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Chronicling America is a searchable digital collection of historic newspaper pages through 1963 sponsored jointly by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Library of Congress.
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Also, see the Directory of U.S. Newspapers in American Libraries, a searchable index to newspapers published in the United States since 1690, which helps researchers identify what titles exist for a specific place and time, and how to access them.
In 1920, Woodrow Wilson was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for conceptualizing and helping to form an organization that the United States never joined- the League of Nations. A fierce struggle between Presidential and Congressional power, the United States’ Senate refusal to ratify the Treaty of Versailles and join the League of Nations was hotly debated following the end of World War I. Read more about it!
The information in this guide focuses on primary source materials found in the digitized historic newspapers from the digital collection Chronicling America.
The timeline below highlights important dates related to this topic and a section of this guide provides some suggested search strategies for further research in the collection.
| January 8, 1918 | President Woodrow Wilson presents his Fourteen Points to Congress which introduces his idea for a League of Nations. |
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| January 1919 | League of Nations created at Paris Peace Conference. |
| February 3-14, 1919 | League of Nations Covenant is drafted. |
| March 2, 1919 | U.S. Senate opposes League of Nations until peace treaty is completed. |
| April 11, 1919 | Geneva chosen as the location for the League of Nations. |
| January 16, 1920 | First League Council session takes place in Paris. |
| January 16, 1920 | U.S. Senate votes against U.S. participation in the League. |
| November 15 - December 18, 1920 | First League Assembly session meets. |
