Guide to the Harriet Walker Welling Papers 1939-1959


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Table of Contents

• Acknowledgments
• Descriptive Summary
• Information on Use
• Access
• Citation
• Biographical Note
• Scope Note
• Related Resources
• Subject Headings
• INVENTORY

Acknowledgments

Descriptive Summary

Information on Use

Access

No restrictions.

Citation

When quoting material from this collection, the preferred citation is: Welling, Harriet Walker. Papers, [Box #, Folder #], Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library

Biographical Note

Welling, Harriet Walker (1892-1989) was an active leader member of many civic and political organizations in Chicago.

From 1939 to 1940, Welling was secretary of "Stop Arming Japan," a group that aimed to prevent the sale of scrap iron and other materials to Japan by American companies. At Welling's suggestion a Gallup Poll determined that most Americans favored prohibitions on the sale of raw materials to Japan. Welling also encouraged US economic and military aid to Great Britain.

In the fall of 1944, Welling organized an intensive and successful campaign to re-elect Scott W. Lucas to the United States Senate. She explained, "This campaign was undertaken not for party reasons (first time I voted Democratic!) but because Lucas' Senate vote was 100% non-isolationist..."

After the war, Welling served as Chair of the Steering Committee of the Chicago Emergency Committee for Civilian Control of Atomic Energy, organized in March 1946 in response to the proposed Vandenberg Amendment to the McMahon Bill, authorizing military control of atomic energy. The Chicago committee worked closely with the recently organized Federation of American Scientists. Welling organized an intensive campaign to lobby Congress concerning the bill. On July 26, Welling and fellow activists celebrated the final passage by both the House and the Senate of the McMahon Bill. The amendment regarding military involvement in the development of future atomic research had been defeated, and the bill as assured civilian control of atomic energy.

In the spring of 1945, Welling worked to encourage local support for the new United Nations. She participated in the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations, and was a charter member and director of the International Relations Center, begun with funding from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Walker died in 1989. She was the daughter of Circuit Court Judge Charles M. Walker, and married John Paul Welling.

Scope Note

The papers contain documents relating to several organizations with which Welling was involved, as well as a small amount of personal correspondence.

The first organization represented in the papers is Stop Arming Japan, of which Harriet Welling was Secretary and a moving spirit of activities during its existence from early in 1939 to January 1942. Included are organizational files, reflecting the group's strong opposition to the supply of war material to Japan and its use of mailing campaigns and personal influence to influence the Congress, which in the spring and summer of 1939 was considering several bills in response to Japan's growing belligerence towards China. Also included are clippings, pamphlets and other publications documenting the military situation in both Asia and Europe and the public pressure groups that arose in response.

Harriet Welling was a charter member and director of the International Relations Center of Chicago, founded as a successor to the International Relations Speakers Bureau in 1943. The Center arranged lectures for public-spirited groups, operated a Pamphlet Shop, arranged for the showing of current and significant films, and sponsored special meetings of various kinds. It had its own radio program for a time, and served as a liaison for organizations with similar aims. The papers contain administrative papers and correspondence related to the Center.

In the fall of 1944, Mrs. Welling organized and carried through an intensive campaign to re-elect Scott W. Lucas to the United States Senate. She explained, "This campaign was undertaken not for party reasons (first time I voted Democratic!) but because Lucas' Senate vote was 100% non-isolationist . . ." Her methods are documented in correspondence, form letters, and other documents collected by Welling as a leader of the Women's League for Lucas. Senator Lucas was re-elected.

Also included in the papers are documents related to the Chicago Chapter of the Americans United for World Organization and the local activist group Build for Peace. Welling's involvement with the former organization seems to have been limited; her work with Build for Peace is documented by correspondence and publications about an approaching San Francisco conference on the United Nations, and other movements directed to building an enduring peace.

Harriet Welling served as Chair of the Steering Committee of the Chicago Emergency Committee for Civilian Control of Atomic Energy, organized in March 1946 in response to the proposed Vandenberg Amendment to the McMahon Bill, which would have authorized military control of atomic energy. The Chicago committee worked closely with the recently organized Federation of American Scientists. Welling organized an intensive campaign to pressure Congress concerning the bill. Other organizations throughout the country rallied to the cause. On July 26, Welling was able to report the final passage by both the House and the Senate of the McMahon Bill. Its crippling amendments had been defeated and the bill as passed provided real civilian control of atomic energy. The work of the Committee continued into the fall, with some effort to encourage high caliber and impartiality in the personnel selected for the new Atomic Energy Commission. The papers contain correspondence, publications and administrative materials reflecting the campaign to influence public policy on atomic energy. The correspondence includes several signed letters from Albert Einstein.

Finally, the papers contain a small amount of personal correspondence, including five notes and letters from Carl Sandburg.

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Subject Headings

• Welling, Harriet Walker, 1892-
• Hull, Cordell, 1871-1955
• Sandburg, Carl, 1878-1967
• Peace
• Security, International
• Disarmament

INVENTORY