The William Edgar Borah Outlawry of War Foundation was established at the University of Idaho in 1929 by a grant from Salmon Oliver Levinson, prominent Chicago attorney and prime mover for the Kellogg-Briand Pact, and a man who greatly admired Senator Borah, especially for his great efforts in helping get the pact through the U.S. Senate, and his many other efforts on behalf of peace. The sum of $50,000 was turned over to a trustee, the Central Trust Company of Illinois, to be invested in securities that could be depended upon to yield an annual income. Another $5,000 was made available to the University to commission a bust or portrait of Senator Borah.

The actual administration of the foundation was entrusted by the Board of Regents of the university to a faculty committee known as the Borah Committee. As stated in the resolution of the regents, "The purpose of the Foundation is to establish in the University of Idaho a lectureship for the promotion of a better understanding of international relations, of the age-old struggle with the baffling problem of war, and of the vital part played in its solution by William Edgar Borah." The university has liberal discretion in furtherance of the purpose of the endowment.

The first use made of the income was on September 23 & 24, 1931, when, with Senator Borah in attendance, the foundation was inaugurated. Dr. Manley 0. Hudson, Professor of International Law at Harvard University, delivered a series of four lectures dealing with the development of agencies among the nations of the world for the outlawry of war. Senator Borah also spoke. Financial limitations, however, prevented continuation of a regular program. It was not until 1938 that the foundation again sponsored an address to the university, this time by Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Since 1948 the foundation has underwritten annual conferences concerned with specific facets of the general theme, the causes of war and the conditions for peace. In selecting speakers for the conferences, every effort is made to bring outstanding academicians and national and international authorities in diverse fields to the campus to participate in these deliberations.

The academic year 1959/60 saw a change from the annual conference to a single lecturer who spoke both on the university campus and in selected communities in the state. This practice, sometimes including several different speakers during the course of the year, lasted until 1967 when the symposium format was introduced.

In the late 1950s and early 1960s the foundation sponsored a series of community discussions of world affairs throughout the state. In this program they worked closely with the Agricultural Extension Service whose network of offices in almost every county supplied local support and assistance. With an initial grant from the Foreign Policy Association in 1956, a full-time executive secretary was employed with primary responsibility for the promotion of these discussions. Small neighborhood groups met in private homes once a week for two months in early spring to discuss foreign policy issues using the association's "Great Decisions" curriculum.