| Original caption: “Carrying placards and with one of their number attired as a skeleton, these women, who said they hail from Cincinnati, Ohio, demonstrated against the compulsory military training bill on Capitol Hill. Shown in front of the Supreme Court building, they identified themselves as American mothers protesting conscription and said they were unaffiliated.” Members of the National Legion of Mothers of America (NLMA) outside the Supreme Court during Labor Day protests, ahead of the vote on The Selective Training and Service Act of 1940, also known as the Burke-Wadsworth Act, which was enacted on September 16, 1940, over the objections of isolationists. In September 1939, less than a month after Hitler’s invasion of Poland triggered the onset of World War II, NLMA was established to oppose the United States’ entry into the war. Founded by 3 California mothers of draft-age sons, Frances Sherrill (???? – ????), Mary M. Sheldon (???? – ????), and Mary Ireland (???? – ????), the legion marked the beginning of the “mothers’ movement,” a generally right-wing coalition of female isolationists. The NLMA, publicized and likely financed by media mogul William Randolph Hearst, quickly established chapters in cities where Hearst’s newspapers were published. In Hearst editorials, the NLMA was praised for its patriotism and determination to fight all attempts to send young Americans to fight in foreign wars. Gladys Rowley (April 30, 1900 – March 1, 1983), writing in her “Reno Revue” column in The Nevada State Journal, reported on July 2, 1940, NLMA’s rules and expections: “Membership in the National Legion of the Mothers of America is open to all women who are American citizens and who believe in the purpose of the organization:” “To oppose the use of American troops for any purpose other than the defense of the United States against armed attack.” “To support an active program for adequate national defense.” “To oppose all subversive groups, whose object is the destruction of the American form of government.” “Activities: To serve as a medium through which American women may voice stand [sic] on questions directly affecting the purposes of the organization.” “To urge women to register and vote, but not to dictate to them how they shall vote.” “To encourage women to study important public questions and form considered opinions thereon.” “To hold group meetings for discussions, etc.” “To recruit additional members.” “Activities definitely BARRED:” “Participation in party politics in any form.” “Affiliation by the organization as a whole or in subsidiary groups with any partisan group or interest.” “Religious, sectarian, racial or political controversies.” “As it functions elsewhere: Seven members make up a sentry post; one acting as a sentry mother. Any number of sentry posts may be organized in any district. As soon as seven sentry posts, called ‘a patrol’ are formed, send names and addresses to headquarters and ask for further instructions; in the meantime continuing [sic] to form sentry posts.” Robert Rutherford “Colonel” McCormick’s (July 30, 1880 – April 1, 1955) Chicago Tribune, also sympathetic to the mothers’ movement, attributed 10,000,000 members to the NLMA. The actual number was smaller. In June 1940, approximately 2,000,000 members voted by mail on resolutions proposed by the national organization. Its newspaper, the American Mothers National Weekly, had several 1,000,000 readers. Chapters were organized in at least 39 states. The NLMA’s founders were not necessarily pacifists but opposed the deployment of United States forces for any purpose except defending the nation from attack. 1 of the legion’s New York chapters recruited a paramilitary group, the Molly Pitcher Rifle Legion, to repel foreign invaders. The NLMA welcomed all women with United States citizenship regardless of race, religion, or political party. African American women were enrolled. Nonetheless, the NLMA’s membership can be broadly categorized as white, Protestant, and Republican. The credibility of the NLMA was enhanced in January 1940 when writer Kathleen Norris (July 16, 1880 – January 18, 1966) became the league’s president. A prolific best-selling novelist and short story writer, Norris had been active in the progressive movement of the early 20th century, supporting pacifism, prohibition, and the abolition of the death penalty. She was also an opponent of United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s (January 30, 1882 – April 12, 1945) New Deal and accused the President of trying to dupe the United States into war. Professing the traditional belief that the Atlantic and Pacific oceans were moats deep enough to safeguard the American shores, she supported the 1940 election campaign of Republican presidential candidate Wendell Wilkie (February 18, 1892 – October 8, 1944). She worked unsuccessfully against the passage of the Selective Service bill, which authorized a peacetime draft. In 1940, NLMA members protested the draft bill outside the United States Senate, wearing black dresses and veils and maintaining a picket in the heat of late summer. Led by Rose M. Farber (???? – ????) and Mary A. Decker (???? – ????) of Detroit, the Mothers arrived in Washington in mid-August, vowing to hold a “death vigil” against President Roosevelt’s return to the “politico-feudalistic system of compulsory training in peacetime.” Their antics included hanging a coconut-and-papier-mâché dummy of Senator Claude Pepper (September 8, 1900 – May 30, 1989) on 1 of the trees of the Capitol. The Florida Democrat hailed his mock hanging as “a splendid demonstration of…freedom of speech and freedom of action in the American way of doing things.” Margaret J. “Jennie” Gunter Williams (July 6, 1870 – February 24, 1948), past President of the National Gold Star Mothers, campaigned with Senator Pepper for passage of the Burke-Wadsworth Act. A member of the NLMA heckled them during their press conference. Williams’s son, Electrician 3rd Class Ralph G. Williams (May 13, 1896 – January 30, 1918), died of pneumonia (likely influenza) at the Chelsea Naval Hospital. NLMA sent women decorated in World War I to interrupt their press conference, wearing their medals. Despite these actions, the American public was wary of Nazi aggression and support for a peacetime draft in the face of possible war superseded concerns over intervention in the European war. President Roosevelt applied soft but firm pressure to pass the bill. The NLMA generated a letter-writing campaign to prevent the passage of the Lend-Lease Act, but this effort also failed. | |
| Image Filename | wwii0929.jpg |
| Image Size | 215.30 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 1294 x 1047 |
| Photographer | |
| Photographer Title | |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | August 29, 1940 |
| Location | |
| City | Washington |
| State or Province | District of Columbia |
| Country | United States |
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| Record Number | |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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