The War Resisters League records were acquired by the Special Collections Library in 2014. The records provide scattered documentation of the activities of the organization from the late 1960s through the 1980s. The collection includes textual material, audio and moving image material, publications, and artifacts that characterize the anti-war mission of the organization.
Two audio cassettes and six reel to reel audi tapes from box 10 have been reformatted.
The War Resisters League, the United States' oldest secular pacifist organization, is dedicated to ending war and social injustice using non-violent action. The headquarters are located at 339 Lafayette Street in New York City. In addition there have been several branch offices (San Francisco, CA, Austin, TX, and Chapel Hill, NC) and local groups across the United States.
War Resisters League is associated with War Resisters' International and the International Peace Bureau, and works with many other peace organizations, including the American Friends Service Committee and the American Civil Liberties Union. In 1958, it helped start the Committee for Nonviolent Action (CNVA), which merged with War Resisters League in 1968.
War Resisters League encourages civil disobedience and war tax resistance. In the 1960s, as the conflict in Vietnam escalated, the League organized protests against taxes that benefited the military. In the 1970s, the League drew attention to nuclear disarmament and civil liberties by organizing and participating in numerous protest campaigns and activities.
The League endorses pacifist and nonviolent direct action tactics through various publications, including the peace journal WIN, the War Resisters League News, and numerous training manuals for organizers, high school students, and activists.
