legislation, undated.
Box 2 [SCPC-4615]
Efforts re: legislation: calls to action, 1947.
Box 2 [SCPC-4615]
Financial records: correspondence and finance reports to New York office, 1943.
Box 2 [SCPC-4615]
Financial records: general, 1942.
Box 2 [SCPC-4615]
Financial records: bills, undated.
Box 2 [SCPC-4615]
Financial records: expense accounts, undated.
Box 2 [SCPC-4615]
Financial records: donations, etc., 1947.
Box 2 [SCPC-4615]
Financial records: donations, undated.
Box 2 [SCPC-4615]
Financial records: donations (continued), undated.
Box 3 [SCPC-4616]
Correspondence to/from government officials, undated.
Box 3 [SCPC-4616]
Correspondence with prospective members, undated.
Box 3 [SCPC-4616]
Correspondence with prospective members (continued), undated.
Box 4 [SCPC-4617]
Correspondence with radio broadcast personnel, undated.
Box 4 [SCPC-4617]
Scope and Contents
includes texts of broadcasts
Correspondence with editors, undated.
Box 4 [SCPC-4617]
Correspondence re: placing articles in magazines and newspapers, undated.
Box 4 [SCPC-4617]
Correspondence with Strassheim Printers, undated.
Box 4 [SCPC-4617]
Correspondence re: booklet "Peacetime Military Training: The 19th Annnual Debate, 1945-1946", undated.
Box 4 [SCPC-4617]
Scope and Contents
includes copy of booklet, which has an article by Annalee Stewart
Correspondence re: layout of pamphlet, undated.
Box 5 [SCPC-4618]
Correspondence re: possible speakers, undated.
Box 5 [SCPC-4618]
Correspondence re: speaking engagements of members, undated.
Box 5 [SCPC-4618]
Correspondence re: reprinting of articles from "Christian Century" and "The Christian Advocate", undated.
Box 5 [SCPC-4618]
Correspondence: requests for pamphlet for debates on conscription, 1945.
Box 5 [SCPC-4618]
Correspondence: requests for literature, undated.
Box 5 [SCPC-4618]
Correspondence: Eleanor Garst, undated.
Box 5 [SCPC-4618]
Scope and Contents
see also General Correspondence
Correspondence: A.J. Muste, undated.
Box 5 [SCPC-4618]
Scope and Contents
see also General Correspondence
Correspondence: Mildred Scott Olmsted, undated.
Box 6 [SCPC-4619]
Scope and Contents
see also General Correspondence
Correspondence: Annalee Stewart, 1944.
Box 6 [SCPC-4619]
Correspondence: Annalee Stewart, undated.
Box 6 [SCPC-4619]
Scope and Contents
removed from DG 043
Correspondence with religious leaders, etc., 1943.
Box 6 [SCPC-4619]
Correspondence with American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), undated.
Box 7 [SCPC-4620]
Correspondence with Civilian Public Service (CPS) camps, undated.
Box 7 [SCPC-4620]
Correspondence with Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR), undated.
Box 7 [SCPC-4620]
Correspondence with Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL), undated.
Box 7 [SCPC-4620]
Correspondence with Greater Philadelphia Committee Against Peacetime Conscription, undated.
Box 7 [SCPC-4620]
Correspondence with labor unions, undated.
Box 7 [SCPC-4620]
Correspondence with National Council Against Conscription, undated.
Box 7 [SCPC-4620]
Correspondence with National Council Against Peacetime Conscription Now, undated.
Box 7 [SCPC-4620]
Correspondence with National Council for the Prevention of War (NCPW), undated.
Box 7 [SCPC-4620]
Correspondence with National Peace Conference, undated.
Box 7 [SCPC-4620]
Correspondence with Northern California Committee to Oppose Conscription, undated.
Box 7 [SCPC-4620]
Correspondence with Post War World Council, undated.
Box 7 [SCPC-4620]
Correspondence with Religious News Service, undated.
Box 7 [SCPC-4620]
Correspondence with settlement houses, undated.
Box 7 [SCPC-4620]
Correspondence with War Resisters League (WRL), undated.
Box 7 [SCPC-4620]
Correspondence with Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), undated.
Box 7 [SCPC-4620]
Correspondence with individuals: A [collective file], undated.
Box 8 [SCPC-4621]
Correspondence with individuals: Alderton, Mr. and Mrs. Marion, undated.
Box 8 [SCPC-4621]
Correspondence with individuals: Alexander, Grace, undated.
Box 8 [SCPC-4621]
Correspondence with individuals: Armstrong, Eunice, undated.
Box 8 [SCPC-4621]
Correspondence with individuals: Ba [collective file], undated.
Box 8 [SCPC-4621]
Correspondence with individuals: Bainton, Roland and Ruth, undated.
Box 8 [SCPC-4621]
Correspondence with individuals: Balch, Emily Greene, undated.
Box 8 [SCPC-4621]
Correspondence with individuals: Be [collective file], undated.
Box 8 [SCPC-4621]
Correspondence with individuals: Beardsley, Helen Marston, undated.
Box 8 [SCPC-4621]
Correspondence with individuals: Bennett, Fay, undated.
Box 8 [SCPC-4621]
Correspondence with individuals: Bernard, Napoleon, undated.
Box 8 [SCPC-4621]
Correspondence with individuals: Bi-Bri [collective file], undated.
Box 8 [SCPC-4621]
Correspondence with individuals: Blazier, Orpah [not Orpha], undated.
Box 8 [SCPC-4621]
Correspondence with individuals: Boss, Charles, undated.
Box 8 [SCPC-4621]
Correspondence with individuals: Bristol, James (American Friends Service Committee), undated.
Box 8 [SCPC-4621]
Correspondence with individuals: Bro-By [collective file], undated.
Box 8 [SCPC-4621]
Correspondence with individuals: Bromley, Ernest, undated.
Box 8 [SCPC-4621]
Correspondence with individuals: Broyles, Berthalee, undated.
Box 8 [SCPC-4621]
Correspondence with individuals: Ca-Ch [collective file], undated.
Box 9 [SCPC-4622]
Correspondence with individuals: Calley, Ann Laws, undated.
Box 9 [SCPC-4622]
Scope and Contents
nurse at CPS camp #108, Gatlinburg, TN
Correspondence with individuals: Cannon, Josephine Johnson, undated.
Box 9 [SCPC-4622]
Correspondence with individuals: Carner, Lucy P., undated.
Box 9 [SCPC-4622]
Correspondence with individuals: Catt, Carrie Chapman, undated.
Box 9 [SCPC-4622]
Correspondence with individuals: Chalmers, Frances (Mrs. Allan Knight Chalmers), undated.
Box 9 [SCPC-4622]
Correspondence with individuals: Chase, Wallace, undated.
Box 9 [SCPC-4622]
Correspondence with individuals: Ci-Com [collective file], undated.
Box 9 [SCPC-4622]
Correspondence with individuals: Cleghorn, Sarah, undated.
Box 9 [SCPC-4622]
Correspondence with individuals: Code, Marion, undated.
Box 9 [SCPC-4622]
Correspondence with individuals: Colburn, Fern, undated.
Box 9 [SCPC-4622]
Correspondence with individuals: Con-Cu [collective file], undated.
Box 9 [SCPC-4622]
Correspondence with individuals: Conant, Sarah, Edith and Lyda, undated.
Box 9 [SCPC-4622]
Correspondence with individuals: Corson, Helen, undated.
Box 9 [SCPC-4622]
Correspondence with individuals: Cotton, J. Paul, undated.
Box 9 [SCPC-4622]
Correspondence with individuals: Cummings, Dolly, undated.
Box 9 [SCPC-4622]
Correspondence with individuals: Curl, Olive, undated.
Box 9 [SCPC-4622]
Correspondence with individuals: Da-De [collective file], undated.
Box 9 [SCPC-4622]
Correspondence with individuals: Day, Dorothy, undated.
Box 9 [SCPC-4622]
Correspondence with individuals: Detzer, Dorothy, undated.
Box 9 [SCPC-4622]
Correspondence with individuals: Di-Du [collective file], undated.
Box 9 [SCPC-4622]
Correspondence with individuals: Dingman, Mary, undated.
Box 9 [SCPC-4622]
Correspondence with individuals: Dougherty, (Cardinal) D.J., undated.
Box 9 [SCPC-4622]
Correspondence with individuals: Duncan, Mary Clement, undated.
Box 9 [SCPC-4622]
Correspondence with individuals: Ea-Ei [collective file], undated.
Box 10 [SCPC-4623]
Correspondence with individuals: Eaton, Emily, undated.
Box 10 [SCPC-4623]
Correspondence with individuals: Eichel, Esther (Mrs. Julius Eichel), undated.
Box 10 [SCPC-4623]
Correspondence with individuals: El-Ev [collective file], undated.
Box 10 [SCPC-4623]
Correspondence with individuals: Elfenbein, Elsie, undated.
Box 10 [SCPC-4623]
Correspondence with individuals: Evans, Rebecca Winsor (Mrs. Edmund Evans), undated.
Box 10 [SCPC-4623]
Correspondence with individuals: F [collective file], undated.
Box 10 [SCPC-4623]
Correspondence with individuals: Farquharson, Mary Fellowship of Reconciliation Field Secretary], undated.
Box 10 [SCPC-4623]
Correspondence with individuals: Fisher, Dorothy Canfield, undated.
Box 10 [SCPC-4623]
Correspondence with individuals: Foster, Hazel E., undated.
Box 10 [SCPC-4623]
Correspondence with individuals: G [collective file], undated.
Box 10 [SCPC-4623]
Correspondence with individuals: Ha-Hal [collective file], undated.
Box 10 [SCPC-4623]
Correspondence with individuals: Ham-Han [collective file], undated.
Box 10 [SCPC-4623]
Correspondence with individuals: Hansen, Edith (Mrs. Lorenz Hansen), undated.
Box 10 [SCPC-4623]
Correspondence with individuals: Har-Hav [collective file], undated.
Box 10 [SCPC-4623]
Correspondence with individuals: Harkness, Georgia, undated.
Box 11 [SCPC-4624]
Correspondence with individuals: He-Ho [collective file], undated.
Box 11 [SCPC-4624]
Correspondence with individuals: Hines, Marjorie L., undated.
Box 11 [SCPC-4624]
Correspondence with individuals: Hoge, Florence, undated.
Box 11 [SCPC-4624]
Correspondence with individuals: Hu- [collective file], undated.
Box 11 [SCPC-4624]
Correspondence with individuals: Hughan, Jessie Wallace, undated.
Box 11 [SCPC-4624]
Correspondence with individuals: I [collective file], undated.
Box 11 [SCPC-4624]
Correspondence with individuals: Ja-Je [collective file], undated.
Box 11 [SCPC-4624]
Correspondence with individuals: Jacobs, Betty, undated.
Box 11 [SCPC-4624]
Correspondence with individuals: Jo- [collective file], undated.
Box 11 [SCPC-4624]
Correspondence with individuals: Johnson, Evelyn G., undated.
Box 11 [SCPC-4624]
Correspondence with individuals: Johnson, Jean, undated.
Box 11 [SCPC-4624]
Correspondence with individuals: Ka-Ki [collective file], undated.
Box 11 [SCPC-4624]
Correspondence with individuals: Kirkpatrick, W.H., undated.
Box 11 [SCPC-4624]
Correspondence with individuals: Kl- [collective file], undated.
Box 11 [SCPC-4624]
Correspondence with individuals: LaForce, Pearl, undated.
Box 11 [SCPC-4624]
Correspondence with individuals: Le-Ll [collective file], undated.
Box 12 [SCPC-4625]
Correspondence with individuals: Longstreth, Emily, undated.
Box 12 [SCPC-4625]
Correspondence with individuals: Lunde, Erling, undated.
Box 12 [SCPC-4625]
Correspondence with individuals: Ma [collective file], undated.
Box 12 [SCPC-4625]
Correspondence with individuals: Mace, Herbert, undated.
Box 12 [SCPC-4625]
Correspondence with individuals: Mc [collective file], undated.
Box 12 [SCPC-4625]
Correspondence with individuals: Me-Moo [collective file], undated.
Box 12 [SCPC-4625]
Correspondence with individuals: Moffett, Anne, undated.
Box 12 [SCPC-4625]
Correspondence with individuals: Mor-My [collective file], undated.
Box 12 [SCPC-4625]
Correspondence with individuals: Mygatt, Tracy D., undated.
Box 12 [SCPC-4625]
Correspondence with individuals: N [collective file], undated.
Box 12 [SCPC-4625]
Correspondence with individuals: O [collective file], undated.
Box 12 [SCPC-4625]
Correspondence with individuals: O'Neill, Genevieve, undated.
Box 12 [SCPC-4625]
Correspondence with individuals: Pa-Ph [collective file], undated.
Box 13 [SCPC-4626]
Correspondence with individuals: Pearson, Marie, undated.
Box 13 [SCPC-4626]
Correspondence with individuals: Pi-Pr [collective file], undated.
Box 13 [SCPC-4626]
Correspondence with individuals: Pierce, Katherine, undated.
Box 13 [SCPC-4626]
Correspondence with individuals: Q [collective file], undated.
Box 13 [SCPC-4626]
Correspondence with individuals: Ra-Ri [collective file], undated.
Box 13 [SCPC-4626]
Correspondence with individuals: Randall, Mercedes M., undated.
Box 13 [SCPC-4626]
Correspondence with individuals: Rea, Helene, undated.
Box 13 [SCPC-4626]
Correspondence with individuals: Read, Mary, undated.
Box 13 [SCPC-4626]
Correspondence with individuals: Ro [collective file], undated.
Box 13 [SCPC-4626]
Correspondence with individuals: Robinson, Polly, undated.
Box 13 [SCPC-4626]
Correspondence with individuals: Rockel, Anna, undated.
Box 13 [SCPC-4626]
Correspondence with individuals: Ru [collective file], undated.
Box 13 [SCPC-4626]
Correspondence with individuals: Ruch, Clara, undated.
Box 13 [SCPC-4626]
Correspondence with individuals: Sa-Sc [collective file], undated.
Box 14 [SCPC-4627]
Correspondence with individuals: Sayre, Kathleen, undated.
Box 14 [SCPC-4627]
Correspondence with individuals: Scudder, Vida, undated.
Box 14 [SCPC-4627]
Correspondence with individuals: Se-Sh [collective file], undated.
Box 14 [SCPC-4627]
Correspondence with individuals: Si-Sr [collective file], undated.
Box 14 [SCPC-4627]
Correspondence with individuals: Simon, Emily Parker, undated.
Box 14 [SCPC-4627]
Correspondence with individuals: Solenberger, Edith Reeves, undated.
Box 14 [SCPC-4627]
Correspondence with individuals: St-Sy [collective file], undated.
Box 14 [SCPC-4627]
Correspondence with individuals: Stahl, Ruth, undated.
Box 14 [SCPC-4627]
Correspondence with individuals: Stanislawski, Doris, undated.
Box 14 [SCPC-4627]
Correspondence with individuals: Stevens, Thelma, undated.
Box 14 [SCPC-4627]
Correspondence with individuals: T [collective file], undated.
Box 14 [SCPC-4627]
Correspondence with individuals: U [collective file], undated.
Box 15 [SCPC-4628]
Correspondence with individuals: V [collective file], undated.
Box 15 [SCPC-4628]
Correspondence with individuals: Wa-We [collective file], undated.
Box 15 [SCPC-4628]
Correspondence with individuals: Walser, Gladys, undated.
Box 15 [SCPC-4628]
Correspondence with individuals: Wentworth, Lydia, undated.
Box 15 [SCPC-4628]
Correspondence with individuals: Wh-Wi [collective file], undated.
Box 15 [SCPC-4628]
Correspondence with individuals: Whitmer, Annie, undated.
Box 15 [SCPC-4628]
Correspondence with individuals: Whitney, Norman (Syracuse Peace Council), undated.
Box 15 [SCPC-4628]
Correspondence with individuals: Winsor, Ellen, undated.
Box 15 [SCPC-4628]
Correspondence with individuals: Winsor, Mary, undated.
Box 15 [SCPC-4628]
Witherspoon, FrancesCorrespondence with individuals:, undated.
Box 15 [SCPC-4628]
Correspondence with individuals: Wo-Wy [collective file], undated.
Box 15 [SCPC-4628]
Correspondence with individuals: Woods, Amy, undated.
Box 15 [SCPC-4628]
Correspondence with individuals: Y-Z [collective file], undated.
Box 15 [SCPC-4628]
Correspondence with individuals: Zutt, Elizabeth, undated.
Box 15 [SCPC-4628]
Correspondence with individuals: unknown senders, undated.
Box 15 [SCPC-4628]
Events: Pendle Hill Seminar on Conscription..., Wallingford (Pennsylvania), 1943-10-16.
Box 16 [SCPC-4629]
Events: Schoolmen's Week, Temple University, Philadelphia (Pennsylvania), March 1944.
Box 16 [SCPC-4629]
Events: formation of Committee to Oppose Peacetime Conscription, Chicago (Illinois), 1944-10-19.
Box 16 [SCPC-4629]
Events: meeting of those interested in legislative action against conscription, 1944-11-09.
Box 16 [SCPC-4629]
Lists: Governing Committee members, undated.
Box 16 [SCPC-4629]
Lists: local committees; unit leaders, undated.
Box 16 [SCPC-4629]
Lists: members, undated.
Box 16 [SCPC-4629]
Lists: contacts -- religious, undated.
Box 16 [SCPC-4629]
Lists: contacts -- general and miscellaneous names, undated.
Box 16 [SCPC-4629]
Miscellaneous notes, undated.
Box 16 [SCPC-4629]
Reference material re: conscription and Universal Military Training (UMT): Negro rights, undated.
Box 16 [SCPC-4629]
Reference material re: conscription and Universal Military Training (UMT): religious, denominational and local church statements, undated.
Box 16 [SCPC-4629]
Reference material re: conscription and Universal Military Training (UMT): legislation, undated.
Box 16 [SCPC-4629]
Reference material re: conscription and Universal Military Training (UMT): newsclippings, undated.
Box 16 [SCPC-4629]
Reference material re: conscription and Universal Military Training (UMT): opinions of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), undated.
Box 16 [SCPC-4629]
Reference material re: conscription and Universal Military Training (UMT): opinions of the Anti-Conscription Campaign, undated.
Box 16 [SCPC-4629]
Reference material re: conscription and Universal Military Training (UMT): opinions of the Citizens' Committee for a National War Service Act, undated.
Box 16 [SCPC-4629]
Reference material re: conscription and Universal Military Training (UMT): opinions of the Congress of Industrial Organizations, undated.
Box 16 [SCPC-4629]
Reference material re: conscription and Universal Military Training (UMT): opinions of the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR), undated.
Box 16 [SCPC-4629]
Reference material re: conscription and Universal Military Training (UMT): opinions of the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL), undated.
Box 16 [SCPC-4629]
Reference material re: conscription and Universal Military Training (UMT): opinions of the Greater Philadelphia Committee Against Peacetime Conscription, undated.
Box 17 [SCPC-4630]
Reference material re: conscription and Universal Military Training (UMT): opinions of the Joint Peace Board, undated.
Box 17 [SCPC-4630]
Scope and Contents
formerly the Joint Strategy Board
Reference material re: conscription and Universal Military Training (UMT): opinions of the National Council Against Conscription, undated.
Box 17 [SCPC-4630]
Reference material re: conscription and Universal Military Training (UMT): opinions of the National Council Against Peacetime Conscription Now, undated.
Box 17 [SCPC-4630]
Reference material re: conscription and Universal Military Training (UMT): opinions of the National Council for Prevention of War (NCPW), undated.
Box 17 [SCPC-4630]
Reference material re: conscription and Universal Military Training (UMT): opinions of the National Peace Conference, undated.
Box 17 [SCPC-4630]
Reference material re: conscription and Universal Military Training (UMT): opinions of the Post War World Council, undated.
Box 17 [SCPC-4630]
Reference material re: conscription and Universal Military Training (UMT): opinions of the War Manpower Commission, undated.
Box 17 [SCPC-4630]
Reference material re: conscription and Universal Military Training (UMT): opinions of the War Resisters League (WRL), undated.
Box 17 [SCPC-4630]
Reference material re: conscription and Universal Military Training (UMT): opinions of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), undated.
Box 17 [SCPC-4630]
Reference material re: conscription and Universal Military Training (UMT): opinions of the Worker's Defense League, undated.
Box 17 [SCPC-4630]
Reference material re: conscription and Universal Military Training (UMT): opinions of the YMCA, undated.
Box 17 [SCPC-4630]
Reference material re: conscription and Universal Military Training (UMT): opinions of miscellaneous groups/ persons -- A-Y [collective files], undated.
Box 18 [SCPC-4631]