New York Bureau of Legal Advice Records
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Abstract
The New York Bureau of Legal First Aid was organized in 1917 with a grant from the Women's Peace Party. Lead by attorney Charles Recht and feminist Frances M. Witherspoon, it was the first organization to furnish free legal advice and counsel to anyone who came into conflict with the new laws related to America's entry into World War I, including draft resisters, conscientious objectors, and deserters. By 1918 it was aiding at least 5,000 clients and changed its name to the New York Bureau of Legal Advice (NYBLA). Though raided by the Bureau of Investigation in 1918, the NYBLA continued with its anti-war campaigns until shortly after the Armistice was signed. The records contain correspondence, office files, case histories, photographs, clippings, and press releases relating to selective service exemption, draft evasion, conscientious objector status, military discharge, desertion, amnesty, civil liberties and deportation.
Historical Note
The New York Bureau of Legal First Aid was organized on May 11, 1917 with a one hundred dollar grant from the Women's Peace Party. Individuals contributed to the treasury and in August the People's Council, the Socialist Party, the Civil Liberties Bureau and the Workmen's Council all became sponsoring affiliates. A few months later the People's Council and the Civil Liberties Bureau withdrew their support, but a strong Executive Committee continued the organizing work. In May 1918, the organization changed its name to the New York Bureau of Legal Advice (NYBLA). During that year, the Bureau estimated that it aided at least 5,000 clients. In September 1918, a raid by the Federal Bureau of Investigation disrupted organizational functioning temporarily. NYBLA continued with its anti-war campaigns and only ended its work in the autumn of 1919, shortly before the Armistice.
NYBLA was the first organization to furnish free legal advice and counsel to anyone who came into conflict with the new laws related to America's entry into World War I, including draft resisters, conscientious objectors, and deserters. The Bureau sought to gather information and investigate and publicize war-related instances of infringements of First Amendment rights. The Bureau campaigned for amnesty for conscientious objectors and also monitored their treatment in military prisons. Lobbying by NYBLA was instrumental in forcing Secretary of War Newton B. Baker to order an end to the practice of holding conscientious objectors in manacles. The Bureau cooperated actively with the Industrial Workers of the World and other radical groups in defense of free speech and in opposition to the deportation of immigrant radicals.
Charles Recht, a Czech-born attorney, was the General Counsel of the Bureau. As Secretary of the Bureau, Frances M. Witherspoon, an ardent feminist and socialist peace activist, carried on the daily work of the Bureau, including fundraising, working with attorneys and volunteers, organizing lobbying campaigns, maintaining correspondence, and interviewing clients. She worked with the leading socialists, anti-war activists and civil libertarians of the time, including Roger N. Baldwin, Ella Reeve ("Mother") Bloor, M. Eleanor Fitzgerald, Albert De Silver, Jacob Hillquit, and Scott Nearing.
Arrangement
The collection was arranged by Professor Martin David Dubin of Roosevelt University in the 1960s, and the Tamiment Library maintained his arrangement. The collection is ordered in six series:
I. Office Files
II. Correspondence
III. Case Files: Immigrants, Deportations, Special Individuals
IV. Case Files: Conscientious Objectors
V. Case Files: Draft Boards, Immigrants, Dependents
VI. Press Releases and Newspaper Clippings
Folders are generally arranged alphabetically by subject/author heading then chronologically within each subject/author heading.
Scope and Content Note
Approximately half of the records of the New York Bureau of Legal Advice consist of case histories pertaining to selective service exemption, draft evasion, conscientious objector status, military imprisonment, military discharge, desertion, amnesty, civil liberties and deportations. Approximately one third of the collection consists of office files, administrative reports and correspondence, including extensive fundraising correspondence. The remainder of the collection is made up of press releases and newspaper clippings.
The case histories, chiefly relating to draft exemption, provide significant and frequently poignant information on the daily lives and problems of the working class immigrants who were the principal clients of the Bureau's pioneering efforts to deliver free legal services and to protect poor people's civil rights. The correspondence and office files reflect civil liberties activity and the Bureau's role as a connecting link between "those on the firing line in anti-war agitation" and America's large and politically diverse peace and socialist movements.
The correspondents to the NYBLA are numerous and varied; many well known progressives of the period made a contribution to the Bureau's work. Among them are Mary Beard, Sarah N. Cleghorn, Elizabeth Gurley and Bina Flynn, Agnes Smedley, Louis Untermeyer, Thorsten Veblen, H. L. Mencken, Sinclair Lewis, Judah L. Magnes, and Stephen Wise.
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Conditions Governing Access
Materials are open without restrictions.
Conditions Governing Use
Tamiment Library has no information about copyright ownership for this collection and is not authorized to grant permission to publish or reproduce materials from it. Materials in this collection, which were created in 1917-1919, are expected to enter the public domain in 2040.
Preferred Citation
Published citations should take the following form:
Identification of item, date; New York Bureau of Legal Advice (New York Bureau of Legal First Aid) Records; TAM 044; Box number; Folder number; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Transferred from the Tamiment Institute Library. There is no earlier provenance information. The accession numbers associated with this collection are 1961.001 and 1961.002.
Custodial History
The 1917-1919 records of the New York Bureau of Legal Advice had been stored at the Tamiment Institute Library among old file boxes and cartons relating to World War I. In 1961 Professor Martin David Dubin of Roosevelt University borrowed the collection to began researching, and ulitmately processing, the records of the Bureau. He returned the collection to Tamiment Library in 13 document boxes (5.5 linear feet) in 1970. The accession numbers 1961.001 and 1961.002 are associated with this collection.
A large fragment of the Bureau's office files were donated to the Swathmore College Peace Collection at an unknown date. The files at Swathmore are primarily comprised of case files of individual clients. The records at the Tamiment Library include all the central office files, as well as many individual case files.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Due to the fragile nature of the original materials, researchers must use the microfilmed version; microfilm call number is Film R-7006, Reels 1-10.
About this Guide
Processing Information
19 photographs were separated from this collection during initial processing and were established as a separate collection, the New York Bureau of Legal Advice Photographs (PHOTOS 036). In 2013, these photographs were reincorporated into the New York Bureau of Legal Advice Records.
In 2021, the Series IV scope note was revised to more accurately describe the camps in which conscientious objectors were incarcerated. Titles for Series III and Series V were edited to revise harmful language regarding immigration status. Select creator-supplied titles containing harmful language regarding immigration status were identified in Series III and V, but have been retained to convey important contextual information regarding time and place in which the documents and titles were created.
Researchers can access previous versions of the finding aid in our GitHub repository at https://github.com/NYULibraries/findingaids_eads/commits/master/tamwag/tam_044.xml.