Dear Miss Addams,
The directors of the World Peace Foundation hold a meeting on June [18], at 40, Mt. Vernon St. I have just been talking to Mr. Cummings about some proposals that our Ex. board of the Mass. branch of the Council for Reduction of Armaments would like to have him bring before them. We want to issue some cheap fliers, essentially of the type of the Rainbow leaflets that the suffragists used to issue by the hundred thousand and, if the Foundation will pay for the printing, we will attend through our constituents to the distribution.
In the course of our talk we spoke of our three women speakers and Mr. Cummings said he was much impressed with Fr. Gertrud Baer and personally would like to see the Foundation take her on as a lecturer. The directors have been much at sea of late and unable to agree on a policy and, apparently, are going to try something new. Mr. Cummings thinks Fr. Baer is a Jewess and not very typical of the Germans, but she is an effective speaker and her thought that if you would write to the board and suggest they should take her on, no harm could come from it and perhaps they would. He had broached the matter to one or two members who were a little suspicious of the "Ford ship set" and did not feel sure of exactly what we stood for. But Mr. Cummings has seen our Geneva headquarters and seems favorably impressed and I have told him our organization, as such, had nothing to do with the Ford ship plan.
I suppose Fr. Baer is a socialist and might be more extreme than many of the board would like if they should catechize her, but she seems quite discreet and probably would not bring up matters that would offend them and would adhere strictly to her own peace talk. Mr. Plimpton, Prof. Blakeslee, Pres. Faunce, Pres. Lowell and Miss Louise Arnold are on the board with Judge Anderson, and a few others. I was rather surprised at his ↑Mr. A's↓ desire that you should offer the suggestion, as it seems quite outside the usual procedure, but of course I was delighted that he wanted you to and I sincerely hope that you will write and that something will come of it. I was exceedingly interested in Fr. Baer, who is a really impressive person. I only fear for her killing herself with overwork. She got very tired here.
↑Yours cordially,↓
Lucia Ames Mead [signed]
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