Document 7: Daughters of the American Revolution to Jane Addams, ca. July 1924, Jane Addams Papers, Correspondence, Swarthmore College Peace Collection (Jane Addams Papers Microfilm, reel 16, #958).

Document 7: Daughters of the American Revolution to Jane Addams, ca. July 1924, Jane Addams Papers, Correspondence, Swarthmore College Peace Collection (Jane Addams Papers Microfilm, reel 16, #958).

Introduction

      Between 1924 and 1926 DAR members continued to lobby for a strong national defense. Articles from the Magazine claimed that America needed adequate armed forces in the event of an invasion by a hostile power. Other documents, including this statement on disarmament by DAR chapters from the Chicago area, suggest that the organization was being overtaken by anti-communist hysteria. Instead of locating enemies abroad, the patriotic organizations looked within their own borders.

        WILPF continued to be the focal point of DAR hostility. When the International Congress met in Washington D.C. in 1924, League members, both American and European, became victims of a more systematic DAR attack. Following the conference, the US Section of WILPF had charted a railway coach to take some European delegates to a summer school for peace activists in Chicago. American Legion and DAR chapters publicly attacked the delegates riding on the "Pax Special," accusing them of acting as foreign spies. Both patriotic organizations pressured cities to cancel public meetings and lectures arranged with WILPF delegates.[13] In light of these actions, the Daughters' claim in this letter that they desired "to further complete understanding and cooperation between all nations of the world" rings somewhat hollow.

Miss Jane Addams
    Pres. Women's International
        League for Peace and Freedom,
            Hull House
                Chicago, Ill.

    The Daughters of the American Revolution in Chicago and vicinity makes the following statement:-

    "We are absolutely opposed to the disarmament of the United States until such time as all class A nations will disarm.

    "We are fully aware of the insidious forces now at work within our borders attempting to undermine our Government; therefore, regardless of the possibility of attack from other nations, we believe that this condition necessitates an adequate national defense.

    "We are therefore in favor of doing all possible to further complete understanding and co-operation between all nations of the world, that the causes for war may be eliminated."

                (Signed)
                Chicago Chapter
                Gen. Henry Dearborn Chapter
                Kaskia Chapter
                De Walt Mechlin Chapter
                David Kennison Chapter
                George Rogers Clark Chapter
                Fort Dearborn Chapter
                North Shore Chapter

 


 
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