Committee for Amnesty for All Objectors to War and Conscription Collected Records

On December 1, 1945, representatives from numerous peace organizations (including the Fellowship of Reconciliation, the War Resisters League, and the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom), met in New York City to discuss establishing a committee that could work proactively on the question of amnesty for conscientious objectors. It was agreed to form the Committee for Amnesty for War Objectors and Selective Service Violators, with A.J. Muste as Chair. On January 12, 1946, the name of the group was changed to Committee for Amnesty for All Objectors to War and Conscription. The Committee's purpose was to seek an amnesty for "all objectors to war and conscription," which included men under army court-martial for their stance against war. The Committee's main office was at 5 Beekman Street in New York City, but a Washington, D.C.office (dissolved by June 1946), and a Chicago office were formed as well. Stanley Murphy was Organizing Secretary until March 1946, whereupon Albon Man took over the position. Vivien Roodenko was employed as secretary in the Washington, D.C. office, and later in the New York City office. Among the Committee's proponents were Emily Greene Balch, Pearl Buck, Dorothy Canfield Fisher, Harold Ickes, A.J. Muste, Robin Myers and Igal Roodenko. The Committee's most widely publicized work was the sponsorship of picketing demonstrations at the White House in May and December 1946 calling for amnesty, but the organization also promoted its objectives through lobbying of Congressional and other government leaders, creating press releases and published literature, garnering support with signatures to petitions from around the country, and working as a liaison to other groups interested in the amnesty question.

It is unknown exactly when the Committee disbanded, but the last meeting minutes are dated June 30, 1948.