Roger Nash Baldwin Papers

The Roger Nash Baldwin Papers document the life and career of Roger Baldwin (1884-1981), a prominent and active American civil libertarian for almost all of his prodigiously long life. Baldwin is remembered first and foremost as a founder of the American Civil Liberties Union. Many of the papers in this collection document his involvement with the conscientious objection movement that served as the forerunner to the ACLU and with the Union itself. He served as both its executive director from its foundation in 1920 to his retirement in 1950 and as an advisor from that date until his death in 1981. However, Baldwin cast his net much wider than just the ACLU. During the 1920s and 1930s, he was involved with various left-wing political organizations, including the Industrial Workers of the World. Following the end of World War II, he served as an advisor to the U.S. Army and the United Nations in Germany, Austria, Japan, and Korea, guiding the establishment of democracy in those countries, and he was for many years chair of the International League for the Rights of Man. He spoke and wrote widely, most often on issues of civil liberties and human rights, and also taught periodically throughout his life. The papers, which include correspondence, memos, writings, notes, and photographs, document all aspects of his public life, as well as some portion of his personal life.