Descriptive Summary |
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| Creator: | Student Peace Union (U.S.) | |
| Title: | Records | |
| Dates: | 1959-1964 | |
| Abstract: | The Student Peace Union (1959-1964) was an intercollegiate group organized by socialist, pacifist and other anti-war students that was critical of the foreign policy of both the U.S. and the Soviet Union, and protested against the arms race, nuclear weapons testing, racial segregation, the U.S. position during the Cuban Missile Crisis (October, 1962), and the U.S. involvement in Vietnam. The collection contains correspondence, minutes, reports and bulletins documenting activism and SPU annual conventions. | |
| Quantity: | .5 linear ft. (1 box) | |
| Call Phrase: | Tamiment 057 | |
Arrangement |
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| The folders are arranged chronologically. | ||
| The files are grouped into 1 series. | ||
| Container list | ||
Photocopied collection of records pertaining to the Student Peace Union, an intercollegiate student group organized in 1959 “to study the causes of war and seek constructive alternatives,” and “to coordinate the work for peace among students and young people.” Later (1960) merged with College Peace Union. The founders and leaders of the SPU were associated with the Young Peoples Socialist League and pacifists associated with the Fellowship of Reconciliation and the American Friends Service Committee. The SPU took a “Third Camp” position, criticizing the foreign policies of both the United States and the Soviet Union. SPU membership peaked in 1962 at 3500, but declined with the rise of the New Left and Students for a Democratic Society, and the organization dissolved in 1964.
Sources:
For more information, see the entry in the Encyclopedia of the American Left. See also: Altbach, Philip G., Student Politics in America: a Historical Analysis (1974).
Collection includes correspondence among leadership discussing policy, tactics, and organizational activity. There are also convention reports, minutes of steering committee, and SPU two publications, the Discussion Bulletin and the Student Peace Union Bulletin. Philip G. Altbach was national chairman. Groups in touch with SPU included American Friends Service Committee, War Resisters' League, and Students for a Democratic Society. Situations most actively protested against were: the arms race, nuclear weapons testing, racial segregation, the U.S. position during the Cuban Missile Crisis (October, 1962), and the U.S. involvement in Vietnam.
Open for research without restrictions.
Permission to publish materials must be obtained in writing from the:
Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
Elmer Holmes Bobst Library
70 Washington Square South
New York, NY 10012
Phone: (212) 998-2630
Fax: (212) 995-4225
E-mail: gail.malmgreen@nyu.edu
Access Points |
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| Subject Names: | ||
| Altbach, Philip G. | ||
| Subject Organizations: | ||
| American Friends Service Committee. | ||
| College Peace Union. | ||
| Students for a Democratic Society (U.S.) | ||
| War Resisters League. | ||
| Young People's Socialist League. | ||
| Subject Topics: | ||
| Civil rights movements--United States. | ||
| Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962. | ||
| Nuclear disarmament. | ||
| Peace Movements--United States. | ||
| Students--Political activity-United States. | ||
| Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975--Protest movements--United States. | ||
| Document Types: | ||
| Bulletins. | ||
| Correspondence. | ||
| Minutes. | ||
| Reports. | ||
| Other Names: | ||
| Discussion Bulletin. | ||
| Student Peace Union Bulletin. | ||
There is no information about materials that are associated by provenance to the described materials that have been physically separated or removed.
Gift of George Vickers, 1964.
Published citations should take the following form:
Identification of item, date (if known); The Student Peace Union Records; Tamiment 057; box number; folder number;
Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
Elmer Holmes Bobst Library
70 Washington Square South
New York, NY 10012, New York University Libraries.
[The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.]