3. No Conscription League

6TH & ROSS

One of the unfortunate realities is that many old buildings have been razed. Such is the case of the McGeagh Building, located at 607 Webster, which would be somewhere just east of here.

In opposition to World War I, the No Conscription League was formed by anarchists Alexander Berkman, Emma Goldman, and friends on May 9, 1916 in NYC, “for the purpose of encouraging conscientious objectors to affirm their liberty of conscience and to make their objection to human slaughter effective by refusing to participate in the killing of their fellow men…We will resist conscription by every means in our power and we will sustain those who, for similar reasons, refuse to be conscripted.”

A number of Anti-Conscription Leagues popped up across the country, including in the McGeagh Bldg. This building was used up until the 1930’s for radical and progressive meetings and offices. Some of the projects housed here, included The Rationalist Society, Keystone Literary Association, Pittsburgh Chapter English IWW, People’s Council of America for Peace and Democracy, Soldier’s and Sailor’s Soviet, among others.

In mid-May 1917, during World War I, the PGH Anti-Conscription League made postcards and gave them to people to send into the government which read, “I am opposed to the killing of human beings and have conscientious scruples against taking human life, and therefore pledge myself not to be conscripted.” Postal inspectors intercepted these cards leading federal agents to raid their office, stealing much of their records and name lists.

As a result of Berkman and Goldman’s activities with the League, they were arrested for violating the Selective Draft Act, and deported.