The items in this collection belonged to H. Donald Wilson, the New England organizer of the UWF and involved in the creation of the movement.

The organization was founded in Asheville, North Carolina on February 23, 1947 as the result of a merger of five existing world government groups: Americans United for World Government; World Federalists, U.S.A.; Student Federalists; Georgia World Citizens Committee; and the Massachusetts Committee for World Federation. In the mid-1970s it adopted its present name of World Federalist Association.

The World Federalist Association is a non-partisan, non-profit organization with members in forty-eight states. It has 350 chapters in thirty-nine states, a chapter in Hawaii and state-wide branches in twenty-seven states. The primary purpose of the organization is: (1) to achieve permanent peace through universal disarmament enforced by law; (2) to release for the satisfaction of human needs the resources that at present must be used in continuous preparation for war; (3) to maintain and promote human freedom, and to mobilize support for free institutions among all peoples; (4) to secure to all peoples the right to develop according to their own customs and traditions. Based entirely in the United States it is one of the largest member organizations of the World Federalist Movement. While the two organizations work closely together on many programs they are incorporated separately, with separate staffs, headquarters, and governing boards.