Peacemakers was an American pacifist organization founded following a conference on "More Disciplined and Revolutionary Pacifist Activity" in Chicago in July 1948. Ernest and Marion Bromley and Juanita and Wally Nelson largely organized the group. The name “Peacemakers” was taken from a section of the Bible, the Beatitudes or Sermon on the Mount: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God." The group’s organizational structure adopted a multidivisional organizational structure with a loose hierarchy, prioritizing local committees including but not limited to the Tax Refusal and Military Draft Refusal Committee. The Peacemakers were social anarchists whose organizational beliefs are largely attributed to Marxist philosophy. Peacemakers aimed to advocate nonviolent resistance in the service of peace. Organizational structure The Peacemakers differed from other pacifist and nonviolent resistance organizations in their emphasis on small-scale, local, "cell"-based organizations and intentional communities. It had no national office, paid staff, or membership list. Some member groups of the Peacemakers organized funds to aid war resisters and people in the civil rights movement who had suffered reprisals. History The development and ideological foundation of the Peacemakers can be accredited to the Cold War American religious renewal and a rising discontent for American war efforts. In 1944 and 1945, Activist A.J. Muste held conferences on “the philosophy and methodology of revolutionary passivism” alongside a successive conference in 1947 in coalition with the Consultative Peace Council at Pendle Hill. These meetings were the catalyst for the creation of the Peacemakers and garnered momentum for religious pacifism within the anti-war efforts of the 1940s. The Committee for Nonviolent Reform was absorbed by the Peacemakers in 1948 following the Chicago conference for “more disciplined and revolutionary pacifism,” which convened over 250 individuals. Membership was restricted to those who were willing to take personal responsibility in separating themselves from the “war-making state”. Socio-political values Peacemakers were a socialist-anarchist group whose values centered on economic and social community upliftment. According to A.J. Muste, the group marked the beginning of “an International community of Non-Violence and Good-Will.” The organization believed in resource sharing and cooperation to displace a capitalistic lifestyle. They experimented with communal living, shared property, and budgeted income. Many members came from the Committee for Nonviolent Revolution, which had been formed two years before. The group's members vowed to: (1) refuse to serve in the armed forces in either peace or war; (2) refuse to make or