The National World War I Museum in KC MO will hold a major conference Oct. 19-22, Remembering Muted Voices: Conscience, Dissent, Resistance, and Civil Liberties in World War I Through Today.
“Intolerance and repression often mute the voices of war critics,” according to the conference description. “Almost overnight in 1917, individuals and groups who opposed the war faced constraints on their freedom to advocate, organize, and protest.”
Many PeaceWorks members know those constraints. Anyone who’s been arrested for protest or relegated to a sidewalk instead of being allowed into a conference knows those constraints.
“Peace advocates, anti-war activists, and conscientious objectors confronted not only external hostility from the government, the press, and war supporters, but also internal disagreements over how to respond to the war and advance the cause of peace. … Yet those who opposed World War I helped initiate modern peace movements and left a legacy that continues to influence anti-war activism,” the conference description reads.
PeaceWorks contributed $500 dollars as a cosponsor to drive down the registration cost and attract leading speakers. Early-bird registration for most of the museum conferences costs $195, but Remembering Muted Voices costs $125. Online registration is open at theworldwar.org/mutedvoices. Conference sessions extend from Thursday evening, Oct. 19, through Saturday, Oct. 21, with a bus tour of Fort Leavenworth Sunday morning; dinner Thursday and lunches Saturday and Sunday are provided.
A few topics the speakers will cover:
- Making a Stand: German Opposition to World War One;
- Mustering Support for War: Gender Conformity and the “Inevitability” of the First World War;
- War Against War: The American Fight for Peace, 1914-1918, and Implications for Today; and
- On the Frontlines of Conscience: An Account of Four Hutterites Sentenced to Hard Labor at Alcatraz.
Artwork courtesy of The National World War I Museum.
