TheWar Resisters League(WRL) is the oldest secularpacifistorganization in the United States, having been founded in 1923.[1][2]
History
editFounded in 1923 by men and women who hadopposed World War I,it is a section of the London-basedWar Resisters' International.[3]It continues to be one of the leading radical voices in the anti-war movement.[1]
Many of the organization's founders had been jailed duringWorld War Ifor refusingmilitary service.From theFellowship of ReconciliationmanyJews,suffragists,socialists,andanarchistsseparated to form this moresecularorganization.
Although the WRL was opposed to US participation inWorld War II,it did not protest against it; the WRL complied with theEspionage Act,ceased public protests, and did not solicit new members during this period.[4]During World War II, many members were labeled conscientious objectors.[5]In the 1950s, WRL members worked in thecivil rights movementand organized protests againstnuclear weaponstesting andcivil defensedrills.[2]
In the 1960s, WRL was the firstpacifistorganization to call for an end to theVietnam War.[2]WRL also organized the first demonstration against the war with a September 21, 1963 vigil at the U.S. Mission to the UN, followed by an October 9, 1963 picket ofMadame Ngo Dinh Nhuspeaking at theWaldorf-Astoria in New York City.[6]WRL was among the primary groups (along withCommittee for Nonviolent Action,theFellowship of Reconciliation,theSocialist Party,and theStudent Peace Union) to organize coordinated nationwide protests against the Vietnam War on December 19, 1964.[7]
The organization's opposition to nuclear weapons was extended to includenuclear powerin the 1970s and 1980s. The WRL has also been active infeministand anti-racistcauses and works with other organizations to reduce the level of violence in modern culture.
WRL published many important periodicals includingThe Conscientious Objector(1939–1946);WRL News(1945–1984); the WRLPeace Calendarfrom 1955–2012;Liberationmagazine (1956–1977);WIN Peace & Freedom Through Nonviolent Action(1966–1984);The Nonviolent Activist(1984–2006); and the quarterly magazineWIN through revolutionary nonviolence(2006–2015), and other materials. See the external links below to find the archived publications.
The Centennial
editWRL celebrated the centennial of its founding in 2023 by producing a traveling exhibit consisting of eight 7-foot tall freestanding panels on various topics and a 12-foot wide timeline banner. The entire contents of the traveling exhibit is contained within an 84-page full-color book published by the League.[8]
In addition the Judd Foundation hosted celebrations of WRL's centennial with a reception on October 18, 2023, followed by "The Art of War Resistance" panel discussion on October 25, 2023, at its SoHo gallery in New York City.
Among other centennial projects, a weekly blog highlighting specific events and publications in WRL's history began posting in January 2023 and continues through 2024.
Current activities
editThe War Resisters League actively organized against the wars inIraqandAfghanistanand continues to protest what it perceives as U.S. militarism and commitment to endless war, as well as the impact of war at home.[9]Much of its organizing is focused on challenging military recruiters and ending corporate profit from war.
WRL is involved in a number of national peace and justice coalitions, includingNational Network Opposing the Militarization of Youthand theNational War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee.Starting in 1958, WRL awarded almost annually theWar Resisters League Peace Awardto a person or organization whose work represents the League's radical nonviolent program of action. The Covid-19 pandemic curtailed the peace award ceremonies.
The War Resisters League annually publishes a pie chart showing how much of theU.S. federal budgetactually covers current and pastmilitary expenses,listing the total as 37% based on the FY2023 proposed federal budget:
- "The figures are federal funds,which do not include trust funds[emphasis added] — such as Social Security — that are raised and spent separately from income taxes....The government practice ofcombining trust and federal fundsbegan during theVietnam War,thus making the human needs portion of the budget seem larger and the military portion smaller. "[10][11]
Using the larger total spending that includes trust funds, official government figures produce smaller percentages for military spending:
- "[Dov S. Zakheim, the Pentagon comptroller pointed] out that the 2004 military budget would represent 16.6 percent ofall federal spending[including trust funds; emphasis added], compared with 27.3 percent in the late 1980s. "[12]
Key members
edit- Sidney Aberman
- Devere Allen
- Norma Becker
- Frida Berrigan
- Albert Bigelow
- Karl Bissinger
- Elinor Byrns
- Maris Cakars
- Mandy Carter
- Sybil Claiborne
- Winston Dancis
- Dave Dellinger
- Barbara Deming
- Ralph DiGia
- Julius Eichel
- Joe Felmet[13]
- Henry Leroy Finch Jr.
- Larry Gara
- Sidney E. Goldstein
- Walter Gormly
- Edward P. Gottlieb
- Richard Gregg
- G. Simon Harak
- George W. Hartmann
- Ammon Hennacy
- Nat Hentoff
- Scott Herrick
- Isidor B. Hoffman
- John Haynes Holmes
- George Houser
- Evelyn West Hughan
- Jessie Wallace Hughan
- Toyohiko Kagawa
- Bert Kanegson
- Abe Kaufman
- Randy Kehler
- Roy Kepler
- Steve Ladd
- Frieda Langer Lazarus
- Bradford Lyttle
- Ruth MacAdam
- Dwight Macdonald
- David McReynolds
- Mary S. McDowell
- A.J. Muste
- Tracy Dickinson Mygatt
- Frank Olmstead (pacifist)
- James Otsuka
- Grace Paley
- James Peck
- Orlie Pell
- Frances Rose Ransom
- Earle L. Reynolds
- Ruth Mary Reynolds
- Edward (Ned) Richards
- Igal Roodenko
- Vicki Rovere
- Bayard Rustin
- Ira Sandperl
- Lawrence Scott (Quaker)
- Joanne Sheehan
- Craig Simpson
- Upton Sinclair
- Ernest Allyn Smith
- William Sutherland
- Arlo Tatum
- Evan W. Thomas (pacifist)
- Carmen Trotta
- Jay Nelson Tuck
- Anna Strunsky Walling
- George Willoughby
- Lillian Willoughby
- Frances M. Witherspoon
- Irma Zigas
See also
editFootnotes
edit- ^ab"War Resisters League" Fellowship for Reconciliation website
- ^abc"WRL History".Warresisters.org.Retrieved2013-12-04.
- ^Roger Powers S (2012).Protest, Power, and Change: An Encyclopedia of Nonviolent Action.Routledge.ISBN978-1-136-76482-0.
- ^Bennett, p. 74.
- ^Bennett, p. 69ff
- ^WRL News,Nov-Dec 1963, p. 1
- ^The Power of the People,ed. Robert Cooney & Helen Michalowski,New Society Publishers,Philadelphia, PA, 1987, p. 182
- ^War Resisters League: 100 Years of Resistance to War and the Causes of War,Ruth Benn and Ed Hedemann, War Resisters League, New York, NY, 2023
- ^Barry, Dan (2003)."A nation at war: at war at home; as wars come and go, Ralph keeps protesting".New York Times(March 22).Retrieved2008-07-16.
- ^Pie chart,warresisters.org.
- ^Sardi, Bill."How Much Does It Cost Your Household for War?".lewrockwell.Retrieved2009-04-11.
- ^Wayne, Leslie.THE PRESIDENT'S BUDGET PROPOSAL: THE MILITARY; Despite Bush's Vow, Spending on High-Tech Weapons Remains at Low Level,New York Times.(February 4, 2003).
- ^"Group Seeks End to Draft".The Chapel Hill News.5 March 1982. p. 10.
Further reading
edit- Bennett, Scott H.Radical Pacifism: The War Resisters League and Gandhian Nonviolence in America, 1915-1963NY: Syracuse Univ. Press, 2003.
- Benn, Ruth and Hedemann, Ed.War Resisters League: 100 Years of Resistance to War and the Causes of WarNY: War Resisters League, 2023.[1]
External links
edit- War Resisters League website
- War Resisters Support Campaign– an effort to let US soldiers stay in Canada so they do not have to fight in Iraq or go to prison
- War Resisters League Recordsofficial archives deposited at Swarthmore College Peace Collection
- War Resisters League Publicationsin Swarthmore digital collections
- WIN Magazine archivesin Swarthmore digital collections
