New York Bureau of Legal Advice

Abstract Tracy Dickinson Mygatt (1885-1973) and Frances May Witherspoon (1886-1973) were prolific writers and absolute pacifists who worked together in movements for women's rights, world peace, civil liberties, and civil rights. Both women authored plays, articles, poems, sermons, and stories, individually and in collaboration. They were founders of the War Resisters League and later served as honorary chairs. Frances Witherspoon was a co-founder and Executive Secretary of the New York Bureau of...

Abstract

The New York Bureau of Legal First Aid was founded on May 11, 1917. In May 1918, the group changed its name to the New York Bureau of Legal Advice. The Bureau was the first organization to provide free legal service to men who resisted the new draft laws related to the entry of the United States into the First World War. In September 1918, the Bureau was raided by the FBI which temporarily disrupted its work. The Bureau closed in the fall of 1919, shortly before the Armistice.

Abstract Holdings in Tamiment Library: about half the records of the New York Bureau of Legal Advice consist of case histories pertaining to selective service exemption, draft evasion, conscientious objector status, military imprisonment, military discharge, desertion, amnesty, civil liberties and deportations. One third of the collection consists of office files, administrative reports and correspondence, including extensive fundraising correspondence. The remainder of the collection is made up of...