Anti-nuclear flier produced by the WIDF,
March 8th, 1959

The Women's International Democratic Federation (WIDF) was founded in Paris in 1945 at the International Congress of Women by Eugenie Cotton and Marie-Claude Vaillant-Courturier. It was organized around four major concerns; anti-fascism, international peace, child welfare, and the status of women. In a 1958 interview Eugenie Cotton stated, "It was Fascism that caused the 1939-1945 war and because of this the founders of WIDF stressed their determination to work for the strengthening of democracy in the world.... When they demand peace, women think first and foremost of safeguarding the lives of their children." [Women of the Whole World, April 1958, "Madame Cotton Tells Us"]. Although the WIDF was not a Communist group, there were Communists active in the organization. As a result the American press labeled it as "Communist dominated."

The American affiliate of the WIDF, the Congress of American Women (CAW), was founded in New York City in 1946 to "revive the struggles of the nineteenth century woman's movement and attract women radicalized by their wartime experiences into the larger progressive movement" [Weigand, Kate, Red Feminism: American Communism and the Making of Women's Liberation, page 47]. Shortly thereafter CAW established itself as an American branch of the WIDF. In response to the House Un-American Activities Committee's (HUAC) charge that the WIDF was a tool of the Soviet Union, the CAW disaffiliated from the WIDF in December 1949 and voted to disband in 1950.

The WIDF is an ongoing organization. According to its Web site it has affiliates in 160 countries [http://www.fdim-widf.com.br/indexingles.htm]

The WIDF records are arranged in three Series:

I. AFFILIATES contains two sections: Congress of American Women (American affiliate) and publications from various international affiliates. The former consists of correspondence mostly with Zelma Brandt, co-chairman of the Committee of International Affairs; and clippings, reports, and publications dating from the founding of the organization in 1946 to its investigation by HUAC in 1949. The latter contains publications from affiliates in China, Hungary, and Romania.

II. CONGRESSES consists of records of seven congresses sponsored by WIDF between 1945 and 1969. The bulk of this series consists of agenda, financial reports, timetables, reports, speeches and anti-Vietnam War material from the World Congress of Women held in Helsinki in 1969.

III. PUBLICATIONS contains publications of WIDF including Eugenie Cotton, a biography of the founder of the WIDF, XIVth Session of the Executive Committee of the WIDF (1954), materials related to International Women's Day, runs of News In Brief and Vietnam, plus miscellaneous pamphlets and printed material. Additional publications of the WIDF, Women of the Whole World, Documents and Information, and Information Bulletin for the Paris and Yugoslavia branches are located in the Periodicals Collection of the Sophia Smith Collection.