Ellen Starr Brinton

Ellen Starr Brinton (March, 16, 1886 - July 2, 1954) was an American pacifist, human rights activist and archivist. She represented the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) both locally and internationally and was known for her lectures about her working travels abroad and on the subject of peace. Brinton was the first curator of the Jane Addams Peace Collection which later became the Swarthmore College Peace Collection (SCPC). Brinton was a Quaker and a feminist. She did publicity work for the Food Administration in Philadelphia. in the 1920s and early 1930s. She urged WILPF to resist violence in Cuba and for the United States to stop interfering in Cuban affairs. Brinton began an inter-American project to collect the names of Latin American peace activists in 1934, eventually gaining a list of 170 names from 21 different countries. She lectured about her many travels and correspondences with international peace activists, and was considered a noted lecturer by The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Brinton started the Swarthmore College Peace Collection (SCPC) in 1935. Brinton doubled the size of the collection, by taking relevant sources back from the Library of Congress to include in her archive for SCPC. She also found other documents belonging to Addams in 1951, which had been boxed up and placed in the Addams' barn. The special collections of peace seals and stamps were started by Brinton.

After her death, United Nations delegates and others held a concert in her memory.