Title: Cleveland Area Peace Action Coalition Records
Inclusive Dates: 1966-1973

Creator:

• Cleveland Area Peace Action Coalition

Call Number: Micro 819; PH Micro 819

Quantity: 2 reels of microfilm (35mm) and 4 photographs (1 folder)

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 one of the most active and important of the local organizations which opposed U.S. involvement in the war in Vietnam, together with some personal papers of Sidney Peck, founding chairman, and miscellaneous records of other Cleveland anti-war groups. Peck's papers concern a 1966 teach-in and contain correspondence with A. J. Muste concerning meetings which brought temporary unity to the anti-war movement.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-micr0819

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The Cleveland Area Peace Action Coalition (CAPAC) was founded in 1967 to oppose U. S. involvement in Vietnam through non-violent means. Working closely with the local chapter of the Student Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam (SMC), CAPAC was able to make Cleveland one of the most active and important centers of anti-war activity in the nation.

The first chairman of the group was Sidney Peck, a sociology professor at Case Western Reserve University who rose to prominence as coordinator of the University Circle Teach-in Committee in 1966. Peck also played a leading role in three meetings which took place in Cleveland that same year and which brought a temporary degree of unity to the anti-war movement. At the Democratic Convention in Chicago in 1968 Peck was arrested, and involvement with his defense subsequently removed him from involvement with CAPAC. He remained an important figure in the peace movement, however, as a leader in the National and New Mobilization Committees to End the War in Vietnam.

CAPAC revived in the spring of 1969 under Jerry Gordon, a civil liberties lawyer. In June 1970 it became the focus of national anti-war activity when it called a national convention of activists in Cleveland. With over 1500 in attendance, the convention re-formed itself as the National Peace Action Coalition (NPAC), with the objective of immediate and unconditional withdrawal from South Vietnam. Gordon was elected one of NPAC's five national coordinators, and with his shift to national activity, CAPAC was headed by Caryl Loeb (1971) and Nancy Brown (1972).

The records are a small collection of uncertain provenance divided into three groups: papers of Sidney Peck, records of the Cleveland Area Peace Action Coalition, and miscellaneous papers relating to several other Cleveland area anti-war organizations. It is likely that the records in the last two sections were merged as a result of joint quarters in the Cleveland Peace Center.

The SIDNEY PECK PAPERS, 1966-1970, consist of correspondence, minutes, printed material, and photographs. The correspondence chiefly concerns Peck's role in planning for the 1966 teach-in at Case Western Reserve University. Except for exchanges with A. J. Muste and a representative of the Women's Inter-national League for Peace and Freedom, they entirely omit any reference to his important role in the three Cleveland conferences of that same year. Later correspondence is almost entirely incoming and quite fragmentary in character. Except for a note indicating Peck's financial responsibility for CAPAC in its early days, these papers relate entirely to activities in national organizations. Of special interest are exchanges with documentary filmmaker Jerry Stoll, printed material on Peck's defense committee, and mimeographed copies of several statements and speeches. Photographs include images of Peck with Dr. Benjamin Spock at a coalition-sponsored event.

CLEVELAND AREA PEACE ACTION COALITION RECORDS, 1969-1972, consist of limited correspondence, statements, lists, minutes, and a large quantity of printed or near print material. The original 1978 accession contained no papers relating to CAPAC activities prior to 1969, however, prior to microfilming in 1980 the collection was augmented by new additions from the Social Action vertical file. This expanded coverage back through the committee's foundation as the Cleveland Coordinating Committee of the Spring Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam. At the same time, the holdings were related with the closely-compared records of the National Peace Action Coalition; all items which appeared under the NPAC letterhead were filed in that collection while all items identified as being issued by CAPAC were filed there. The resulting collection still tends to be a better record of CAPAC activities than a collection of substantive documentation. Exceptions to this are the mimeographed minutes and the scattered correspondence and financial records. Planning materials for an October 1970 rally in Columbus include a copy of a letter from Emil Mazey of UAW urging cancellation of election-eve demonstrations. Also relating to CAPAC's relations with labor are endorsements and lists of endorsers for a November 6, 1971, rally and march. Relating to this same demonstration is a letter from Howard Metzenbaum refusing endorsement. The collection of posters, broadsides, leaflets, handouts, and press releases, many of which have been Xeroxed from original mockups, include some items prepared for NPAC.

The records of the OTHER ORGANIZATIONS are even less substantial, consisting chiefly of broadsides and handouts (some of which were also present in original mockup form). Most important are the materials on the Cleveland Student Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam which include subject files on high school organizing, the SMC national conventions in Cleveland in February 1970 and December 1971, and the Kent State 25 defense committee. The first includes 2 defenses of student rights by Jerry Gordon; the latter contains an interesting assessment of the individuals involved in the Kent State case.

Acquisition Information

Presented by George Tselos of the Wayne State Labor Archives, Detroit, Michigan, November 14, 1978. Accession Number: M78-570

Processing Information

Processed by Mary Richards (archives student) and Carolyn J. Mattern, September 1979. Microfilmed, June 1980.

Micro 819 Reel   1 Frame   1	Series: Sidney Peck Papers, 1966-1970
PH Micro 819	Photographs
Micro 819	Series: Cleveland Area Peace Action Coalition Records	⇧
Reel   1 Frame   224	Correspondence and general papers, 1966-1973
Reel   2 Frame   1	Clippings, 1970-1973
Reel   2 Frame   51	Leaflets, 1969-1971
	Series: Other Organizations Records	⇧
	Student Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam-Cleveland Chapter
Reel   2 Frame   119	High School organizing, 1969-1970
Reel   2 Frame   171	1969, April 4-5 demonstrations
Reel   2 Frame   161	1969, May 31, Memorial Day demonstration
Reel   2 Frame   196	1970, February 13-15 National Convention
Reel   2 Frame   262	1970, April 15 demonstration
Reel   2 Frame   296	1971, April 24 March on Washington
Reel   2 Frame   305	1971, November 6 demonstration and Fall Offensive
Reel   2 Frame   351	Kent State 25 Defense Committee, 1970-1971
Reel   2 Frame   375	Miscellaneous Leaflets, 1969-1972
Reel   2 Frame   462	Clippings, 1970-1971
Reel   2 Frame   493	United Women's Contingent, 1971
Reel   2 Frame   518	Miscellaneous CAPAC affiliates, undated