American Veterans Committee (1943–2008)
| Motto | "Citizens First, Veterans Second" |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1943 |
|
Membership
|
100,000 (1947) |
This article refers to a defunct organization. For the current organization sharing the same name see American Veterans Committee.
The American Veterans Committee was founded in 1943 as a liberal veterans organization and an alternative to groups such as the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars, which supported a conservative political and social agenda. The organization's roots were planted in 1942 when Sgt. Gilbert Harrison began to correspond with fellow servicemen concerning an organization that expanded beyond the needs of military men. In 1943, the University Religious Conference at UCLA became a meeting place for the military men who shared this desire for a veterans organization that also advocated peace and justice. One year later in 1944, Charles Bolte joined the UCLA group and the American Veterans Committee was born. The new organization immediately began to publish the AVC Bulletin to document the organization's advocacy issues.
With a motto of "Citizens First, Veterans Second," the AVC supported a range of liberal causes. Most notably, the organization challenged segregationist policy and maintained racially integrated chapters in Southern states before the era of civil rights. It also played an integral role in establishing the World Veterans Federation in 1950, which still advocates the building of peace among former adversaries. While other veterans' organizations lobbied for financial "bonuses" for returning veterans, the AVC opposed such bonuses, supporting instead housing and education programs for veterans. Unlike other veterans' groups, the AVC offered full membership to women and people of color.
During its early years, AVC grew at exponential rates: 5,500 members in 1945, 18,000 members in 1946, and 100,000 members in 1947. However, there was a drastic drop in membership after the organization became embroiled in the Second Red Scare. While American Communists had initially disdained the AVC as "Ivy Leaguers", they later reversed their policy when their members were rejected from the American Legion, and encouraged their members to join the AVC. In response to the Second Red Scare campaign, AVC ejected its Communist members and closed future membership to supporters of totalitarian parties. While the organization purged itself of Communists and survived the scandal, the episode resulted in a decrease in membership from 100,000 in 1947 to 20,000 in 1948.
...
Wikipedia