Organizational History
Scope and Contents
Preferred Citation
Arrangement
Conditions Governing Access
Conditions Governing Use
Processing Information
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
SJSU Special Collections & Archives
Title: Women’s International League for Peace & Freedom, San Jose Branch Records
source:
Bazar, Joan
Identifier/Call Number: MSS.2015.06.20
Physical Description:
11.26 Linear Feet
8 records boxes, 1 flat box, and 1 folder in map drawer
Date (inclusive): 1951-2015
Date (bulk): (Bulk 1971-1999)
Abstract: The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) is an international peace organization with established sections
and local branches across the globe. Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, WILPF has consistently worked to promote national
and international policies that ensure peace, freedom, and human rights through non-violent means.
The San Jose Branch was founded around 1951, and today is one of 16 active WILPF branches based in California. Active in
local and national politics, the members of the San Jose Branch champion world peace, women’s rights, and racial equality.
This collection documents the activities of the San Jose Branch from the 1950’s through the 2010’s. Materials include scrapbooks,
newsletters, and various administrative records. Newsletters and limited information regarding related local and national
organizations are also part of this collection.
Physical Location: King Special Collections 5th Floor
Organizational History
The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) is an international peace organization with established sections
and local branches across the globe. Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, the WILPF has consistently worked to promote national
and international policies that ensure peace, freedom, and human rights through non-violent means.
American peace reformers played an important role in WILPF’s early formation. In 1915, Jane Addams and Carrie Chapman Catt
organized the Women’s Peace Party (WPP) to promote the end of World War I and to enforce permanent peace. Several months
later, the WPP helped organize the first International Congress of Women to promote world peace. As a result of this meeting,
the International Committee of Women for Permanent Peace (ICWPP), was officially organized with members in twelve nations.
Addams served as the first chairman, and in 1916 the WPP membership voted to become the U.S. Branch of the ICWPP. Following
the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, ICWPP members, who were unhappy with the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, led the ICWPP
to officially organize a permanent body named the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom. Jane Addams became
the first international President, and the WPP agreed to become the U.S. Section of WILPF.
In the U.S., WILPF leaders worked hard to establish regional and local chapters, but a combination of factors limited their
success. WILPF faced tremendous hostility as a radical women’s organization, but despite the anti-feminist climate, the U.S.
branch membership increased from 500 to 1300 by 1921. The local branches lobbied their legislatures to promote peace and
organized a variety of peace conferences to raise awareness of the “outlawry” of war, while the regional leaders worked towards
national legislation.
Both Jane Addams and Emily Greene Balch were honored with the Nobel Prize for their peace work, and by 1948 the WILPF was
recognized as an important non-government agency working with the United Nations, and later with other UN agencies, including
UNESCO, FAO, and UNICEF.
The WILPF San Jose Branch was founded around 1951, and today is one of 16 active WILPF branches based in California. Active
in local and national politics, members of the San Jose Branch champion world peace, women’s rights, and racial equality.
Disarmament and a national budget focused on domestic rather than military spending are causes that have drawn long time support
from WILPF’s San Jose Branch. Today’s San Jose Branch collaborates with a number of organizations to expand its reach and
maximize its effectiveness, including the Raging Grannies, the National Organization of Women (NOW) and the National Older
Women’s League (OWL).
Bibliography
Alonso, Harriet Hyman. Peace as a Women’s Issues; A History of the U.S. Movement for World Peace and Women’s Rights (Syracuse
University Press, 1993).
Bacon, Margaret Hope. One Woman’s Passion for Peace and Freedom: The Life of Mildred Scott Olmsted (Syracuse University Press,
1993).
Bussey, Gertrude, Margaret Tims. Pioneers for Peace: Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, 1915-1965 (Alden
Press, 1980).
Foster, Carrie A. The Women and the Warriors: the U.S. Section of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (Syracuse
University Press, 1995).
Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones. Changing Differences; Women and the Shaping of American Foreign Policy 1917-1994 (Rutgers University
Press, 1995).
Websites:
WILPF of San Jose, California. (n.d.). http://www.wilpfsanjose.org/
San Jose Peace and Freedom Center. (n.d.). http://www.sanjosepeace.org/article.php/wilpf
Scope and Contents
The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) is an international peace organization with established sections
and local branches across the globe. Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, WILPF has consistently worked to promote national
and international policies that ensure peace, freedom, and human rights through non-violent means.
The San Jose Branch was founded around 1951, and today is one of 16 active WILPF branches based in California. Active in
local and national politics, the members of the San Jose Branch champion world peace, women’s rights, and racial equality.
This collection documents the activities of the San Jose Branch from the 1950’s through the 2010’s. Materials include scrapbooks,
newsletters, and various administrative records. Newsletters and limited information regarding related local and national
organizations are also part of this collection.
The Women’s International League for Peace & Freedom San Jose Branch Records are arranged into six series: Series I: Administrative
Materials, Series II: Branch and Member Activities, Series III: Informational Materials and Campaigns, Series IV: Scrapbooks,
Series V: Related Local and National Organizations, Series VI: Publications and Periodicals.
Series I contains documents that detail the administrative history of the WILPF San Jose Branch and includes agenda, minutes,
correspondence, and member and officer rosters. Of particular interest may be the Annual Reports summarizing the year's activities.
Annual program packets, resolutions and policy statements supplied by the national WILPF organization are also included in
this series. Series II, Branch and Member Activities, includes information regarding events such as the San Jose Branch Annual
Banquet and smaller, one-time functions. Member Activity information comes from news clippings, obituaries, and other materials
documenting the lives of individual WILPF San Jose Branch members.
Materials detailing the history and purpose of the organization as well as the various campaigns in which it was involved
are collected in Series III, Informational Materials and Campaigns. Causes attracting perennial WILPF interest include disarmament,
the national budget, and racism. Some campaigns were shorter lived, such as the 1995 Peace Train, but may be tied to larger
movements. Scrapbooks in Series IV contain administrative documents, news clippings, photographs, and other memorabilia that
combine to create a picture of the San Jose Branch activities during the time period covered by each individual scrapbook.
A number of the scrapbooks include a summary of year’s events.
Series V, Related Local and National Organizations, contains materials pertaining to other WILPF branches, national and regional
WILPF meetings, and related organizations such as the Raging Grannies, NOW (National Organization of Women), and OWL (Older
Women's League).
Series VI houses WILPF newsletters and other publications produced on the local, regional, and national levels. Articles
and subjects carried by these publications range from announcements for local events to discussions of the effect of the national
budget on women to the need for peace in the Middle East. This series is divided into two subseries: Newsletters and Other
Publications.
Series I is arranged alphabetically by format and then chronologically. Series II and III are arranged alphabetically by
subject followed by a chronological order. Series IV is arranged by chronologically. Series V is arranged alphabetically
by organization name followed by subject and chronology. Series VI is arranged alphabetically by title followed by chronology.
Preferred Citation
Women’s International League for Peace & Freedom San Jose Branch Records 1951 – 2015, MSS-2015-06-20, San Jose State University
Library, Special Collections & Archives.
Arrangement
The Women’s International League for Peace & Freedom San Jose Branch Records are arranged into six series: Series I: Administrative
Materials, Series II: Branch and Member Activities, Series III: Informational Materials and Campaigns, Series IV: Scrapbooks,
Series V: Related Local and National Organizations, Series VI: Publications and Periodicals.
Series I is arranged alphabetically by format and then chronologically. Series II and III are arranged alphabetically by
subject followed by a chronological order. Series IV is arranged by chronologically. Series V is arranged alphabetically
by organization name followed by subject and chronology. Series VI is arranged alphabetically by title followed by chronology.
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Copyright has been assigned to the San Jose State University Library Special Collections & Archives. All requests for permission
to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Director of Special Collections. Permission for publication
is given on behalf of the San Jose State University Library Special Collections & Archives as the owner of the physical items
and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.
Processing Information
Processed by: Nissa Nack Reviewed by: Leilani Marshall Date completed: 2016
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom
Women -- California -- San Jose -- Societies and clubs
Bazar, Joan