Jessie Wallace Hughan

Jessie Wallace Hughan (December 25, 1875 – April 10, 1955) was an American educator, a socialist activist, and a radical pacifist. During her college days she was one of four co-founders of Alpha Omicron Pi, a national fraternity for university women. She was the founder and first Secretary of the War Resisters League, established in 1923. For over two decades, she was a perennial candidate for political office on the ticket of the Socialist Party of America in her home state of New York.

Early life and education Jessie Wallace Hughan was born December 25, 1875, in Brooklyn, New York City. She was the third of four children born to Margaret and Samuel Hughan, who were of Scottish, English, and French ancestry. Her father was an accountant.

Hughan attended grammar school on Staten Island, and then went on to Northfield Seminary,

Hughan enrolled at Barnard College in New York City in 1894. In January 1897 she co-founded there with three other students the international sorority Alpha Omicron Pi. In 1898 she graduated, earning her A.B. degree, for which she authored an unpublished senior thesis on "Recent Theories of Profits." An excellent student, Hughan was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, a national honorary society.

Hughan's primary place in the socialist movement was as an officer of the Intercollegiate Socialist Society (ISS), an independent organization established by author Upton Sinclair in 1905 to provide a venue of topics related to socialism, pro and con, by university students across America. Hughan was elected to the Executive Committee of the ISS in 1907 and served continuously in that capacity until the end of the organization in 1921, continuing in a similar capacity in its successor organization, the League for Industrial Democracy (LID) through 1925. She also served as Vice President of the ISS from 1920 to 1921. The resulting publication, a tome called Facts of Socialism, was an influential text among the young intellectuals who participated in the Intercollegiate Socialist Society's activities, a group which included peace activist Devere Allen, journalist Heywood Broun, researcher and American Civil Liberties Union official Robert W. Dunn, historian Herbert Feis, and publicist Walter Lippmann.

Campaigns for electoral office

For over two decades, Jessie Wallace Hughan was a candidate for public office on the ticket of the Socialist Party of America. Her first foray into politics came in a 1915 bid for Alderman in 1915. In 1920, she ran for Lieutenant Governor of New York as a Socialist. 1932, and 1938. What Is Socialism? New York: Vanguard Press, 1928. The Challenge of Mars, and Other Verses. New York: [Jessie Wallace Hughan], 1932. The Beginnings of War Resistance. New York: War Resisters League, 1937. What about Spain? New York: War Resisters League, 1937. If We Should Be Invaded: Facing a Fantastic Hypothesis. New York: War Resisters League, 1939. Pacifism and Invasion. New York: War Resisters League, 1942. Three Decades of War Resistance. New York: War Resisters League, 1942. A Preface to Post-War. New York: War Resisters League, 1943. Why Not Peace in 1944? New York: War Resisters League, 1944. New Leagues for Old: Blueprints or Foundations? New York: Plowshare Press, n.d. [c. 1945].