Balch began teaching at
Wellesley College in 1896. She focused on immigration, consumption, and the economic roles of women. In 1913, she was appointed to serve as Professor of Economics at Wellesley, following the resignation of political economist
Katharine Coman, who had founded the department. That same year, Balch was promoted from Associate Professor to Professor of Political Economy and of Political and Social Science. Balch served on numerous state commissions, such as the first commission on
minimum wages for women. She was a leader of the
Women's Trade Union League, which supported women who belonged to labor unions. She published a major sociological study of
Our Slavic Fellow Citizens in 1910. She was a longtime
pacifist, and was a participant in Henry Ford's International Committee on Mediation, the follow-up organization to the
Neutral Conference for Continuous Mediation. When the United States entered the war, she became a political activist opposing conscription in espionage legislation, and supporting the civil liberties of conscientious objectors. She collaborated with
Jane Addams in the
Woman's Peace Party and numerous other groups. In a letter to the president of Wellesley, she wrote we should follow "the ways of Jesus." Her spiritual thoughts were that
American economy was "far from being in harmony with the principles of Jesus which we profess." Wellesley College terminated her contract in 1919. Balch served as an editor of
The Nation, a well-known magazine of political commentary. Her major achievements were just beginning, as she became an American leader of the international peace movement. In 1919, Balch played a central role in the
International Congress of Women. It changed its name to the
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom and was based in
Geneva. She was hired by the League as its first international Secretary-Treasurer, administering the organization's activities. She helped set up summer schools on peace education and created new branches in over 50 countries. She cooperated with the newly established
League of Nations regarding drug control, aviation, refugees, and disarmament. In World War II, she supported the
Allied powers and did not criticize the war effort, but she did support the rights of
conscientious objectors. ==Nobel Prize==