The Woman's Peace Party

The Woman's Peace Party

This article relates to The Women of Chateau Lafayette

In The Women of Chateau Lafayette, New York socialite and war supporter Beatrice Ashley Chanler is often at odds with the Woman's Peace Party (WPP), an organization that opposed war in general and the United States' entry into World War I in particular.

Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia on July 28, 1914, sparking a conflict that eventually involved many of the major countries on the planet. People in the US quickly started taking a stand on whether or not the nation should enter the fray. Pacifist organizations began arising, often led by women who had already been active in social organizations.

The WPP began in New York in August 1914, when a group of prominent socialites met at the Hotel McAlpin to plan a women's anti-war protest. The event, which has been referred to as a "mourning parade," took place on August 29, 1914, with around 1,500 women clad in black — or in white (as a symbol of peace) with black accessories — marching silently down Fifth Avenue.

On January 10, 1915, over 3,000 women met at the Willard Hotel in Washington, DC to form a more permanent body: the WPP. The party was founded by Jane Addams, a well-known social activist, along with others, such as Fanny Garrison Villard, a prominent suffragist.

The group's stated aim was "to enlist all American Women to arousing the nation to respect the sacredness of human life and to abolish war." Its platform in 11 clauses was as follows:

1. The immediate calling of a convention of neutral nations in the interest of early peace.
2. Limitation of armaments and the nationalization of their manufacture.
3. Organized opposition to militarism in our own country.
4. Education of youth in the ideals of peace.
5. Democratic control of foreign policies.
6. The further humanizing of governments by the extension of the franchise to women.
7. "Concert of Nations" to supersede "Balance of Power."
8. Action toward the gradual organization of the world to substitute Law for War.
9. The substitution of an international police for rival armies and navies.
10. Removal of the economic cause of war.
11. The appointment by our Government of a commission of men and women, with an adequate appropriation, to promote international peace.

The Washington Post reported on the meeting in detail, noting the group stressed the importance of women's suffrage, holding that "it was the inherent right of a mother to have a say in the blotting out of her son's life."

Following the formation of the WPP, the group's principles were printed in a pamphlet and widely distributed. In April of 1915, Addams and other WPP leaders participated in the International Congress for Women, held at The Hague in the Netherlands with over 1,000 women from different countries attending, where an agenda was laid out for ending the war and pursuing international peace.

The WPP faced stiff criticism. Former President Theodore Roosevelt called them "hysterical pacifists" with "silly and base" proposals, and J. Edgar Hoover labeled Addams "the most dangerous woman in America." (Addams would go on to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931, so obviously not everyone agreed with his assessment.)

By the time the US entered WWI in 1917, the WPP had over 40,000 members. However, the pacifist movement suffered a setback on June 15, 1917 with the passage of the Espionage Act, which imposed fines of up to $10,000 and as many as 20 years in jail for actions that could be interpreted as contrary to national defense, including attempts to hinder military recruitment. Many were prosecuted under the act, which has remained in effect ever since.

Pacifist organizing continued to evolve into a more international movement, and in 1919, it was decided that the WPP would become the US branch of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF). The WILPF is still active today in more than 40 countries.

WPP delegates traveling to International Congress of Women at The Hague, Netherlands in 1915. Source: Bain News Service, Library of Congress

Filed under People, Eras & Events

This "beyond the book article" relates to The Women of Chateau Lafayette. It originally ran in April 2021 and has been updated for the March 2022 paperback edition. Go to magazine.