Skip to main content

National Council Against Conscription Records

 Collection
Identifier: SCPC-DG-052

Scope and Contents

This collection includes meeting minutes, correspondence, publicity material, literature and reference material.

Dates

  • 1944-1960

Creator

Language of Materials

Materials are in English.

Limitations on Accessing the Collection

The collection is open for research use.

Physical Access Note

All or part of this collection is stored off-site. Contact Swarthmore College Peace Collection staff at peacecollection@swarthmore.edu at least two weeks in advance of visit to request boxes.

Copyright and Rights Information

None.

Historical Note

The National Council Against Conscription (NCAC), an outgrowth of the National Council Against Peacetime Conscription Now (which was founded in 1945 and merged into the Nation Council Against Conscription), had its first official meeting on December 13, 1945 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Mordecai Johnson was elected as the first chairman pro tem, and Walter Sikes as secretary. In February 1946, Carlyle Adams was approved as Director and Sikes as Associate Director, with headquarters in the Witherspoon Building in Philadelphia. In April 1946, Adams resigned, and Sikes was appointed Interim Director. In June 1946, Sikes resigned; in December 1946, John Swomley Jr. became the Acting Director, and was appointed the Director in October 1947 and stayed in that position until the Nation Council Against Conscription disbanded in December 1959. Members of the Administrative Committee (i.e., Board of Directors) included Alonzo Myers, George Buttrick, Francis McGuire, Elsie Elfenbein, Ray Newton, Mildred Scott Olmsted, Denis Cardinal Dougherty, and Rev. Harry Emerson Fosdick.

Swomley was the editor of Conscription News, which was begun in November 1944 while he was still working for the Fellowship of Reconciliation; when he became the director of the Nation Council Against Conscription in 1947, it took over the sponsorship of the newsletter. The newsletter ceased being published in December 1959 when the Nation Council Against Conscription disbanded.

The Nation Council Against Conscription worked to defeat various legislative measures which promoted universal military training and peacetime conscription, by lobbying Congress, public speaking, publishing detailed analyses of proposed legislation, corresponding with magazine and newspaper editors about their coverage of Universal Military Training, and producing literature on the subject. It also worked on related issues such as international cooperation, disarmament, conscription, militarism, disarmament, racism, the United Nations, and prevention of war.

Correspondents include Frank Aydelotte, Bruce Barton, Charles F. Boss Jr., Louis Bromfield, Henry J. Cadbury, Roscoe S. Conkling, John Dewey, Albert Einstein, Harry Emerson Fosdick, John Haynes Holmes, Ray Newton, Richard W. Reuter, Eleanor Roosevelt, John M. Swomley, and E. Paul Weaver.

Extent

4.5 Linear Feet ([11 boxes])

Overview

The National Council Against Conscription had its first official meeting on December 13, 1945 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Nation Council Against Conscription worked to defeat various legislative measures which promoted universal military training and peacetime conscription, by lobbying Congress, public speaking, publishing detailed analyses of proposed legislation, corresponding with magazine and newspaper editors about their coverage of Universal Military Training, and producing literature on the subject.

Arrangement

The records of the National Council Against Conscription are organized into the following series: Series A. general adimistrative records; Series B. correspondence; Series C. outreach; Series D. program work; and Series E. reference material.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of National Council Against Conscription, 1960.

Separated Materials

  1. Some material that came from John Swomley and reflects his work before joining the Nation Council Against Conscription was removed to his personal collection (CDGA: Swomley) in September 2002.
  2. "Way of Life" ["How to Defend a Way of Life"] [filmstrip]
  3. "Good for Your Boy?" ["Would UMT Be Good For Your Boy?"] [filmstrip]
  4. "Security?" ["Would UMT Bring Security?"] [filmstrip]
  5. "How to Defend a Way of Life" [phonodisc]
  6. "Would UMT Be Good For Your Boy?" [phonodisc]
  7. "Would UMT Bring Security?" [phonodisc]

Phonodiscs (33 and 1/3 RPM) from Series "Must Your Son Be A Soldier?"

Bibliographic References

Guide to the Swarthmore College Peace Collection, 2nd ed., p. 44.

Legal Status

Copyright to the National Council Against Conscription records created by the organization has been transferred to the Swarthmore College Peace Collection. Copyright to all other materials is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Processing Information

Collection re-processed and checklist revised by Anne Yoder in September, 2002. This finding aid was prepared by Chloe Lucchesi- Malone, August 2009. This finding was updated by Wendy E. Chmielewski, Devember 2019.

Status
Completed
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Revision Statements

  • 2018: The file list was standardized in Summer 2017 by Min Cheng in preparation for importing into ArchivesSpace. Elisabeth Miller added the notes in Fall 2017. This finding aid was updated by Wendy E. Chmielewski, December 2019.

Find It at the Library

Most of the materials in this catalog are not digitized and can only be accessed in person. Please see our website for more information about visiting or requesting reproductions from Swarthmore College Peace Collection Library

Contact:
500 College Avenue
Swarthmore 19081-1399 USA US
610-328-8557
610-328-8544 (Fax)