The National Civil Liberties Bureau (NCLB) was an American civil rights organization founded in 1917, dedicated to opposing World War I, and specifically focusing on assisting

conscientious objector A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. The term has also been extended to object ...

s. The National Civil Liberties Bureau was the reincarnation of the Civil Liberties Bureau (CLB), in conjunction with the Fellowship of Reconciliation, after its split on October 1, 1917, with its parent organization, the

American Union Against Militarism The American Union Against Militarism (AUAM) was an American pacifist organization established in response to World War I. The organization attempted to keep the United States out of the European conflict through mass demonstrations, public lectur ...

(AUAM), which opposed American involvement in World War I.

Roger Nash Baldwin Roger Nash Baldwin (January 21, 1884 – August 26, 1981) was one of the founders of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). He served as executive director of the ACLU until 1950. Many of the ACLU's original landmark cases took place under ...

, who had called for a branch of the AUAM designed to protect the rights of conscientious objectors, became the CLB's head, and continued as director of the NCLB. The NCLB provided legal advice and aid for

s and those being prosecuted under the Espionage Act of 1917 or Sedition Act of 1918. The NCLB was subpoenaed by the New York legislature's Joint Legislative Committee to Investigate Seditious Activities, popularly known as the

Lusk Committee The Joint Legislative Committee to Investigate Seditious Activities, popularly known as the Lusk Committee, was formed in 1919 by the New York State Legislature to investigate individuals and organizations in New York State suspected of sedition. ...

, which considered the organization's efforts and pacifist ties to be a vehicle for socialist and communist propaganda. Baldwin felt that the NCLB was ineffectual, and wanted to establish an organization that was more militant and active. Under Baldwin's leadership, NCLB members agreed to dissolve the NCLB and reorganize it under a new name and charter; thus the

American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...

was created in 1920. Notable early leaders and founders of the NCLB include director

Crystal Eastman Crystal Catherine Eastman (June 25, 1881 – July 28, 1928) was an American lawyer, antimilitarist, feminist, socialist, and journalist. She is best remembered as a leader in the fight for women's suffrage, as a co-founder and co-editor with ...

, Norman Thomas,

Albert DeSilver Albert DeSilver (August 27, 1888 – December 7, 1924) was a founding member of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). DeSilver graduated from Yale in 1910, where he was a member of Skull and Bones, and then earned a law degree at Columbia La ...

, and

Clarence Darrow Clarence Seward Darrow (; April 18, 1857 – March 13, 1938) was an American lawyer who became famous in the early 20th century for his involvement in the Leopold and Loeb murder trial and the Scopes "Monkey" Trial. He was a leading member of ...

.Princeton University Library
"American Civil Liberties Union Records, The Roger Baldwin Years, 1917-1950: Finding Aid"

Publications

The "Knights of Liberty" Mob and the I. W. W. Prisoners at Tulsa, Okla. (November, 9, 1917)
a report regarding the

Tulsa Outrage The Tulsa Outrage was an act of vigilante violence perpetrated by the Knights of Liberty — a group understood at the time to be a contemporaneous incarnation of the Ku Klux Klan — against members of the Industrial Workers of the World on Nove ...

References

* {{refend American Civil Liberties Union Organizations established in 1917

See also

Publications

References