The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom grew out of the anxiety and strain of the early days of World War I. The original organization was formed in 1915 when British, Dutch, and Belgian women called an international congress of women to protest against the war. Jane Addams, the chairwoman of the newly formed Women's Peace Party in the United States, was asked to preside at this meeting at The Hague. The delegates to this meeting formed the Women's International Committee for Permanent Peace, which in 1919 became the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom.
The Madison chapter of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom was formed in 1922 after Miss Amy Woods and Miss Jeannette Rankin, secretaries of the National Board, spoke at a large public meeting in the Capitol. Since that time the Madison chapter has worked to study, make known, and abolish the political, social, economic, and psychological causes of war, and to work for a constructive peace.
In 1933, the League's Madison and Milwaukee chapters were very influential in having ROTC made optional at the University of Wisconsin. During the same year, the Madison chapter worked for a reduction in the appropriations for the National Guard, as well as drafting a bill to abolish the National Guard. From the 1920s through the 1930s, and into the early 1940s, the Madison chapter opposed any increase in armament appropriations or any military involvement in foreign countries, while at the same time supporting peace measures such as the 1933 World Disarmament Conference or the 1931 congressional munitions investigations.
For more information on the Madison Branch: wilpf-madison.org
