Title: Labor Leadership Assembly for Peace Records
Inclusive Dates: 1960-1972

Creator:

• Labor Leadership Assembly for Peace

Call Number: Mss 470

Quantity: 1.0 c.f. (3 archives boxes)

Repository:

Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Abstract:

Records of the first national labor organization (1967-) to oppose U.S. involvement in the Vietnam conflict. Included are correspondence, publicity, membership lists, policy statements, clippings, and copies of a newsletter. These records pertain not only to LLAP, but also to the New York City and Chicago chapters of the Trade Union Division of the National Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy (SANE) which sponsored the LLAP founding convention in 1967. Present are copies of speeches by John Kenneth Galbraith, Martin Luther King, Jr., Emil Mazey, Frank Rosenblum, Victor Reuther, Norman Thomas, and others. The correspondence, which includes much routine material on organizational matters and convention planning contains letters from Jules Feiffer, John Kenneth Galbraith, Sidney Lens, and James Wechsler. The financial records only concern the Chicago chapter of SANE-TUD. Also included is a small group of papers on the anti-war activities of Local 1199 of the Drug and Hospital Employees Union including correspondence to and from president Leon J. Davis.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00470

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The Labor Leadership Assembly for Peace (LLAP) was the first labor organization on a national scale to oppose U.S. involvement in the Vietnam conflict. The organization was formed in Chicago in November 1967 at a national convention of the same name sponsored by the Trade Union Division of the National Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy (SANE). This convention, which brought together over five hundred union leaders from 50 different unions, marked the most notable break from the pro-war position of George F. Meany and the AFL-CIO leadership.

In addition to anti-war speeches by union leaders such as Emil Mazey and Victor Reuther of the UAW and Frank Rosenblum of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers, the group heard addresses by John Kenneth Galbraith, Martin Luther King, Jr., Eugene McCarthy, and Norman Thomas. The meeting concluded by adopting a resolution denouncing the war as immoral and contrary to the interests of the United States and the labor movement.

Despite its auspicious beginning, LLAP never developed any real following, nor did it have any permanent funding, staff, or headquarters. This was due in part to the fact that the leaders who participated were able to speak only for themselves and not for the rank and file membership of their respective unions. In addition, several leaders consciously downplayed LLAP in deference to the interests of the Democratic ticket in the 1968 elections. After 1968 LLAP became dormant, although it reemerged occasionally in response to events in the anti-war movement.

This collection has been compiled from files donated by Moe Foner, executive secretary of the Drug and Hospital Employees Union and LLAP national coordinator, and Art Gundersheim of the Chicago Joint Board of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers, who served as midwest executive secretary of LLAP. Included are records not only of the Labor Leadership Assembly for Peace, but also of the Trade Union Division of SANE, in which both Foner and Gundersheim were active. Also donated by Foner is a small group of papers on the anti-war activities of Local 1199 of the Drug and Hospital Employees Union. The overall arrangement of the collection corresponds to the chronological evolution of the three organizations and consists of correspondence, clippings, publicity materials, and financial records.

The anti-war records of LOCAL 1199, DRUG AND HOSPITAL EMPLOYEES UNION, consist of correspondence to and from President Leon J. Davis, a petition and statement on the war, and clippings concerning the activities of the local during its early days. Davis' correspondence includes a letter from Sidney Lens (October 20, 1965) on the need to organize anti-war sentiment in the unions and letters from Robert F. Kennedy (May 1, 1965), Harrison A. Williams, Jr. (February 16, 1966), and other legislators in reply to a union communication about the war.

The records of the TRADE UNION DIVISION OF SANE were largely generated by Foner and include correspondence on its formation and early history and planning for the LLAP convention. Also included are clippings, press releases, and copies of a newsletter pertaining to Trade Union Division activities. Prominent correspondents include Jules Feiffer, John Kenneth Galbraith, and James Wechsler. The financial records pertain entirely to the Chicago chapter.

Records of the LABOR LEADERSHIP ASSEMBLY FOR PEACE, which begin with the November 1967 conference, include convention papers, clippings, and mailing and membership lists. Among the convention papers are addresses, some of which appear to be incomplete, by John Kenneth Galbraith, Vance Hartke, Martin Luther King, Jr., Emil Mazey, Victor Reuther, Frank Rosenblum, and David Schoenbrun and statements of policy.

January and April 1968 issues of Labor Voice for Peace, the newsletter of LLAP, have been transferred to the Historical Society Library.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Moe Foner, New York, New York, July 22, 1971, and Art Gundersheim, Chicago, Illinois, December 15, 1975. Accession Number: M71-152, M75-589

Processing Information

Processed by Harry Miller (Intern) and Carolyn J. Mattern, August 1979.

	Series: Drug and Hospital Employees Union, Local 1199 Records
Box   1 Folder   1	Correspondence, 1965-1967
Box   1 Folder   2	Clippings and Printed Material, 1960-1965
	Series: SANE-Trade Union Division Records	⇧
	Correspondence
Box   1 Folder   3-5	1966, April - 1967, September
Box   2 Folder   1	1967, October - November 10
Box   2 Folder   2	Publicity, undated
Box   2 Folder   3	SANE-World, 1966-1967
Box   2 Folder   4	Chicago Chapter Financial Records, 1967-1968
Box   2 Folder   5-8	Clippings, 1966-1967, October
	Series: Labor Leadership Assembly for Peace Records	⇧
Box   2 Folder   9	Convention Papers, 1967, November
Box   2 Folder   10-12	Correspondence, 1967, November 16 - 1968, April; 1972
Box   3 Folder   1	Publicity, undated
Box   3 Folder   2-3	Membership and Mailing Lists, undated
Box   3 Folder   4-6	Clippings, 1967, November - 1968, February
Box   3 Folder   7	Miscellany