Seattle Women Act for Peace records, 1936-2002

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Seattle Women Act for Peace
Title
Seattle Women Act for Peace records
Dates
1936-2002
Quantity
10.64 cubic feet
Collection Number
4073
Summary
Minutes, correspondence, newsletters, clippings, ephemera, subject series, audiotapes, scrapbooks, and reports of Seattle Women Act for Peace, an affiliate group of Women Strike for Peace that was involved in many areas of peace and justice work
Repository
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections
University of Washington Libraries
Box 352900
Seattle, WA
98195-2900
Telephone: 2065431929
Fax: 2065431931
speccoll@uw.edu
Access Restrictions

Open to all users.

Languages
English
Sponsor
Funding for encoding this finding aid was partially provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities

Historical NoteReturn to Top

Seattle Women Act for Peace (SWAP) is an affiliate group of Women Strike for Peace (WSP). WSP was founded by Bella Abzug and Dagmar Wilson after an international protest against the arms race and atmospheric nuclear testing conducted by the United States and the USSR. On November 1, 1961, women around the world, including 1500 in Washington D.C., were roused to protest out of concern for children's health, which was at great risk due to radiation's effect on milk. SWAP was formed shortly after WSP by a group of peace activists in Seattle, including Rosemary Brodie, Anci Koppel, and Thorun Robel. The slogan often used on SWAP stationery declared "End the Arms Race - Not the Human Race." In their first year, they held a demonstration against nuclear testing during President John F. Kennedy's visit to commemorate the University of Washington's centennial anniversary. After Kennedy signed the 1963 Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty, his motivation to sign was credited partly to WSP and other women's peace organizations. In 1969, SWAP lobbied in Olympia against the proposed antiballistic missile system. Over the decades, SWAP was involved in many areas of peace and justice work, including the campaign for the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, the 1978 protests at the Trident submarine base, the celebration of the 1989 International Year of the Child, and the 1999 protests against the World Trade Organization meetings in Seattle. SWAP produced a monthly newsletter, edited by Thorun Robel, and launched letter writing campaigns to urge government officials to work for peace. SWAP has also participated in world peace conferences such as the 1973 World Congress for Peace in Moscow.

Biographical Note, Anci Koppel: Anci Koppel cofounded Seattle Women Act for Peace, and remained a vital part of the organization until her death in July of 2000. She was born Anci Rosenfeld in Austria in 1907 and emigrated to the United States in 1931 with her husband Charles Koppel. The Koppels ran a small tobacco and pipe wholesale business, which Anci continued after her husband died in 1954. Koppel's career as a peace activist began in 1938, when she protested against the sale of scrap metal to Japan for fear that it could be used for weaponry. She was arrested in 1978 for climbing the fence at the Bangor Naval Base in protest against Trident submarines. Koppel attended many conferences dedicated to world peace, including the 1962 World Conference Against A and H Bombs in Tokyo, Japan, the 1966 World Conference for Children in Stockholm, Sweden, and the 1977 World Peace Council in Warsaw, Poland. She also traveled to Cuba and Nicaragua. Not only did Koppel travel and protest, she also wrote many letters to elected local and national officials and to local newspaper editors. In 1981, the YMCA of Greater Seattle gave her its Milnor Roberts International Understanding Award. In the 1990s, Koppel became involved in the global movements to support Mumia Abu Jamal, a Pennsylvania journalist convicted of murder, and to oppose the World Trade Organization. On the topic of the WTO protests, Koppel said, "We built a grand coalition that spans the movement for peace, equality and economic justice, one that is powerful enough to make our voices heard by the WTO officials. Now we have to keep things together and make our elected officials stop and listen. They are the ones that have to make the changes. Our work isn't finished." She was a tireless activist until the end of her life, working during her last week to oppose the inclusion of the Trident nuclear submarine in the Seattle Seafair celebration.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

Minutes, correspondence, newsletters, clippings, ephemera, subject series, audiotapes, scrapbooks, and reports of Seattle Women Act for Peace and related organizations.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Restrictions on Use

Creator's literary rights transferred to the University of Washington Libraries.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Arrangement

Organized into 4 accessions.

  • Accession No. 4073-001, Seattle Women Act For Peace records, 1968-1988
  • Accession No. 4073-002, Seattle Women Act For Peace records, 1961-2000
  • Accession No. 4073-003, Seattle Women Act For Peace Records, 1965-1996
  • Accession No. 4073-004, Seattle Women Act for Peace records, 1992-2001

Separated Materials

Material Described Separately:

Seattle Women Act for Peace Photograph Collection (PH Coll 629)

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

 

Accession No. 4073-001: Seattle Women Act For Peace records, 1968-1988Return to Top

3 cu. ft.

Scope and Content: Minutes, 1984-1987; correspondence, mailings, newsletters, clippings, ephemera, subject series kept by Trudy Holzinger, 1968-1988.

Restrictions on Access: Open to all users.

Restrictions on Use: Creator's literary rights transferred to the University of Washington Libraries.

Acquisition Info: Bibliographic Source: Women Act for Peace. Seattle, May 2, 1990

Accession No. 4073-002: Seattle Women Act For Peace records, 1936-2000Return to Top

7.04 cu. ft. (8 boxes)

Scope and Content: Accession 4073-2 (7.04 cubic feet, 1936-2000) is mainly comprised of records created by Anci Koppel. It also contains records of two peace organizations to which Anci Koppel belonged. The Abe Keller Peace Education Fund was established by Abe Keller's widow and SWAP member, Rosemary Brodie, in 1998 to provide financial resources for peace education activities in the Puget Sound region. The Northwest Disarmament Coalition is composed of organizations in the Northwest with a common desire for disarmament and the complete elimination of weapons of mass destruction. SWAP was an active member of the Coalition, along with the Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action and the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom.

Anci Koppel served on the KUOW Community Advisory Board. KUOW, a member of National Public Radio, is licensed by the University of Washington and has been broadcasting since 1952.

Subject files such as "Special Events and Very Special People" and "In Memoriam" are original file headings created by Anci Koppel.

A collection of audiotapes is also included in this accession. The tapes, recorded from 1975 to 1999, cover a wide range of topics. Included are political-educational tapes from various organizations, including Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility (WPSR), and from local lectures and events concerning varying issues, such as SWAP's 1984 International Women's Day celebration, the arms race, nuclear weapons, Iraq and economic sanctions, the Iran Contra affair, Trident submarine protests, pesticides, computers and technology, Holocaust survivors, Mumia Abu-Jamal, and Beijing. Two WSP tapes cover the Star Wars campaign and a talk given by Dr. Daniel Ellsburg regarding the Pentagon Papers at a 1992 WSP meeting. There are audiotapes of two conference proceedings: the 1985 Seattle Conference on Central America and the 1986 Hands Off My Neighbor symposium. There are also memorial tapes for Nghen Thai Bin, Richard Carbray, and Abe Keller. Musical tapes and four tapes of Ronald Reagan's presidential speeches and debates were not retained.

Restrictions on Access: Open to all users.

Restrictions on Use: Literary rights of representatives of the records-creating organization transferred to the University of Washington Libraries.

Acquisition Info: Rosemary Brodie, November 30, 2001

Container(s) Description Dates
Administrative Records
Box/Folder Accession
1/1 4073-002
Historical Features
1963-1969, 1990-1997
Biographical Features - Anci Koppel
Box/Folder Accession
1/2 4073-002
Oral History
1994
1/3 4073-002
Miscellaneous
1981-1983, 1999
Box/Folder Accession
1/4 4073-002
Outgoing Letters of Anci Koppel to Shavahn Best
1982-1984
General Correspondence
Box/Folder Accession
1/5 4073-002
re: New Yorker Article by Paul Berman on the Death of Ben Linder in Nicaragua
1996
1/6-24 4073-002
Miscellaneous
1967-2000, undated
Box/Folder Accession
1/25 4073-002
Minutes and Agenda
1996-1997, 2000
Newsletters
Box/Folder Accession
1/26-30 4073-002
Seattle Women Act for Peace (SWAP)
1978-2000
1/31 4073-002
Others
1970-1994, 2000
Speeches and Writings
Box/Folder Accession
1/32 4073-002
Koppel, Rosemarie
1975
1/33-34 4073-002
re: WSP History
1979-1995
1/35 4073-002
Skits
1989, undated
1/36-39 4073-002
Miscellaneous
1955-1998, undated
Subject Series
Box/Folder Accession
2/1-2 4073-002
Abu-Jamal, Mumia
1995-1999
2/3-6 4073-002
American Peace Delegation to the Soviet Union
1966-1969
2/7 4073-002
Anglesey, Zoë
1986
2/8 4073-002
Arms Sales and Trade
1995-1997, undated
2/9 4073-002
Best, Rick
1970
2/10 4073-002
Buskin, Jean
1991, 1993
2/11 4073-002
Carbray, Richard
1998
2/12 4073-002
Citizen's Train
1987-1988
2/13 4073-002
Cuba
1975-1983
2/14 4073-002
Davis, Angela
1972
2/15-16 4073-002
Disarmament Clearinghouse Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Activist Packet
1994-1998
2/17 4073-002
Gala Event
1996-1997
2/18 4073-002
Grassroots Assembly of Women
1967-1973, undated
2/19 4073-002
Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action
1998-1999, undated
2/20 4073-002
Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action Trident Campaign
1994-1999
2/21 4073-002
Guatemala - Earthquake
1976
2/22 4073-002
Holzinger, Trudy
1974-1986, undated
2/23-24 4073-002
In Memoriam (Obituaries of Friends)
1977-1998, undated
2/25 4073-002
International Women's Day
2000
2/26 4073-002
International Year of the Child (IYC)
1979-1981, undated
2/27 4073-002
IYC Children's Art Exhibit
1979-1980, undated
2/28 4073-002
Kurose, Akiko
1972, 1992-1998
2/29 4073-002
Meeting File
1995, 2000, undated
2/30 4073-002
Nicaragua Trip
1982-1990
2/31-32 4073-002
Oral History Class at Seattle Central Community College
1979, undated
2/33 4073-002
Peace and Labor Songs
1972, 1990, undated
2/34 4073-002
Robel, Thorun
1988, 1998
2/35 4073-002
Rosenfeld, Ernest
1936, 1978, 1989
2/36 4073-002
Sanger, Margaret
undated
2/37 4073-002
Seattle Raging Grannies
1996, 1999, undated
2/38 4073-002
Special Events and Very Special People
1970-1998, undated
2/39 4073-002
Spock, Dr. Benjamin
1969
2/40 4073-002
Stop Star Wars: A Campaign of WSP
1987
2/41 4073-002
SWAP Book
1962-1986
2/42 4073-002
SWAP Educational Programs
1997-2000
2/43 4073-002
SWAP Poster
undated
3/1-4 4073-002
Sweatshop Labor
1996-1998
3/5 4073-002
Sweatshop Labor - Garment 2000 Program
1993, 1996-1997
3/6 4073-002
Trident Protests - May 22nd Coalition
1978
3/7 4073-002
U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare Hearings
1976-1979, undated
3/8 4073-002
Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade
1983-1986
3/9-10 4073-002
Vietnam
1968-1994, undated
3/11 4073-002
Washington State Welfare
1994-1995
3/12-13 4073-002
Women Strike for Peace
1962-2000, undated
3/14 4073-002
WSP Billboard Campaign
1975-1976
3/15 4073-002
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF). Seattle
1989-1995
3/16 4073-002
Word of Mouth: Women Reading and Singing for Peace
1986, 1988, undated
3/17-19 4073-002
World Court Project
1993-1996, undated
3/20-25 4073-002
World Trade Organization Protest
1960, 1998-2000
Conference and Convention Files
Box/Folder Accession
3/26 4073-002
Asia-Pacific Economic Conference
1993-1994
3/27 4073-002
Canadian Women's Conference with Women from Indochina
1969, 1971
3/28-29 4073-002
Everywoman's Conference - Beijing and Back (Seattle, WA)
1990-1996, undated
3/30 4073-002
Tashkent Conference of Women of Asia/Pacific
1991
3/31 4073-002
Test Ban Treaty Conference at United Nations
1988-1995
3/32 4073-002
WSP Rally and Annual Conference
1979
3/33-35 4073-002
World Conference for Children (Stockholm, Sweden)
1966
3/36-39, 4/1-3 4073-002
World Conference Against A and H Bombs (Tokyo, Japan)
1962
4/4-6 4073-002
World Peace Council, Warsaw Conference
1977
4/7-9 4073-002
Miscellaneous
1976-1995, undated
Box/Folder Accession
4/10 4073-002
Activity Sheets
1989-1999
4/11 4073-002
Lists
1996, 2000, undated
4/12 4073-002
Resolutions
1981, 1988, undated
4/13 4073-002
Legislative Agenda
1989
4/14 4073-002
Police Records
1984-1987
4/15 4073-002
Awards
1993, 1996
4/16-17 4073-002
Reports
1979-1995
4/18-29 4073-002
Publications
1976-1997, undated
4/30-31 4073-002
Datebooks
1984-1998
4/32 4073-002
Notebooks
2000
Box
6 4073-002
Address File
1991-2000
6 4073-002
Buttons
1977, 1983-1985, undated
Audiotapes
Box Accession
7 4073-002
Cassette Tapes
1975-1999, undated
7 4073-002
Reel-to-reel Tapes
undated
Box Accession
8 4073-002
Cloth Bags
undated
8 4073-002
Signs and Posters
1966, 1983, undated
8 4073-002
Scrapbook re: Amchitka
1971
Ephemera
Box/Folder Accession
4/33 4073-002
SWAP
1984-2000, undated
5/1 4073-002
WSP and WILPF
1979, 1990
5/2-3 4073-002
Others
1982-2000, undated
5/4 4073-002
Miscellaneous
1966-1999, undated
Box/Folder Accession
5/5-7 4073-002
Clippings
1961, 1973-2000
Abe Keller Peace Education Fund
Box/Folder Accession
5/8 4073-002
Organizational Features
1998-1999, undated
5/9 4073-002
General Correspondence
1998-1999
5/10 4073-002
Minutes and Agenda
1998-2000
5/11 4073-002
Budgets
1999
5/12 4073-002
Grant Files
2000
5/13 4073-002
Lists
1998
5/14 4073-002
Ephemera
2000, undated
Box/Folder Accession
5/15 4073-002
KUOW Community Advisory Board
1981-1985
Northwest Disarmament Coalition
Box/Folder Accession
5/16 4073-002
General Correspondence
1997-2000, undated
5/17 4073-002
Minutes and Agenda
1999-2000, undated
5/18 4073-002
Speeches and Writings
1998-1999
Subject Series
Box/Folder Accession
5/19 4073-002
Tritium
1998, undated
Box/Folder Accession
5/20 4073-002
Press Releases
1999
5/21 4073-002
Lists
1998-1999, undated
5/22 4073-002
Ephemera
1999-2000
5/23 4073-002
Clippings
1998-1999

Accession No. 4073-003: Seattle Women Act For Peace Records, 1965-1996Return to Top

.42 cu. ft. (1 box)

Scope and Content: Scrapbooks of clippings and conferences, conference and other reports, publicity, ephemera, including leaflets, mainly from Thorun Robel's activism; 1965-ca. 1996 (bulk ca. 1969-ca. 1985).

Restrictions on Access: Open to all users.

Restrictions on Use: Literary rights of representatives of the records-creating organization transferred to the University of Washington Libraries.

Acquisition Info: Bibliographic Source: Kathleen Robel Donor Database Source: Kathleen Robel

Accession No. 4073-004: Seattle Women Act for Peace records, 1992-2002Return to Top

0.18 cubic feet (1 box)

Scope and Content: Mailing list, correspondence, articles, minutes and agendas, and newsletters of Seattle Women Act for Peace.

Restrictions on Access: Open to all users.

Restrictions on Use: Creator's literary rights transferred to the University of Washington Libraries.

Acquisition Info: P. Anna Johnson, 2009-09-24

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder Accession
1/1 4073-004
Newsletters
1998-2002
1/2 4073-004
Mailing List
1998
1/3 4073-004
Meeting Minutes
1998-2001
1/4 4073-004
Agendas
2000-2001
1/5 4073-004
List of Activities
1992-1999
1/6 4073-004
Correspondence, Mailings, and Stationary
1992-2001

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Nonprofit organizations--Washington (State)--Seattle
  • Peace movements--Washington (State)--Seattle
  • Peace--Societies, etc
  • Personal Papers/Corporate Records (University of Washington)
  • Women and peace--Washington (State)--Seattle
  • Women pacifists--Washington (State)--Seattle--Archives
  • Women--Washington (State)--Seattle--Societies and clubs

Personal Names

  • Koppel, Anci--Archives

Corporate Names

  • Abe Keller Peace Education Fund
  • Northwest Disarmament Coalition
  • Seattle Women Act for Peace--Archives
  • Women Strike for Peace