Title: Vets for Peace in Vietnam. New York City Chapter: Records
Inclusive Dates: 1965-1972

Creator:

• Vets for Peace in Vietnam. New York City Chapter

Call Number: Mss 478

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:

Correspondence, flyers, handbills, and clippings of the New York City chapter of a national organization of veterans from four wars that opposed U.S. involvement in the war in Southeast Asia. Mass mailings, many of which were issued by steering committee coordinator Ronald G. Wolin, concern participation in numerous marches and demonstrations and make up the bulk of the collection. A limited quantity of correspondence includes exchanges with veterans' peace organizations around the country and letters from Floyd B. McKissick, David M. Shoup, Arnold C. True, and Dalton Trumbo.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00478

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Veterans for Peace in Vietnam (VPV), often referred to as Vets for Peace, was a loosely-knit, national organization of veterans from four wars who opposed U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia. The New York chapter was formed in November 1965 by members of the New York Fifth Avenue Vietnam Peace Parade Committee not only to organize anti-war sentiment among veterans but also to mitigate right-wing harassment of participants in peace marches. Actually two veterans groups were formed for this purpose: the Ad Hoc Veterans for Peace in Vietnam, which became Vets for Peace, and Veterans and Reservists to End the War in Vietnam. Differences between the two included membership (VPV included only war veterans, while Veterans and Reservists welcomed all former servicemen), politics (VPV tended to be more moderate), strategy (Veterans and Reservists embraced more dramatic activities), and objectives (Veterans and Reservists demanded immediate withdrawal, while VPV advocated negotiation). Despite these differences the two groups cooperated in many activities.

By March 1966, Vets for Peace commanded a New York membership of over 700, and it dropped the “ad hoc” portion of its name. In addition, it reached out to encourage similar groups of veterans that were forming around the country. For the next several years the New York group was actively involved in many marches both in New York and in Washington, D.C., and it worked in close association with other anti-war organizations such as the New York Fifth Avenue Vietnam Peace Parade Committee, the Student Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam, and the Spring Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam.

The records of the New York chapter of Vets for Peace are a collection formed from materials donated by Tom Garrison, who was active in the early history of the organization, and later files probably generated by Ronald G. Wolin, coordinator of the 27-person steering committee, which were donated by the Library of Social History as part of the records of the Student Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam.

The combined collection consists of one chronologically-arranged sequence of correspondence, flyers, handbills, and clippings. Prior to donation the early material (1965-1966), which was donated by Garrison, was weeded to about one-third its former size. In a letter to the Society's Field Services Division in 1969 Garrison explained that he had omitted all “correspondence with signatures” to protect the writers. In addition, he excluded all purely internal organizational and administrative records.

The later material includes much the same types of documentation except that some correspondence pertaining to the leadership roles of Wolin and Len Gould is included. Of special interest are exchanges with various other veterans' peace organizations around the country and letters from Floyd B. McKissick, David M. Shoup, Arnold C. True, and Dalton Trumbo.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Veterans for Peace in Vietnam, New York City Chapter, via Tom Garrison, New York, New York, February 18, 1969, and the Library of Social History, via Chuck Petrin and Barbara West, New York, New York, February 7, 1978. Accession Number: M69-60, M78-67

Processing Information

Processed by Carolyn J. Mattern, September 1979.

Box   1 Folder   1	1965-1967
Box   1 Folder   2	1968-1972, undated