Student Peace Union
Encyclopedia
Student Peace Union was a nationwide student organization active on college campuses in the United States from 1959 to 1964. Its national headquarters were located near the campus of the University of Chicago
.
The SPU was founded by Ken Calkins, who had gained notoriety when his pelvis was fractured when he ran in front a truck during a pacifist demonstration against nuclear weapons at Cheyenne, Wyoming. He had returned to Chicago and became educational director for the local American Friends Service Committee
. As part of his duties in that position he conducted a number of peace seminars at local Chicago high schools, where he developed a number of contacts with local students. By the spring of 1959 this network had been organized in the Student Peace Union, and had about 100 members by the end of the school year. In 1960 it merged with the Fellowship of Reconciliation
affiliated College Peace Union, which had several campus chapters in the Northeast. By December 1961 the group 1,500 members in dozens of campuses in the Midwest and Northeast, and a year later would expand to 3,500 members, with inroads on the West Coast and South. From the beginning the Young People's Socialist League
, then under the influence of the Shachtmanites
poured its members into the group and tried to give it a "Third camp
" direction—rejecting both Western capitalism and Soviet communism as equally imperialist.
The SPU organized a number of protests and vigils at the White House. The first was in November 1961 against the resumption of nuclear testing. To their surprise President Kennedy
displayed some sympathy for the group, having his disarmament advisers confer with picket leaders and receiving their petitions. A second protest, the "Washington Action" drew 5,000 students in February 1962. Kennedy sent them an urn of coffee on the first day of the protest, which was held during a snowstorm. The event was co-sponsored by Student SANE
, the Students for a Democratic Society
(which at the time had a tenth of the membership of SPU) and a Harvard affiliate of the SPU called TOCSIN, which was led by Todd Gitlin
. TOCSIN was able to initiate some contacts with Senators and State Department officials, combining the protest march with lobbying efforts.
The SPU continued its protests against nuclear testing that spring, when they engaged in the first confrontation between police and anti-war protesters of the decade in New York. During the Cuban Missile Crisis
that October the group sponsored demonstrations across the country, including a march in front of the White House that drew 2,000 people. When the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty was signed in the wake of the crisis it was a mixed blessing for the SPU. While they had always been against nuclear testing, so much of its identity was bound up with anti-nuclear war activism that it struggled to find a new footing . Furthermore it was undermined by the factional struggles within the YPSL between the Shachtmanite "realignment tendency" -- which favored socialist entry into the Democratic party—and the more non-electoral "labor party tendency" led by Mike Parker. The Shachtmanites tried to dilute the labor party tendency's control of SPU by urging a merger with Student SANE, but this fell through. Debated among the YPSLs over when, if ever, to support peace candidates and questions over foreign policy consumed the top leadership and the organization dissolved in the spring of 1964.
A second incarnation of the Student Peace Union was formed in the fall of 1964 by some of the young SPU members and David McReynolds
. While not very prominent nationally, it had chapters on a few campuses not otherwise known for New Left activism - Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania
, St. Peter's College, Idaho State University
and Rocky Mountain College
. It merged with the Campus Americans for Democratic Action to form the Independent Student Union in 1967
Papers of the Student Peace Union are located in the State Historical Society of Wisconsin.
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
.
The SPU was founded by Ken Calkins, who had gained notoriety when his pelvis was fractured when he ran in front a truck during a pacifist demonstration against nuclear weapons at Cheyenne, Wyoming. He had returned to Chicago and became educational director for the local American Friends Service Committee
American Friends Service Committee
The American Friends Service Committee is a Religious Society of Friends affiliated organization which works for peace and social justice in the United States and around the world...
. As part of his duties in that position he conducted a number of peace seminars at local Chicago high schools, where he developed a number of contacts with local students. By the spring of 1959 this network had been organized in the Student Peace Union, and had about 100 members by the end of the school year. In 1960 it merged with the Fellowship of Reconciliation
Fellowship of Reconciliation
The Fellowship of Reconciliation is the name used by a number of religious nonviolent organizations, particularly in English-speaking countries...
affiliated College Peace Union, which had several campus chapters in the Northeast. By December 1961 the group 1,500 members in dozens of campuses in the Midwest and Northeast, and a year later would expand to 3,500 members, with inroads on the West Coast and South. From the beginning the Young People's Socialist League
Young People's Socialist League (1907)
The Young People's Socialist League , founded in 1907, was the official youth arm of the Socialist Party of America. Its political activities tend to concentrate on increasing the voter turnout of young democratic socialists and affecting the issues impacting that demographic group.- Foundation and...
, then under the influence of the Shachtmanites
Shachtmanism
Shachtmanism is the form of Marxism associated with Max Shachtman. It has two major components: a bureaucratic collectivist analysis of the Soviet Union and a third camp approach to world politics...
poured its members into the group and tried to give it a "Third camp
Third camp
The third camp, also known as third camp socialism or third camp Trotskyism, is a branch of socialism which aims to oppose both capitalism and Stalinism, by supporting the organised working class as a "third camp"....
" direction—rejecting both Western capitalism and Soviet communism as equally imperialist.
The SPU organized a number of protests and vigils at the White House. The first was in November 1961 against the resumption of nuclear testing. To their surprise President Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
displayed some sympathy for the group, having his disarmament advisers confer with picket leaders and receiving their petitions. A second protest, the "Washington Action" drew 5,000 students in February 1962. Kennedy sent them an urn of coffee on the first day of the protest, which was held during a snowstorm. The event was co-sponsored by Student SANE
Sane
Sane is an English word meaning "of sound mind"; see Sanity.Sane or SANE may also refer to:* Sane Ancient Greek city* An archaeological site and a modern name of Sani, Greece*Sane, Mali...
, the Students for a Democratic Society
Students for a Democratic Society
Students for a Democratic Society was a student activist movement in the United States that was one of the main iconic representations of the country's New Left. The organization developed and expanded rapidly in the mid-1960s before dissolving at its last convention in 1969...
(which at the time had a tenth of the membership of SPU) and a Harvard affiliate of the SPU called TOCSIN, which was led by Todd Gitlin
Todd Gitlin
Todd Gitlin is an American sociologist, political writer, novelist, and cultural commentator. He has written widely on the mass media, politics, intellectual life and the arts, for both popular and scholarly publications.-New Left activist:...
. TOCSIN was able to initiate some contacts with Senators and State Department officials, combining the protest march with lobbying efforts.
The SPU continued its protests against nuclear testing that spring, when they engaged in the first confrontation between police and anti-war protesters of the decade in New York. During the Cuban Missile Crisis
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a confrontation among the Soviet Union, Cuba and the United States in October 1962, during the Cold War...
that October the group sponsored demonstrations across the country, including a march in front of the White House that drew 2,000 people. When the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty was signed in the wake of the crisis it was a mixed blessing for the SPU. While they had always been against nuclear testing, so much of its identity was bound up with anti-nuclear war activism that it struggled to find a new footing . Furthermore it was undermined by the factional struggles within the YPSL between the Shachtmanite "realignment tendency" -- which favored socialist entry into the Democratic party—and the more non-electoral "labor party tendency" led by Mike Parker. The Shachtmanites tried to dilute the labor party tendency's control of SPU by urging a merger with Student SANE, but this fell through. Debated among the YPSLs over when, if ever, to support peace candidates and questions over foreign policy consumed the top leadership and the organization dissolved in the spring of 1964.
A second incarnation of the Student Peace Union was formed in the fall of 1964 by some of the young SPU members and David McReynolds
David McReynolds
David McReynolds is an American democratic socialist and pacifist activist who described himself as "a peace movement bureaucrat" during his 40-year career with Liberation magazine and the War Resisters League...
. While not very prominent nationally, it had chapters on a few campuses not otherwise known for New Left activism - Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania
Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania
Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania, commonly known as Ship, or SU, is a public university located in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, 40 miles west-southwest of Harrisburg...
, St. Peter's College, Idaho State University
Idaho State University
Idaho State University is a public university located in Pocatello, Idaho. It has outreach programs in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho Falls, Boise, and Twin Falls....
and Rocky Mountain College
Rocky Mountain College
Rocky Mountain College , located in Billings, Montana, is a private comprehensive college offering more than 25 liberal arts- and professionally oriented majors. In fall 2009, the college had 894 enrolled students...
. It merged with the Campus Americans for Democratic Action to form the Independent Student Union in 1967
Papers of the Student Peace Union are located in the State Historical Society of Wisconsin.
Publications
- The pacifist ethic and humanism by Philip AltbachPhilip AltbachPhilip G. Altbach is an American researcher on international higher education issues and is the J. Donald Monan SJ professor of higher education at Boston College, where he also directs the Center for International Higher Education...
[Chicago : Student Peace Union, 1960 - The Youth Peace Corps and the Cold War by Michael ParkerMichael ParkerMichael Parker or Mike Parker may refer to:*Michael Parker , former U.S. congressman from Mississippi*Michael Parker , private secretary to the Duke of Edinburgh, 1947–1957...
[Chicago : Student Peace Union, 1961 - Program statement of the 1961 national convention of the Student Peace Union. Chicago: The Union, 1961
- SPU organizer's handbook Chicago: The Union, 1961
- Student Peace Union Chicago: The Union, 1962
- Berlin : a statement Chicago: The Union, 1962
- Minutes of the Student Peace Union national convention, April 27–29, 1962, Antioch College, Yellow Springs, Ohio. [Ohio? : The Union, 1962
- Feiffer on Vietnam by Jules FeifferJules FeifferJules Ralph Feiffer is an American syndicated cartoonist, most notable for his long-run comic strip titled Feiffer. He has created more than 35 books, plays and screenplays...
New York : Student Peace Union, 1960s - Bertrand Russell on the war in Vietnam [Bronx, N.Y.] : The Union, 1963
- Songs for peace; 100 songs of the peace movement. New York, Oak Publications 1966
