Title: Chicago Committee to End the War in Vietnam Records
Inclusive Dates: 1965

Creator:

• Chicago Committee to End the War in Vietnam

Call Number: Mss 133

Quantity: 0.2 c.f. (1 archives box)

Repository:

Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Abstract:

Records of a Chicago citizens anti-war group involved in picketing, distributing literature, and demonstrating against the war in Vietnam. Included are correspondence, leaflets, mailing lists, clippings, and songs.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00133

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The Chicago Committee to End the War in Vietnam was established in February, 1965, to “rally opposition to the government's war policies in Vietnam.” Its main purpose was to organize Chicago's participation in the Students for a Democratic Society's April 17 March on Washington; after April 17, however, it continued in existence and expanded its anti-war activities. The Committee was encouraged by other peace groups and shared the SDS offices in Chicago. The Committee worked first on area college campuses and then expanded its viewpoint to include activities aimed at the general public. These activities included both educational and organizational projects.

The first major project, a march through the Chicago Loop to the Federal Building on May 21, 1965, resulted in the arrest of forty participants. Later that summer, members conducted “teach-outs” on street corners in downtown Chicago in which they gave speeches, distributed literature collected the names of interested passers-by, and held a referendum on U.S. government policy in Vietnam. They also picketed the draft board and Central Induction Offices; distributed leaflets encouraging soldiers and prospective soldiers to seek conscientious objector status; and helped sponsor the October 15-16, 1965 nationwide anti-war demonstrations.

Committee staff consisted of two full-time workers -- Steve Baum, Chicago project coordinator, and Earl Silbar, Midwest regional coordinator -- and several volunteer assistants.

This writer could find no information about the Committee after 1965.

The Chicago Committee to End the War in. Vietnam Papers comprise correspondence, leaflets, mailing lists, clippings, anti-war songs, and a few near-print items prepared by other organizations. The files unfortunately are incomplete and give only a partial picture of the Committee's activities. Arrangement is by type of document and chronological there under.

The correspondence, both incoming and outgoing, includes letters of criticism and of support, requests for information, and a few messages from other anti-war groups. The clippings mainly concern the October 15-16 demonstrations.

Additional information on the Committee is available in the Students for a Democratic Society Papers, Series 2A.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Robert Speck, Chicago, Illinois, July 23, 1966. Accession Number: M66-237

Processing Information

Processed by Karen Baumann, December 8, 1971.

Box   1 Folder   1	Correspondence, 1965
Box   1 Folder   2	Leaflets, 1965
Box   1 Folder   3	Mailing Lists, undated
Box   1 Folder   4	Clippings, 1965, July - October
Box   1 Folder   5	Songs, undated
Box   1 Folder   6	Collected Near-print Items, undated