The War Resisters League
The War Resisters League,an American pacifist organization, was founded in 1923 by Jessie Wallace Hughan, New York City teacher and socialist. Hughan believed the League should encourage the growth of pacifism and provide a home for secular pacifists who could not fit into church‐based peace groups.
In literature and street meetings, the War Resisters League spread the message that “wars will cease when men refuse to fight.” In the 1930s, increasingly alarmed by the rise of fascism and Nazi brutality, the League demonstrated against anti‐Semitism and worked to rescue its victims. During World War II, Evan Thomas, himself a resister in World War I, and the brother of Norman Thomas, Socialist Party leader, chaired the League when many of its male members were enrolled in alternative civilian service or incarcerated for resisting conscription. Imprisoned members used...
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