Basic Information 

While much of the literature regarding women’s activities during the first wave of feminism tends to focus around their fight for personal rights such as suffrage, their efforts toward greater social reform are often overshadowed. Such is the case when it comes to women’s work for peace. From the movement’s significant membership of pacifist Quakers during its early years, to women’s later founding of a major international peace organization during WWI, women’s desire to create a more peaceful society was an integral element of the first wave. 

Background Information 

One of the earliest links between the first women’s rights movement and peace can be seen through the significant involvement of Quaker women. A major tenet of the Quaker religion is pacifism, or, an “opposition to war or violence as a means of settling disputes” (Merriam-Webster, n.d., Definition 1). As many of the movement’s early members and organizers were Quakers, it is reasonable to assume that their considerable presence within the movement would have facilitated a transference of pacifist beliefs, at least among some members. Many of these Quaker women were also Garrisonians, followers of the prominent abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison. Likewise, some were members of Garrison’s New England Non-Resistant Society (NENRS), an organization of extreme pacifists (Norgren, 2007, p. 156). 

Early Efforts (Pre-WWI) 

After the Civil War, a new society, known as the Universal Peace Union (UPU), was formed. The organization was founded by Quaker Alfred H. Love and a few other individuals, including the well-known Quaker abolitionist and women’s rights activist, Lucretia Mott. The organization comprised of many prior NENRS members and built upon the same Garrisonian principles of non-resistance. While there were other peace societies at the time, the UPU was unique in its inclusion of women—encouraging their equal participation alongside men and in leadership positions. Numerous prominent and influential women were involved with the UPU, including, but not limited to: Susan B. Anthony, Clara Barton, Belva Lockwood, Amanda Deyo, Mary Frost Ormsby Evans, Josephine Griffing, and Dr. Mary Walker (Norgren, 2007, pp. 156-157; Scholarly Resources Inc., 2005).   

While more typically remembered for her two presidential runs and becoming the first woman to practice law before the United States Supreme Court, Belva Lockwood was an especially active participant of this early peace movement. From her joining of the UPU in 1868 Lockwood worked tirelessly throughout her life to advance the cause for peace (Norgren, 2007). Lockwood worked in numerous official capacities among multiple peace organizations—serving as Secretary of the American Branch of the International Peace Bureau, Vice President for the United States of the League of Women for International Disarmament, an executive board member of the UPU (for over 40 years) and a co-editor of its periodical publication, The Peacemaker (Lockwood, 1899, p. 1; Love et al., 1910, p. ix). Through writings and lectures, Lockwood argued that war was not only immoral, but also economically wasteful and especially oppressive to women and the working class (Norgren, 2007, p. 158). On behalf of the UPU, Lockwood also attended many international peace congresses and lobbied relentlessly for the establishment of international courts of arbitration (Swarthmore College, 2015; Norgren, 2007, p. 159). Like many other reformers of her time, Lockwood strongly believed women to be inherently more peaceful than men, and therefore, believed that their obtainment of equal social and political rights would be key to establishing peace (Norgren, 2007, pp. 158-159). 

Another social justice advocate that believed strongly in women’s power to end war was Julia Ward Howe. During the Civil War, Howe tended to wounded soldiers and worked with their widows and orphans, witnessing first-hand the devastating effects of war. Motivated by her experience, in 1870, Howe issued an “Appeal to Womanhood Throughout the World”, calling for a day in which women and mothers of all nationalities would band together in solidarity against war, commiserate about their lost sons and husbands and then formulate plans for peace. Her appeal later became known as the “Mother’s Day Proclamation”, and though it would take over 40 years, led to the creation of the national holiday known today (The Peace Alliance, 2015). 

It was not only American women calling for peace during this time; women’s efforts began to increase internationally as well. In Europe, the brutal Crimean War inspired its own wave of peace activism. In 1854 Swedish feminist Fredrika Bremer shared her vision for the establishment a female-only alliance for peace. In 1868, Bremer’s idea came to fruition when a Swiss woman by the name of Marie Geogg founded the Association Internationale des Femmes (Elshtain & Tobias, 1990, p. 145). 

In 1889, an Austrian woman named Bertha Von Suttner published one of the most influential anti-war novels of the 19th-century—Die Waffen nieder! [Lay Down Your Arms!]. The novel quickly became an international bestseller and propelled Suttner to the forefront of the pre-WWI peace movement (Burns, 2019, p. 1). In 1891 Suttner founded the Austrian Peace Society and in 1892 started a peace journal called Die Waffen Nieder, of which she was an editor (Burns, 2019, pp. 3-4). Suttner traveled the world, attending numerous peace congresses and giving lectures. She made two trips to the U.S.—one in 1904 and another in 1912—the first of which she attended the Universal Peace Congress in Boston and met with President Woodrow Wilson and the second in which she conducted a six month long speaking tour across the country and met with President Taft (Burns, 2019, p. 7). In 1905 Suttner’s extensive work for peace was formally recognized when she became the first woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize (Burns, 2019, p. 1). 

Uniting for Peace (WWI) 

Women’s largest and most concerted effort for peace during the first wave, however, would come after the turn of the century, in the years leading up to and throughout World War I. At the center of this movement was prominent social worker and reformer, Jane Addams. With the success of her famous Hull House settlement community in Chicago, Addams had earned a reputation as one of the leading social welfare advocates of the time. From as early as 1899, Addams frequently expressed support for peace in her lectures and essays (Wilson, 1997, p. 1). In 1907 she published Newer Ideals of Peace, in which she argued that the use of war to settle disputes was primitive and unnecessary in an enlightened society and that mediation should instead be the preferred method (1907). Addams’ belief in the power of mediation was greatly inspired by her work with Hull House, as its mission often required the resolving of conflicts between neighboring immigrant communities (Wilson, 1997, p. 16).  

Over the next several years, Addams continued to publish several books and a plethora of essays and articles, many of which appeared in popular publications such as The Ladies Home Journal and The American Magazine (Wilson, 1997, p. 22). From 1911 to 1914, Addams also served as vice president of the National American Women Suffrage Association (NAWSA) (The Addams Papers Project, n.d.). Such activism propelled Addams to the forefront of both the feminist and peace movements and further led to an increasing intertwinement of the two. Like Lockwood, Addams believed women were intrinsically more peaceful and nurturing of human life, and posited that if women had the right to vote, men’s instincts toward war could be mitigated (Wilson, 1997, p. 23). 

Despite the efforts of Addams and many others, on April 6, 1914, the United States announced its entrance into the war. The shift prompted two prominent women’s rights and peace activists, Hungarian-born Rosika Schwimmer and British Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence to urge for the establishment a womens–only peace organization of national scale in the U.S. On January 10, 1915, in response to these growing calls and with the encouragement of her friend Carrie Chapman Catt (NAWSA president), Addams organized a meeting of over 3,000 delegates of women pacifists in Washington D.C. and founded the Women’s Peace Party. The organization included many well-known women, such as Lucia Ames Mead, Anna Garlin Spencer, Charlotte Perkins Gillman, Anna Howard Shaw, Belle Case LaFollette, and Fanny Garrison Villard (daughter of William Lloyd Garrison) (Wilson, 1997, p. 30-32). Their preamble, written by Anna Garlin Spencer, declared: 

“We, women of the United States, assembled in behalf of World Peace, do hereby band ourselves together to demand that war be abolished. . . As women, we are particularly charged with the future of childhood and with the care of the helpless and the unfortunate. We will no longer endure without protest that added burden of maimed and invalid men and poverty-stricken widows and orphans. . . We demand that women be given a share in deciding between war and peace in all the courts of high debate. . . ” (1915, as quoted in Wilson, 1997, p. 33). 

One month later, delegates of the Women’s Peace Party received invitation to attend the International Congress of Women, a peace conference, that would be held in The Hague, Netherlands in April; Addams was asked to preside. Despite significant public criticism and the risks involved with sailing around Europe during the war, the delegation accepted. On April 16, 1915, delegates from Women’s Peace Party set sail on the Noordam, in route to the Netherlands. During the journey, the vessel was detained by the British Navy for five days and forced to anchor in the English Channel. The vessel was eventually allowed to continue, after some intervention from the American Ambassador, and the women arrived in time for the Congress’ opening ceremony (Wilson, 1997, p. 35). 

Over a thousand delegates representing 12 nations, both neutral and warring, with 47 from the United States, attended. The Congress passed several resolutions from a general denouncement of war to more specific actions deemed necessary to establish and maintain peace. Such actions included: a granting of equal political rights for women, continuous mediation between nations, the prohibition of transferring territory without the express consent of its inhabitants, and the right of citizens to establish democracies (International Congress of Women, 1915). 

…what after all has maintained the human race on this old globe despite all the calamities of nature and all the tragic failings of mankind, if not faith in new possibilities, and courage to advocate them.

~ Jane Addams (Addams, 2002, p. 85) 

Analysis and Conclusion 

The Congress also resulted in the formation of an international organization of women dedicated to the peace effort, called the International Committee of Women for Permanent Peace (ICWPP), of which Addams was also appointed president. In 1919, the ICWPP would change its name to the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, an organization which remains committed to peace today. Addams continued to advocate for peace up until the final years of her life. In 1931, four years before her death, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize (Jane Addams Papers Project, n.d.). 

Women’s increasing focus on their rights, or lack there-of, during the first wave provided a lense through which many women began to examine greater social issues. Many of the same women who dedicated their lives toward fighting for their own rights, also advocated tirelessly for the rights and well-being of others. In this way, the first wave was not simply a movement for women, but rather, society as a whole. These women envisioned a more peaceful world, void of all forms of human suffering. They strove to create, not only a better future for women—but a brighter future for all. 

References  

Addams, J. (1907). Newer ideals for peace. Syracuse, NY: The Macmillan Company. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/2027/hvd.32044029853355?urlappend=%3Bseq=117 

 

Addams, J. (2002). Peace and Bread in Time of War. Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press. Retrieved from muse.jhu.edu/book/23395 

 

Bain News Service, P. (1915). Peace Delegates on NOORDAM — Mrs. P. Lawrence, Jane Addams, Anna Molloy., 1915 [Photograph]. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2014698779/ 

 

Bremer, F. (1854, Oct 15). A peace alliance: Letter from Fredrika Bremer to the women of the United States. The United States Magazine of Science, Art, Manufactures, Agriculture, Commerce and Trade (1854-1856), 1, 183. Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.offcampus.lib.washington.edu/docview/89784470/fulltextPDF/F987026445744D9FPQ/1?accountid=14784 

 

Burns, B. (Ed.). (2019). Bertha von Suttner, ‘Lay Down Your Arms’: The autobiography of Martha von Tilling. Cambridge; United Kingdom: Modern Humanities Research Association. https://www.doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvc2rm1f.4 

 

Elshtain, J.B. & Tobias, S. (Eds.) (1990). Women, militarism, and war: essays in history, politics, and social theory. Savage, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?id=mye2lQkbmUUC&pg=PA145#v=onepage&q&f=false 

 

Howe, J. W. (1870). Appeal to womanhood throughout the world [Pdf]. Boston, MA: (n.p.). Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/rbpe.07400300/ 

 

International Congress of Women. (1915). Report of the International Congress of Women: The Hague– The Netherlands, April 28th to May 1st, 1915 : president’s address : resolutions adopted : report of the committee visting European capitals. Chicago, IL: Women’s Peace Party. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc1.b2825462 

 

Jane Addams Papers Project. (n.d.) Chronology. Ramapo College of New Jersey. Retrieved from http://janeaddams.ramapo.edu/about-jane-addams/ 

 

Lockwood, B. A. (1899). Peace and the outlook : An American view. Washington, D.C.: [n.p.]. Retrieved from https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015029542423&view=1up&seq=2 

 

Love, A. H., Carter, A., Lockwood, B. A., Batchellor, D., Wright, T., Ferris, W. C. & Duras, V. H. (Eds.). (1910). The Peacemaker and the Court of Arbitration. Philadelphia, PA: Universal Peace Union. Retrieved from https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=MnE1AQAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&pg=GBS.PR3 

 

Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Pacifism. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved December 14, 2019, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pacifism 

 

Norgren, J. (2007). Belva Lockwood: The woman who would be president. New York: NYU Press. Retrieved from muse.jhu.edu/book/10727 

 

Scholarly Resources Inc. (2005). Records of the Universal Peace Union [1846-1866], 1867-1923, 1938. [Microfilm]. Retrieved from Swarthmore College Peace Collection, http://microformguides.gale.com/Data/Download/8386000C.pdf  

 

Swarthmore College. (2015, August 21). Belva Ann Lockwood Papers (DG 098). Retrieved December 14, 2019, from Swarthmore College Peace Collection, https://www.swarthmore.edu/library/peace/DG051-099/DG098Blockwoodorigs.htm 

 

The Peace Alliance. (2015, May 08). History of Mother’s Day as a Day of Peace: Julia Ward Howe. https://peacealliance.org/history-of-mothers-day-as-a-day-of-peace-julia-ward-howe/ 

 

Wilson, R. F. (1997). Jane Addams: The reformer as pacifist (Order No. 1384870). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. (304420597). Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/304420597?accountid=14784