Clark M. Eichelberger papers

1920-1991 D

Clark Mell Eichelberger (1896-1980) was born in Freeport, Illinois, the son of Joseph Elmer and Olive (Clark) Eichelberger. The family was descended from Swiss and English settlers who came to America before the Revolution. During World War I, Eichelberger served with the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) in France. His university studies at Northwestern were interrupted by the war, and he never completed his degree.

After familiarizing himself with the operations of the newly formed League of Nations at Geneva, Eichelberger became a lecturer (1922-1928) on national and international affairs with the Radcliffe Chautauqua System. In 1928, he was appointed director of the Midwest Office in Chicago of the League of Nations Associations (LNA), and in 1934 he assumed the directorship of the national organization in New York. In 1945, when the name of the LNA was changed to the American Association of the United Nations (AAUN), Eichelberger continued as the organization's executive director until 1964.

In 1964, the AAUN was merged with the United States Committee for the United Nations to form a new organization entitled the United Nations Association of the USA. (UNAUSA). Eichelberger served as vice president of the UNAUSA until 1968, but his role was diminished. After the merger in 1964, Eichelberger devoted most of his time to the Commission to Study the Organization of Peace (CSOP), which he helped to found in 1939. He served as director (1939-1964), chairman (1964-1968), and executive director (1968-1974). At the time of his death Eichelberger was honorary chairman of the CSOP.

Other organizations with which Eichelberger was associated, or which he helped to found include the Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies and its predecessor, the Non-Partisan Committee for Peace through Revision of the Neutrality Law; the Committee for Concerted Peace Efforts; Citizens for Victory; Free World Association; Americans United for World Organization; and the World Federation of United Nations Associations.

Eichelberger also served as consultant to the League of Nations Secretariat (1938), to the United States Delegation to the San Francisco Conference (1945), and was a member of the committee which created the first working draft of the Charter of the United Nations. He is also the author of several books on the United Nations.