The Pledge of Resistance began in 1984 in response to the threat of U.S. invasion into Nicaragua. The national structure grew as people signed the pledge resisting the U.S. government's policies toward Central America. Signals for actions were sent out from the national center to the local groups whose members committed civil disobedience and protested policies seen as interventionist and repressive. Groups which worked closely with the Pledge included the Inter-Religious Task Force for Central America, the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador, the American Friends Service Committee, and the San Francisco Bay Area's Emergency Response Network, and Bay Area Pledge of Resistance. National Directors were Stephen Slade, Ken Butigan, and Judy Rohrer. Jim Wallis was instrumental in the foundation and early years of the Pledge. Brian Willson was an activist in civil disobedienceThe vast majority of the records are from the Pledge National Resource Center, but also included to a lesser extent records from the Emergency Response Network, also called the Bay Area Pledge of Resistance, located in San Francisco.

"The plan began to emerge during a retreat. On November 2-4, 1983, representatives of the Christian peace movement met at the Kirkridge retreat center in Pennsylvania for Bible study, prayer, and political discernment...bringing together those from major denominations and churches, religious orders, national organizations, community campaigns, and local action groups. We met in the aftermath of the Grenada invasion. Some of us were in frequent contact with Nicaraguan churchpeople who were expressing great fear that their country would also be added. ...Witness for Peace, a grassroots effort,...was to be publicly launched in December and was already attracting a great deal of support and enthusiasm. We committed ourselves to that bold initiative and together drew up a statement pledging ourselves to a plan of action in the event of a United States invasion of Nicaragua." ("A Pledge of Resistance", Jim Wallis, in Sojourners August 1984. Box 14, file folder 28.)

17 boxes 15 feet

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