How the Center Came to Be—Part 1

December 17, 2008

Telling the story of the men who spent their World War I Christmases in military prison (and many thereafter) reminds me of the follow up story:  The founding of the Center.

Most people buy into the movie version of how the U.S. entered World War II.  The average U.S. citizen believes that the bombing of Pearl Harbor is what “got” the U.S. into World War II.  Can you blame them?  We still celebrate December 8, 1941, as the day our hands were forced by the bombing of Pearl Harbor. 
Forgotten is the general who predicted Pearl Harbor in 1921, the reporter in 1926, and the admiral who predicted it in war games two years prior to the event.  Forgotten is the build up towards war that already existed in the U.S. prior to the bombing.  Forgotten is the number of U.S. regiments in the British military or the Flying Tigers in China.  Forgotten is the fact that the construction of the Pentagon began months prior to the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

One more thing was building up prior to Pearl Harbor—the U.S. military.  In the mid-thirties there were several meetings held by the leaders of the Quakers, Mennonites and Brethrens to discuss how to shape the vision of alternative service that was viewed as inevitable when the U.S. was “drawn into” the European war.  The concern grew so great that the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) established the Conscientious Objector Committee in October 1939.  Meetings were held with members of Congress and President Franklin D. Roosevelt to discuss the churches’ concerns about conscientious objectors, including non-religious and absolutist conscientious objectors.  Suggested language concerning the rights of conscientious objectors was drafted and submitted to various members of Congress.

Early June of 1940, General George Marshall, Army Chief of Staff, testified before the House Committee on Military Affairs, that it was critical for the military to have access to civilian manpower.  On June 20, 1940, the Burke-Wadsworth bill for one-year military conscription was introduced to Congress.  On July 5, 1940, AFSC formed the Friends War Problems Committee to educate and lobby on this issue    Parallel Mennonite and Methodist efforts were being made.   Hearings in the Senate had begun on July 2.  Initially, only the proponents for the draft bill were heard.  With fierce lobbying efforts the hearings were extended to hear the voices of the “pacifists” and continued until July 12.  The bill was passed August 1940.

Many gains were made by the efforts of the various lobbyists for conscientious objectors.  Three big ones were:

1. The definition of a conscientious objector no longer required membership in a particular church.
2. Decisions about exemptions were to be made by a civilian board.
3. Conscientious objectors would have the chance to provide alternative service outside of the military.

These three changes came as a direct result of the efforts of the Quakers, Mennonites, Brethren, Methodists and others who, having seen the treatment of conscientious objectors during World War I.  Of course, the Quakers, Mennonites and Brethren were the lucky ones in World War I, since they, at least, had the option to be noncombatants  and alternative service workers.  Methodists and others not in “traditional peace churches” were given no choice but prison.

But there still needed to be a system to administer the alternative service outside of the military.  And that is where the Center came in.