Title: Student Peace Union Records
Inclusive Dates: 1958-1964

Creator:

• Student Peace Union (U.S.)

Call Number: Mss 514

Quantity: 3.8 cubic feet (9 archives boxes)

Repository:

Wisconsin Historical Society, 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 the Student Peace Union, a national organization of students and youth (1959-1964) opposed to the nuclear arms race that bridged the gap between the “old peace movement” and the opposition to the war in Vietnam. Included are minutes, convention papers, correspondence, publications, miscellaneous local records, and miscellany. Both the collection as a whole, and the correspondence which comprises two-thirds of the collection, are most complete for the period 1961 through 1963. Subjects treated range from routine communications with local chapters to exchanges over policy with many of the individuals and organizations then most important in the peace movement.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00514

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The Student Peace Union (SPU) was an independent national organization of students and youth opposed to nuclear armament. Although it differed from both the “old peace movement” and the opponents of the Vietnam War in several important respects, SPU's ideology and tactics bridged the two and its youthful membership heralded the student activism of the late 1960s and early 1970s.

SPU was formed in April 1959 as the result of a meeting of students on the campus of the University of Chicago. These students expressed an interest in an ongoing regional organization to make individual disarmament activities more effective. SPU membership was limited until 1960, numbering only 300 members on 45 campuses, but in the following years it grew rapidly to a 1962 peak of 3200. A portion of this increase occurred in 1960 with the merger with the College Peace Union, a similar group in New England.

SPU's organization consisted of an annual national convention of the member-ship which determined overall policy, the National Council elected by the membership, a National Steering Committee elected by the council for administration of the national office in Chicago, and a small staff. For most of its existence, Philip Altbach served as national chairman.

SPU had no precise statement of policy and was non-exclusive with regard to political philosophy. Despite this official non-sectarian posture, the national leadership came to be dominated by members of the Young People's Socialist League who espoused what is known as the “third camp” philosophy. An attempt to impose this ideology on the membership following the Cuban missile crisis in 1962 was one of the major factors contributing to the eventual demise of the union in 1964.^[1]

Although the focus of its activity was education and the preparation and distribution of study materials, the Student Peace Union also had some tendency toward action. Among its major demonstrations were protests against the U.S. action during the Cuban missile crisis and a 1962 demonstration against atmospheric testing in Washington, D.C. SPU also espoused the cause of civil rights and late in its existence took the lead in protesting against U.S. involvement in the war in Vietnam.

The collection is a group of records from the national office donated to the Historical Society in 1973 by Philip Altbach via the University of Chicago Archives, together with a small amount of material culled from a 1975 donation of personal papers donated directly to the Society by Altbach. The records are best for the years 1961 through 1963; consequently they contain virtually no information on either the formation or dissolution of SPU. Also disappointing are materials on some of the most important issues in the organization's history: its “third camp” position during the Cuban missile crisis, support of civil rights, and opposition to the war in Vietnam. The collection includes internal administrative records, correspondence, publications, local records, and miscellany. Many of SPU's official records (particularly resolution statements, officers' reports, and financial reports) were published in the Discussion Bulletin; when such material could be identified, duplication within the office files was eliminated.

ADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS, 1959-1964, include an early version of SPU's constitution (later versions are included within the convention papers); minutes of the National Council and the National Steering Committee; papers of the policy-making national conventions; and miscellaneous membership lists, statements of candidates for the National Council, and officers' reports. The minutes of the National Steering Committee, which was responsible for much of the routine administration of SPU, are fairly complete for the years 1961-1963; the National Council, however, is represented by minutes or notes of only four meetings. Convention papers cover a similar time period and variously include minutes, notes, resolutions and statements, and reports.

Chronologically-arranged CORRESPONDENCE, 1958-1964, is largely a file created by National Chairman Philip Altbach, though letters to and from other officers are also included. Subjects discussed range from routine requests for information, concerns related to publication of the Bulletin and the Discussion Bulletin, and communications with local chapters to high-level explorations of policy options with some of the most important individuals and organizations then active in the peace movement. Among the most frequent of these are Alfred Hassler, Brad Lyttle, David McReynolds, Linus Pauling, Robert Pickus, David Riesman, Bayard Rustin, Norman Thomas, and other representatives of the American Friends Service Committee, the Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy, the Committee for Nonviolent Action, the National Student Association, Turn Toward Peace, and the War Resisters League.

The remaining sections of the collection are quite fragmentary. Runs of the Bulletin and the Discussion Bulletin and several monographs have been separated from PUBLICATIONS, 1959-1964; files of handbills and pamphlets (and a few drafts of the latter) remain with the manuscript material. Also included are drafts of several published articles and two folders of articles probably intended for the Discussion Bulletin, but whose publication could not be established. Also of note is a collection of statements and official resolutions which could not be interfiled with the convention papers. Included here is SPU's statement on Vietnam. LOCAL RECORDS, 1959-1964, chiefly consist of fragmentary minutes, constitutions, and statements of purpose. The MISCELLANY, 1955-1964, includes a file of clippings about SPU, its activities, and members, and miscellaneous financial records not available in published form.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Philip Altbach, Madison, Wisconsin, 1973 and 1975. Accession Number: M73-184, M75-175

Processing Information

Processed by Carolyn J. Mattern, January 1980.

Mss 514	Series: Administrative Records
Box   1 Folder   1	Constitution, 1959
	Minutes
	National Council
Box   1 Folder   2	(several versions), 1961 September 2, 3
Box   1 Folder   2	(agendas, minutes and notes), 1961 December 27-30
Box   1 Folder   2	(minutes), 1962 June 15-17
Box   1 Folder   2	(agenda and notes), 1962 September 7-9
Box   1 Folder   3	National Steering Committee, 1959 December 1-1964 May 24
	Officers
Box   1 Folder   4	National Council candidate statements, 1962-1963
Box   1 Folder   5	National officers reports, 1959, 1962
	Meetings and Conventions
Box   1 Folder   6	National Organizational meeting (agenda and reports), 1960 June 11
Box   1 Folder   7	National planning meeting (Nyack, New York) (minutes and constitution adopted), 1960 August 27 and 28
Box   1 Folder   8	National Convention (Oberlin, Ohio) (resolutions), 1961 May 6
Box   1 Folder   9	National Convention (Antioch College) (minutes and resolutions), 1962 April 27-29
	National Convention (Princeton), 1963 June 20-22
Box   1 Folder   10	Minutes and notes
Box   1 Folder   11-12	University of Chicago delegates' notes and voting material
Box   1 Folder   13	Registration materials
Box   1 Folder   14	Membership lists, undated
	Series: Correspondence	⇧
Box   2 Folder   1	1958 March, July, October-November; 1959 February-July, September-December
Box   2 Folder   2-8	1960-1961 April
Box   3 Folder   1-6	1961 May-1962 January 15
Box   4 Folder   1-6	1962 January 16-June
Box   5 Folder   1-7	1962 July-1963 February
Box   6 Folder   1-6	1963 March-1964 April, June-July, undated
Box   7 Folder   1-2	undated
Box   7 Folder   3-5	Form letters, 1959-1964
	Series: Publications	⇧
Box   7 Folder   6	Discussion Bulletin published article drafts, 1962
Box   7 Folder   7	Discussion Bulletin quotes, undated
Box   7 Folder   8	Discussion Memo, undated
Box   7 Folder   9-10	Handbills and pamphlets, 1959-1964
Box   7 Folder   11	Pamphlet drafts and ideas, 1962, undated
Box   8 Folder   1	Literature order forms, 1962-1963
Box   8 Folder   2-3	Miscellaneous articles, undated
Box   8 Folder   4	Miscellaneous mailings, undated
Box   8 Folder   5	Miscellaneous resolutions and statements, undated
Box   8 Folder   6	Organizers handbook, undated
Box   8 Folder   7	Peace song book material, undated
Box   8 Folder   8	Press releases, 1959-1963
Box   8 Folder   9	Speeches, undated
	Series: Affiliate Records	⇧
Box   8 Folder   10	Chicago Council, minutes, 1961 August 17
Box   8 Folder   11	College Peace Union, minutes, 1959 December 11 and 1960 February 12 Note: Includes statement of purpose.
Box   8 Folder   12	Delaware Valley Regional Council, minutes, 1961 December 17
Box   8 Folder   13	Midwest Regional conferences, 1962, undated
Box   8 Folder   14	Midwest Regional Council, minutes, 1959 November 27, 1960 January 30
Box   8 Folder   15	Ohio Valley Regional Council, minutes, 1962 May 12 Note: Includes constitution.
Box   8 Folder   16	Philadelphia Regional Council, minutes, 1961 November 20
Box   8 Folder   17	Washington, D.C. Regional Council, minutes, undated, November 19
Box   8 Folder   18	Miscellaneous regional and local constitutions, 1960, 1962
Box   8 Folder   19	Miscellaneous regional and local reports, 1961, 1964
	Series: Miscellany	⇧
	Clippings
Box   8 Folder   20-21	1958-1962
Box   9 Folder   1	1963-1964 March
Box   9 Folder   2	Financial records, 1959-1964
Box   9 Folder   3	Report on International Conference of Students and Youth for Disarmament, Peace, and National Independence, 1964 February
Box   9 Folder   4	Notes, undated
Box   9 Folder   5	Miscellany regarding other organizations, undated

This 1964 closing applied only to the Chicago national headquarters. Evidence suggests that an office continued to operate at 5 Beekman Place in New York City at least until 1966, but its relationship with the Chicago group is uncertain.