Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) Collection, 1922-1985

Summary

Title:

Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) Collection

Dates:

1922-1985

Creators:

Women's International League for Peace and Freedom.

Abstract:

This collection contains the papers of the San Diego branch of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) from 1925 through its closure in 1991.

Extent:

5.5 Linear feet (9 boxes)

Language:

and Collection materials are in English, Spanish, and Russian.

Preferred citation:

Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) Collection, MS 185, San Diego History Center Document Collection, San Diego, CA.

Background

Scope and content:

This collection includes papers related to the San Diego branch of the Women’s International League of Peace and Freedom (WILPF) throughout its existence from 1925 to 1991. It contains administrative, financial and membership documents as well as correspondence and ephemera related to WILPF local, national and international events and causes. Items of note include the personal correspondence of Helen Marston Beardsley and Florence Stevens, an original signed letter by Cesar Chavez, and photographs of Beardsley and other prominent San Diegans.

Biographical / historical:

The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) was established as an international peace organization at The Hague in 1915; the U.S. delegation was led by Jane Addams. The delegates advocated a Society of Nations, universal disarmament, and the end of World War I through continuous peaceful mediation by a commission of neutral parties. Since its founding, the WILPF has had as its core motivation: “unit[ing] women in many countries who work by democratic and nonviolent means to remove the causes of war and to create the conditions in which peace and freedom can flourish.” The WILPF was brought to San Diego by Helen Marston (who later became Helen Marston Beardsley) in 1924. Helen (b. 1892; d. 1982) was the youngest daughter of George White Marston, a wealthy San Diego businessman and civic activist. It was during her studies at Wellesley College in Massachusetts that Helen became interested in political reform. After college, she spent time volunteering and teaching, but ultimately found that her passion was in politics and the struggle for peace. While in Europe working to alleviate some of the suffering caused by WWI, she attended the third international congress of WILPF in 1921. She returned to San Diego and in 1924, started the WILPF San Diego Chapter. Since then the local WILPF has been active in educational programs involving subjects as diverse as nonviolent resistance and the social structure of China. The main activities of the WILPF have included sponsoring conferences and ongoing community discussions, peace rallies, correspondence campaigns and educational exhibits.

Acquisition information:

Accession numbers 860920A, 890809, 920709.

Processing information:

Collection processed by Katrina White on September 6, 2012.

Collection processed as part of grant project supported by the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) with generous funding from The Andrew Mellon Foundation.

Arrangement:

Collection is arranged by series:

Series I: WILPF - San Diego Branch Papers

Series II: WILPF - National / International Papers

Series III: WILPF - Sponsored Events

Series IV: U.S.-Soviet Women’s Conference

Series V: Research Resources

Series VI: Florence Stevens Papers

Series VII: Helen Marston Beardsley Papers

Items in each series are arranged by subject.

Rules or conventions:

Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Indexed terms

Subjects:

Arms control
Nuclear weapons
Women -- Societies and clubs
Women political activists

Names:

Arms Control Association (Washington, D.C.).
Committee Opposed to Militarism and the Draft (San Diego, Calif.).
Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation.
First Unitarian Church (San Diego, Calif.).
General Dynamics Corporation. Convair Division.
Mobilization for Peace, Jobs and Justice (Organization).
New Hope Foundation.
Physicians for Social Responsibility (U.S.).
Progress for Labor San Diego.
Seneca Army Depot.
United Nations Association.
United States Institute of Peace.
Women's History Reclamation Project.
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom.
Addams, Jane, 1860-1935
Balch, Emily
Ballantyne, Edith
Bates, Jim
Beardsley, George Marston
Beardsley, Helen Marston
Beardsley, John
Bishop, Helen
Bishop, Jane
Boehm, Marjorie
Boulding, Elise
Bowring, Ursula
Brown, Edmund G. (Edmund Gerald), 1905-1996
Burgener, Clair W.
Camp, Kay
Carter, Jimmy, 1924-
Chalmers, Ruth
Chavez, Cesar, 1927-1993
Conyers, John, 1929-
Cranston, Alan, 1914-2000
D'Vincent, Donna
Delaney, Patricia
Edwards, Don, 1915-
Filner, Barbara
Frank, Libby
Guthrie, David W.
Halper, Leah
Hamilton, Alice, 1869-1970
Harper, Frank
Harper, J. C. (Jacob Chandler), 1858-1939
Harper, Liliane
Hasegawa, Marii
Hatcher, Richard G., 1933-
Hatfield, Mark O., 1922-2011
Headley, Harriet
Hoskins, Alice B.
Huerta, Dolores, 1930-
Hunter, Duncan, 1948-
Imutan, Andy
Inouye, Daniel K., 1924-
Johnson, Glenna
Keller, Helen, 1880-1968
Korman, Phyllis
Kraus, Phyllis
Lessner, Milton
Linton, Etta
Livingston, Millie
Lowery, Bill, 1947-
Mandeville, Ernest W. (Ernest Wyckoff), 1896-
McClure, James A.
Midgley, Jane
Olmstead, Mildred Scott
Pendell, Ann Chalmers
Pendell, Carol
Plastas, Melinda
Reagan, Ronald
Reynolds, Barbara (Barbara Leonard)
Reynolds, Jessica
Rhoads, Anne
Rider, Pam
Schroeder, Pat
Scripps, Ellen Browning, 1836-1932
Seagall, Edith
Sevigny, Therese P.
Shapiro, Sylvia
Sills, Joe
Simmons, Robert (Bob)
Somerville, Rose M. (Rose Maurer), 1908-
Steffens, Dorothy R.
Steinmetz, Doris
Steinmetz, Harry
Stevens, Florence
Stevens, Robert
Sturdivant
Taller, Dolores S.
Vogel, Robert
Walshok, Mary Lindenstein
Whitney, Norman J. (Norman Jehiel), 1891-1967
Wickler, Beth

Places:

San Diego (Calif.)
Soviet Union

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:

Finding aid prepared by Katrina White

Sponsor:

Collection processed as part of grant project supported by the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) with generous funding from The Andrew Mellon Foundation.

Date Prepared:

September 6, 2012

Date Encoded:

This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit 2012-12-18T13:31-0800

Restrictions:

This collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

The San Diego History Center (SDHC) holds the copyright to any unpublished materials. SDHC Library regulations do apply.

Preferred citation:

Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) Collection, MS 185, San Diego History Center Document Collection, San Diego, CA.

Location of this collection:

San Diego History Center (formerly San Diego Historical Society)

1649 El Prado, Suite 3

San Diego, CA 92101, US

Contact:

(619) 232-6203

Website