Roger Nash Baldwin
(1884-1981)

Co-Founder of the ACLU
1981 Presidential Medal of Freedom
Points of Light Foundation Extra Mile Honoree

birthdate: January 21
birthplace: Wellesley, Massachusetts

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Roger Nash Baldwin was one of the founders of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in 1917, and served as its executive director until 1950. The ACLU continues today to work "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States." Baldwin was a devout pacifist (he spent a year in prison as a conscientious objector during World War I) and dedicated his life to protecting the rights of others both in the United States and around the world. In 1981, President Jimmy Carter awarded Roger Nash Baldwin the Medal of Freedom.