America First Committee Collection

Collection

Identifier: SPC-2024-004

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The America First Committee Colleciton (1940-1941) contains one box and 0.21 ft. of material regarding the America First Committee. The majority of the collection contains brochures such as: “Address by Charles A. Lindbergh, “I Hate War” with an application to apply for membership and quotes from Franklin Delano Roosevelt, “Are We on the Road to War?” with the committee’s principles and objectives and the speech made by Wisconsin United States Senator, Robert M. LaFollette, “Uncle Sam a Fellow Traveler?” with quotes from Herbert Hoover, Senator Robert M. LaFollette, General Robert E. Wood, Senator Burton K. Wheeler, American Legion Commander Milo J. Warner, Senator Robert A. Taft, Norman Thomas, Senator Bennett Champ Clark, and John T, Flynn, and the brochure “Convoy a Funeral Train.” The collection also contains documents from the America First Committee Research Bureau, a letter from Chairman of the America First Committee Millard C. Dodge regarding the “All Out For War Bill,” the pamphlet “Defend America First!”, “Must We Fight for our Foreign Trade?”, and “One Year of America First,” celebrating the committee’s success. Lastly, it contains several flyers, including “What You Can Do to Help America Keep Out of War” with a list of steps on how to contribute to the efforts of the America First Committee, a flyer regarding the American Expeditionary Forces, “Are You Willing to Give Up Democracy?” flyers, and “What Every Citizen Can Do” flyers.

Dates

October 1940-October 1941

Creator

Charles A. (Charles Augustus), Lindbergh (1902-1974) (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

There are no access restrictions on this collection.

Conditions Governing Use

All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Director of Archives and Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical materials and not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.

Biographical / Historical

The America First Committee was established circa 1940 and dissolved after December 7, 1941. The purpose of the committee was to preserve the United States’ neutrality during World War II. Charles A. Lindbergh became one of the voices of the America First Committee, advocating for neutrality in World War II. The committee was established by Yale Law students, and it gained 800,000 members in 450 chapters over the fifteen months prior to its dissolution. On December 11, 1941, the committee was dissolved, and the United States joined World War II.