Irwin R. Hogenauer Papers, 1932-1984

Irwin R. Hogenauer (1912-1984), Seattle pacifist, initiated, organized, and participated in peace and non-violent civil disobedience projects throughout his lifetime. Hogenauer was raised in Bronx County, New York with his three brothers, Eugene, Edward, and Nelson. In the early 1930s he was active in Christian peace work through the Bronx Christian Endeavor Union. In 1934, Hogenauer traveled to Germany and Austria as an assistant leader with the Experiment in International Understanding. In 1935, he worked at the Putney School in Vermont, which was newly founded by Hogenauer's EIL trip leader, Carmelita Hinton. After leaving the Putney School, he worked at the West Side YMCA as a community organizer. Hogenauer also completed undergraduate work at Haverford College and Columbia University.

In October 1936, Hogenauer's brother Edward died tragically in an aviation accident at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola Florida. Another young soldier, Lee Gourley, was killed in the accident. Through written condolences with the Gourley family, Hogenauer met his future wife, Elizabeth (Betty) Hogenauer. Hogenauer and Betty, who lived in Alabama, began a passionate courtship through correspondence. They became engaged in July of 1937. Hogenauer relocated to Birmingham after securing a job with the Birmingham YMCA in September of 1937; they were married by November. The Hogenauers raised three children, Edward, Susan and Brian. They moved to the Seattle area in the late 1930s or early 1940s, where they became active members in pacifist and religious communities, including the Fellowship of Reconciliation and the University Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends.

Hogenauer was a Conscientious Objector during World War II. He attempted to enter various theological and undergraduate institutions, including Candler School of Theology at Emory University and the Chicago Theological Seminary, in hopes of gaining exemption from military service. For almost two years, Hogenauer lived and worked in Civilian Public Service camps run by the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC). He was assigned in August 1943 to a CPS camp in Gatlinburg, Tennessee and requested transfer in November 1944 to a camp in Germfask, Michigan. During his experiences at Germfask, Hogenauer came to believe that religious and pacifist agencies should not cooperate in conscription in any form, and decided to leave camp in protest against what he viewed as an immoral system. In early 1946, the AFSC ended its administration of CPS camps and never again cooperated in administering any programs for COs.

In June of 1945, Hogenauer left camp and acquired AWOL status. He was subsequently incarcerated for ten months at McNeil Island Penitentiary in Western Washington. While in prison, he practiced non-cooperation, including the refusal to authorize censorship of his mail which severely limited his correspondence with Betty. Hogenauer was released on parole in August of 1946 before his two year sentence was completed.

Hogenauer became a counselor to tax resisters in 1947, and served as a draft counselor for twenty-eight years. He also managed milk deliveries for the Evergreen Cooperative from 1947 to 1957 and participated in several other cooperative and consumer organizations in Washington State.

In 1963, at the age of 51, Hogenauer traveled to Washington D.C. on a personal mission of pacifist activism. He hoped to promote national defense through non-violent resistance, calling for an end to nuclear weapons testing and warfare. He lived at the Peace Action Center from March to September of 1963 as a member of the cooperative. While attempting to gain audience with the President, Hogenauer corresponded and met with government officials, including the Director of the Peace Corps, R. Sargent Shriver, and various senators and presidential aides. He kept vigil almost daily outside of the White House by handing out anti-nuclear war leaflets and carrying a sign reading "Save My Child! Eliminate War." Hogenauer was also strongly concerned about the effects of war on mental health and corresponded with the Menninger Foundation and Council for a Livable World. While pursuing his own mission, Hogenauer contributed time to the Committee for Nonviolent Action's Quebec-Washington-Guantanamo Walk for Peace, and volunteered at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

Hogenauer was a member of the National Committee for Nonviolent Action and an anti-war commentator on radio station KRAB FM in the late 1960s. He ran for Senator in 1968 as a member of the New Party, a party dedicated to ending the Vietnam War and reducing military control of the government. Hogenauer also volunteered as a trainer in nonviolence for the Fellowship of Reconciliation -- an interfaith peace organization -- and the Northwest Nonviolent Training and Action Center, until it disbanded in July 1972. The Seattle Peace Education Committee of American Friends Service Committee (Northwest Region) took over training tasks done by NWNVTAC until September 1972, when SPEC itself disbanded as a result of Hogenauer's and several other members' leaving the Committee.