Title: Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies. Madison Chapter: Records
Inclusive Dates: 1940-1942

Creator:

• Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies. Madison Chapter (Wis.)

Call Number: Wis Mss WJ

Quantity: 0.4 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 committee which was organized to mobilize public opinion in favor of a declaration of a full state of national emergency in 1941, to promote economic and military aid to Great Britain and China, and to advocate use of the United States military and naval forces to safeguard transportation between the United States and the British Isles. The collection consists of two groups of correspondence, one relating to the activities of the Madison chapter, and the other composed of letters and reports received from the national headquarters.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-wis000wj

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The major aim of the Committee to Defend America By Aiding the Allies was public education and the formation of public opinion in favor of a declaration of a full state of national emergency in 1941. The Committee advocated the employment of our naval and air forces to safeguard the lifeline between the Western Hemisphere and the British Isles, in addition to granting effective aid to Great Britain and China.

At its peak, the Committee had over 766 local chapters, with an estimated membership of 500,000. The national headquarters of the Committee was in New York City and Mr. Ernest W. Gibson, Jr., served as national chairman. The Madison chapter of the Committee was mainly directed by Dr. Dorothy Mendenhall, Mrs. William L. Sachse, and Professor Robert L. Reynolds.

The records of the Madison Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies consist of two separate groups of correspondence. The first group relates to the activities of the Madison chapter, while the second group is composed of the mimeographed letters and reports received by the Madison chapter from the national headquarters. Within these categories, the correspondence is arranged chronologically by years and months.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Mrs. Robert Reynolds, Madison, Wisconsin, April 20, 1961.

Processing Information

Processed by Jack T. Ericson, June 3, 1964.

Box   1	Correspondence relating to the Madison chapter of the Committee, 1940-1942
Box   1	General correspondence from the headquarters of the Committee, 1940-1941