Model UN began as a series of student-led Model League of Nations simulations. The first simulations were called an “International Assembly”, the first of which was held at Oxford University in 1921. The President of the first Oxford International Assembly, Mir Mahmood, traveled to Harvard in 1922. During his trip he urged support for the League of Nations, and seemingly inspired the Harvard Liberal Club to create the first American International Assembly held at Harvard University in 1923. The International Assemblies were similar to MUN as participants represented countries, debated to find resolutions and supported the idea of dealing with international disputes around a negotiating table; still an uncommon idea at the time. After the Second World War Model League of Nations transitioned to Model United Nations after the formation of the League’s successor organization, the United Nations, in 1945. Today, some Model United Nations conferences include simulations of the League of Nations among their committee offerings.
The first recorded instance of a Model United Nations conference was at Swarthmore College on April 5, 1947. Over 150 students from over 41 colleges were reported as participating. The delegates simulated a General Assembly and recommended that member states «establish an international control and development of atomic energy», «conclude a treaty on disarmament», that the UN adopt «a uniform system for citizenship of refugees», that the UN amend the charter to adopt a definition of aggression, and that nations «promote the reconstruction of devastated areas through economic assistance through the U.N.»
Another historic Model United Nations was held at St. Lawrence University from 11–13 February 1949 It was initiated by Dr. Harry Reiff, Head of the History and Government Department, with the assistance of departmental colleague Otto L. George. Dr. Reiff was a technical advisor on the United States delegation to the 1945 San Francisco Conference (where the UN Charter was written) and the UN Organizational Conference in London in 1945-46 (where the UN was established) The 1949 St. Lawrence University Model UN conference included delegates from regional conferences and universities, including Adelphi, Alfred, Champlain, Clarkson, McGill, Middlebury, Potsdam, St. Michael’s, and Vermont. The conference continued annually for many years at St. Lawrence and has recently been revived on the campus.
The four oldest conferences in the world that are still active today were established in the early 1950s. Berkeley Model United Nations (BMUN) at Berkeley (1952) and Harvard Model United Nations (HMUN) at Harvard (1953) featured high school students as delegates, whereas Harvard National Model United Nations (HNMUN) has been running college-level conferences since 1954. Model United Nations of the Far West (MUNFW) has held college-level conferences since 1951 with the first at Stanford University where Ralph Bunche was the honored speaker.