American Union Against Militarism Records

In 1915 a group of New York pacifists and near-pacifists organized the "Anti-militarism Committee" to combat the war spirit of the time. About January 1916 the name was changed to the "Anti-preparedness Committee" and a program of lobbying in Washington was set up. Later in the year the names was changed again, this time to the American Union Against Militarism. The group was also known for a time as the American Union for a Democratic Peace and the League for an American Peace.

Activities included lobbying, publishing, a lecture campaign, and the establishment of a Civil Liberties Bureau. Out of this latter grew the National Civil Liberties Bureau which later became the American Civil Liberties Union (at the Peace Collection). (See the finding aid for the ACLU Papers at the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, Princeton University.)

Most notable achievements were the work in the successful effort to avert war with Mexico in 1916 and the encouragement of opposition to peacetime conscription following World War I. The office was raided by the government and AUAM publications were sometimes stopped by the postal authorities but the organization continued unintimidated. Among the ost active members were Emily Greene Balch, Crystal Eastman, Oswald Garrison Villard, Charles Hallinan, Paul Kellogg, Amos Pinchot, Henry R. Mussey, Alice Lewisohn, Zona Gale, and Florence Kelley.