The Champaign-Urbana Peace Council was formed in 1950 to promote "world peace through just and democratic means." Affiliated with local churches and such national groups as the Federation of Reconciliation, American Friends Service Committee, and CARE, the group was supported by voluntary contributions. With 93 members by 1960, the Council sought to improve community awareness of world affairs by sponsoring lectures, seminars, and study groups. One of its most significant contributions was its International Student Hospitality Program, which organized a host family program for foreign students attending the University of Illinois. The members also offered free English classes for foreign students and their families. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s the Peace Council advocated civil rights legislation, the admission of China into the United Nations, and a nuclear test ban. It deplored the activities of the House Un-American Activities Committee and U.S. intervention in Cuba. By 1965 the Council was actively protesting the Vietnam War.

The collection documents the actions and policies of the organization. It includes the organization by-laws, minutes of meetings, budget and committee reports, newsletters, and membership correspondence. Also in the collection are newspaper clippings, pamphlets, advertisements and announcements about group events, as well as peace publications of American Friends Service Committee, the World Peace Study Mission, the Greenwich Village Peace Center, and Promoting Enduring Peace, Inc.

This collection was initially cataloged and shelved in the Main Bookstacks. It was transferred to the Illinois History and Lincoln Collections in 1980.

Champaign-Urbana Peace Council. Papers, 1951-1966

Collection Overview

Scope and Contents of the Materials

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