This undated memorandum by Roger Baldwin was probably written in early January 1920 and summarizes the work of the NCLB from October 1917 to January 1920. It was undoubtedly written as part of the discussions to reconstitute the NCLB into a permanent civil liberties organization.

The decision to create the American Civil Liberties Union is recorded in these Minutes of the Conference to Reorganize the National Civil Liberties Bureau, January 12, 1920. Note the concern (Item #3) about including the names of Roger Baldwin and Elizabeth Gurley Flynn because they had been prosecuted and convicted of federal crimes during the war. The objections were rejected, and their names were included. The first action by the new ACLU was to protest the proposed peacetime sedition law being considered by the House of Representatives (Item #7). The 1918 sedition law had expired with the end of the war, but the proposed peacetime law did not pass.

These Minutes of the Temporary Committee, January 13, 1920, the day following the decision to create the ACLU, record the selection of the Executive Committee (Agenda #1). Over the course of the next several decades, the Executive Committee directed the activities of the ACLU through weekly meetings. Agenda Item #8 indicates continued attention to the sedition bill and other bills in Congress.

The Minutes of the National Committee of the American Civil Liberties Union, January 19, 1920, represent the first official meeting of the ACLU. The actual business of the ACLU was conducted by an Executive Committee that met weekly (see Document #4). The National Committee became more of an advisory group that met annually. This initial meeting was devoted to organizational matters such as the budget, renting an office, arranging for a clipping service and so on. As Item #14 indicates, Albert De Silver was handling legislative matters in Congress.

This Letter to Members of the ACLU National Committee, February 6, 1920, is probably the first official communication to ACLU members, and it describes the first work of the ACLU. Item #5 divides those activities into three main areas: legal defense; publicity; seeking amnesty for political prisoners. Item #3 describes the attempts to develop relations with people in other cities to make the ACLU an “effective nation-wide organization.”