A Legacy of Peace

Americans, in all their diversity, have witnessed to peace, justice and compassion throughout the centuries, leaving us with a rich legacy of peace. For every person featured here there are hundreds more who will become part of the larger AMP exhibitions.

Hiawatha's Wampum Belt (1500s)

Named after Hiawatha, the Peacemaker's helper, the belt records a peace agreement among the Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida & Mohawk nations, when these 5 nations buried their weapons of war and the Great Peacemaker planted a "Tree of Peace" (center) where the weapons were buried.

White, the emblem of peace, love, charity and equity surrounds and guards the Five Nations of the Iroquois Constitution White...symbolized that no evil or jealous thoughts shall creep into the minds of the Lords while in Council under the Great Peace. .
If the civil magistrates be Christians or members of the church, able to prophesy in the church of Christ, ... they are bound by the command of Christ to suffer opposition to their doctrine with meekness and gentleness, and to be so far from striving to subdue their opposites with the civil sword, that they are bound with patience and meekness to wait if God peradventure will please to grant repentance unto their opposites... The sword may make a whole nation of hypocrites.

Roger Williams (1603 - 1684)

Founder of Rhode Island and first proponent of religious freedom and the separation of church and state in America.

Born in London, England, he arrived in Boston, MA on February 5, 1631.

Insisted that land must be purchased from the Indians, rather than taken from them forcefully.

1639: In Salem, MA he was put on trial for his religious beliefs and banished from the Colony.

Purchased land from the Narragansett Indians Chiefs, established the settlement of Providence, RI, and was known for his peacemaking between the neighboring colonists and the Indians.

Rhode Island became a refuge for people persecuted for their religious beliefs.
...noe people can be truly happy though under the Greatest Enjoyments of Civil Liberties if abridged of the Freedom of their Consciences as to their Religious Profession and Worship.

William Penn (1644 - 1718)

Signed the "Great Treaty" with the Leni Lenape (Delaware) nation.

Author of "Holy Experiment," a plan for governing according to virtues.

Named Philadelphia, the "City of Brotherly Love."

Established tolerance & "right of conscience" with Pennsylvania's 1701 "Charter of Privileges."
John Woolman (1720 - 1772)

Merchant, tailor, journalist, essayist, Quaker itinerant minister, abolitionist and social reformer.

1746: He traveled throughout British North America preaching against slavery and the slave trade, military conscription, economic injustice and cruelty to animals.

1754: Working as a scribe, he refused to draw up wills that bequeathed the ownership of slaves to heirs.

He labored to convince Quaker slave holders to free their slaves, was an early proponent of the "free produce" movement, boycotting the use of products mined and produced by slave-labor.

1754 - 1763: Protested the French and Indian War, the Seven Years War and advocated military tax resistance.

...Men having Power too often misapplied it; that though we made Slaves of the Negroes, and the Turks made Slaves of the Christians, I believed that Liberty was the natural Right of all Men equally.
Wrong none, by doing Injuries or omitting the Benefits that are your Duty.

Benjamin Franklin (1705 - 1790)

Printer, inventor, scientist, philosopher, diplomat, writer.

Helped to draft the Declaration of Independence in 1776.

Negotiated the 1783 peace treaty ending the Revolutionary War.

Helped to draft the U.S. Constitution in 1787.

President, Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery.

Petitioned U.S. Congress in 1790 to abolish slavery.
Slavery...is an usurpation of the prerogative of the Great Sovereign of the Universe, who has solemnly claimed an exclusive property in the souls of men.

Liberty without virtue would be no blessing to us.

Benjamin Rush (1745 - 1813)

Physician and Signer of the Declaration of Independence.

Army Surgeon General concerned with yellow fever, typhoid and lack of supplies.

PA Continental Congress Rep. encouraging ratification of U.S. Constitution in 1788.

Advocated reforms in prisons, mental health care and medical hygiene.

1793: Proposed a U.S. Peace Office on equal footing as the U.S. Department of War. "As the War-Office of the United States was established in time of peace..a Peace-Office should be established in the time of war."

Advocated public education and founded Dickenson College.
...For he that loveth not his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?

Richard Allen (1760 - 1831)

Born into slavery in Philadelphia, PA.

Bought his own freedom in 1783 at the age of 23.

Founded the first national black church (AME).

An abolitionist, his writings inspired Frederick Douglass.

Provided fugitive slaves a place to stay.
Simple Gifts:

A Shaker song composed by Joseph Brackett in 1848.

'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free

'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,

And when we find ourselves in the place just right,

'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.

Refrain:

To bow and to bend we shan't be asham'd,

To turn, turn will be our delight,

Till by turning, turning we come 'round right.

'Tis the gift to be loved and that love to return,

'Tis the gift to be taught and a richer gift to learn,

And when we expect of others what we try to live each day,

Then we'll all live together and we'll all learn to say, (refrain)

Refrain:

'Tis the gift to have friends and a true friend to be,

'Tis the gift to think of others not to only think of "me",

And when we hear what others really think and really feel,

Then we'll all live together with a love that is real.

Refrain:

Shakers

The Shakers or the United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing arrived in America from England in 1774.

Like the Quakers, the Shakers were pacifists and refused to participate in war, citing the example of Jesus Christ.

When true simplicity is gain'd,

When true simplicity is gain'd, ...

When true simplicity is gain'd, ...
Be attentive to the voice of grace.

Elizabeth Ann Seton (1774 - 1821)

1790s: Charter member of The Society for the Relief of Poor Widows with Small Children and nursed the sick and dying among family, friends, and needy neighbors.

Following the loss of the family business, an extended time quarantined due to yellow fever and the subsequent death of her husband she converted to Catholicism and taught to support her family.

1809: Took her vows to become a religious sister and founded “Sisters of Charity” in Emittsburg, MD

1811: Established a boarding school for young girls, a school for the poor and an orphan asylum.

By 1821 there were more than twenty Sisters of Charity communities conducting free schools, orphanages, boarding-schools and hospitals in eight states and DC.
My conviction led me to adhere to the sufficiency of the light within us, resting on truth for authority, not on authority for truth.

Lucretia Coffin Mott (1783 - 1880)

Wife, mother and minister dedicated to religious tolerance and peace.

Committed to women's rights, prisoner rights and the abolition of slavery.

One of only 6 women delegates to the 1840 World's Anti-Slavery Convention.

First president of the Equal Rights Association.
Truth is powerful and it prevails.

Sojourner Truth, born Isabella Baumfree (1797 - 1883)

Slave, wife, mother, preacher, devoted to peace, religious tolerance, abolition of slavery and women's rights

Born into slavery in upstate NY, she spoke only Dutch until age 9.

Wife, mother, preacher, she was freed with 1827 NY State Emancipation.

Changed her name to Sojourner Truth in 1843.

Devoted to peace, religious tolerance, abolition of slavery & women's rights.

Dictated "The Narrative of Sojourner Truth: A Northern Slave."

Delivered "Ain't I a Woman?" speech at 1854 OH Woman's Rights Covention.
...there was an earnest, honest, living speech to be uttered for human rights, justice and freedom…

Elihu Burritt (1810 - 1879)

Seeing the interdependency of life on Earth, he became passionate about peace.

Called the "The Learned Blacksmith" he was a scholar, diplomat, and world peace movement advocate.

1846: Founded League of Universal Brotherhood

1848: Organized the Friends of Peace first International Congress in Brussels, with congresses held throughout Europe in subsequent years.

Believed increased amicable communication, international correspondence and trade would lead to universal brotherhood and peace.
The moment we begin to fear the opinions of others and from motives of policy, are silent when we should speak, and hesitate to tell the truth that is in us, the divine floods of light and life no longer flow into our souls.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815 - 1902)

Active in the abolition of slavery and women's rights.

Attended 1840 World's Anti-Slavery Convention where women were excluded.

Harry Stanton and she removed "obey" from their marriage oaths.

Proposed that women have the right to vote at 1848 Seneca Falls Convention.

Co-founded the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) in 1869.
The shallow consider liberty a release from all law, from every constraint. The wise man sees in it, on the contrary, the potent Law of Laws.

Be curious, not judgmental.

Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892)

Poet, essayist, journalist, "father of free verse," abolitionist and volunteer nurse during the Civil War.

Whoever degrades another degrades me,

And whatever is done or said returns at last to me.
Carrie Lane Chapman Catt (1859 - 1947)

To the wrongs that need resistance, To the right that needs assistance,

To the future in the distance,... Give yourselves.

1887: Became involved in Iowa Woman Suffrage Association.

1890s: Worked for the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA).

Served two terms as NAWSA president, succeeding Susan B. Anthony

1919: Won the backing of the U.S. House and Senate, and gained state support for the ratification of the 19th Amendment, granting women the right to vote.

1920: Founded League of Women Voters to encourage women to use their hard-won right to vote and served as honorary president for the rest of her life.

Co-Founded the National Committee on the Cause and Cure of War (NCCCW).

Organized the Protest Committee of Non-Jewish Women Against the Persecution of Jews in Germany, sent a letter of protest to Hitler in August 1933 signed by 9,000 non-Jewish American women and pressured the U.S. government to ease immigration laws so that Jews could more easily take refuge in America.
It is never too late to give up your prejudices.

Henry David Thoreau (1817 - 1862)

1849: Wrote “Resistance to Civil Government” aka “Civil Disobedience,” an essay advocating living according to ones individual conscience.

1854: Wrote Walden, based on his experiences living on Walden Pond;

Wrote and lectured against slavery and the Fugitive Slave Law.

I learned this...that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.
Mary Baker Eddy (1821 - 1910)

"Ask yourself: “Am I honest?" "Am I Just?" "Am I merciful?" "Am I pure?"

From a young age she believed helping sick people was a Christian service.

After a series of personal tragedies and a life-threatening accident she dedicated herself to healing, studying the Bible, the various methods medicine used for healing, the important role of the human mind and the teachings of Jesus which she believed were a map for healing.

1875: Published "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" outlining her healing methodology which she called "Christian Science" based on the principle of Love.

1879: Founded The Church of Christ, Scientist in Boston, Massachusetts.

1908: Concerned about the ill effects the press could have on society, she founded "The Christian Science Monitor" with a mission “to injure no man but to bless all mankind.”

“I love the whole human family and have labored to bless all, not a clan. but all.

All my work, all my efforts, all my prayers and tears are for humanity and for the spread of peace and love among mankind.”
For every woman's hand that ever cooled your fevered brows, staunched your bleeding wounds, gave food to your famished bodies, or water to your parching lips, and called back life to your perishing bodies, you should bless God for Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Frances D. Gage and their followers.

Clara Barton (1821 - 1912)

Patent clerk and Civil War nurse, advocate for civil rights and the establishment of the American Red Cross

1850: Opened the first free school in Bordentown, NJ

1855: First woman to receive the same Federal government salary offered to men.

1862: Received permission to assist Civil War soldiers on the front lines.

1865: Directed Office of Missing Soldiers locating missing soldiers, identifying the dead and installing grave markers.

1881: Advocated for and became president of the American Red Cross.

1905: Founded National First Aid Society
Civilization is a method of living and an attitude of equal respect for all people.

Jane Addams (1860 - 1935)

1887: Toured Europe, visiting city slums, observing the poverty and studying what was being done to alleviate it.

1889: With Elizabeth Gates Starr she co-founded Hull House in Chicago to provide education, legal aid, medical

1907: Became known as a pacifist with the publication of her second book, "Newer Ideals of Peace."

1915: At the outset of WWI, she was elected National Chairwoman of the Women's Peace Party and participated in the International Congress of Women in The Hague, Netherlands where she was selected to head the commission to find a way to end the war.

Appealed to President Wilson and other national leaders to mediate an end to WWI.

1919: Co-founded Women's International League for Peace and Freedom and served as WILPF's first president.

1919: Criticized the Treaty of Versailles for being so humiliating to Germany that it would lead to a war of revenge.

1931: Awarded the Nobel Peace prize for her work with WILPF and for her efforts to disarm the great powers and negotiate peace.
If I have a legacy to leave my people, it is my philosophy of living and serving.

Mary McLeod Bethune (1875–1955)

Educator, U.S. policy advisor, delegate and human rights activist

1904: Founded the Daytona Normal and Industrial Institute which later became Bethune-Cookman College, one of the few places that African-American students could pursue a college degree.

1924: Elected President of the National Association of Colored Women

1935: Appointed Special Advisor to President Roosevelt on minority affairs.

1935: Founded the National Council of Negro Women.

1936: Appointed Director of the Division of Negro Affairs of the National Youth Administration.
Emily Greene Balch (1867 - 1961)

Professor of economics and sociology at Wellesley College concerned with the living conditions of the poor, minorities, immigrants, and women.

1915: Joined Jane Addams and other international women to avoid WWI by trying to convince statesmen of neutral and aggressive nations to agree to a mediation process.

Strongly opposed to WWI, she campaigned prevent U.S. involvement and was dismissed from Wellesley College.

1920: Established the international headquarters of the WILPF in Geneva, Switzerland.

Convinced that Hitler must be stopped, she declared she was not an absolute pacifist and supported U.S. involvement in WWII.

1946: Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her dedication to disarmament and world peace.

We are not asked to subscribe to any utopia or to believe in a perfect world just around the corner.

We are asked to be patient with necessarily slow and groping advance on the road forward, and to be ready. We are asked to equip ourselves with courage, hope, readiness for hard work, and to cherish large and generous ideals.

Called a "Citizen of the World," she identified the strands of non-political connectedness that were moving the world to international unity, believing that "any true international unity must have a moral quality and possess the quality of humanity."
Jeannette Rankin (1880 - 1973)

Suffragette, U.S. Rep. (Montana), humanitarian, pacifist.

Coordinated suffrage victories in both Washington state and Montana.

First woman elected to the United States House of Representatives, (1917 - 1919. )

One of 56 Congressional votes against entering WWI.

There can be no compromise with war; It cannot be reformed or controlled; (It) cannot be disciplined into decency or codified into common sense.

Lobbied for the National Council for the Prevention of War.

Reelected to Congress in 1940 and voted against entering WWII.

War is the slaughter of human beings, temporarily regarded as enemies, on as large a scale as possible...I want to stand by my country, but I cannot vote for war.
Helen Keller (1880 - 1968)

When 18months old, she lost her sight and hearing as a result of a fever.

1887: Teacher Anne Sullivan taught her to spell out & comprehend meaning of words.

1904: Graduated "magnum cum laude" from Radcliff College and became a strong advocate for economic and social justice, civil rights, and women's rights & suffrage.

1916: Spoke in NYC Carnegie Hall at a Women’s Peace Party rally: " Congress is not preparing to defend the people of the United States. It is planning to protect the capital of American speculators and investors. Incidentally this preparation will benefit the manufacturers of munitions and war machines.

Strike against manufacturing shrapnel and gas bombs and all other tools of murder! Strike against preparedness that means death and misery to millions of human beings!

Be not dumb, obedient slaves in an army of destruction!

Until the great mass of the people shall be filled with the sense of responsibility for each other's welfare, social justice can never be attained.

Be heroes in an army of construction!
Edna St. Vincent Millay (1882 - 1950)

Pulitzer Prize Poet and playwright. Author of "Conscientious Objector"

I shall die, but that is all that I shall do for Death.

I hear him leading his horse out of the stall;

I hear the clatter on the barn-floor.

He is in haste;

He has business in Cuba, business in the Balkans, many calls to make this morning.

But I will not hold the bridle while he cinches the girth.

And he may mount by himself: I will not give him a leg up.

Though he flicks my shoulders with his whip, I will not tell him which way the fox ran.

With his hoof on my breast, I will not tell him where the black boy hides in the swamp.

I shall die, but that is all that I shall do for Death;

I am not on his payroll.

I will not tell him the whereabout of my friends nor of my enemies either.

Though he promises me much, I will not map him the route to any man's door.

Am I a spy in the land of the living, that I should deliver men to Death?

Brother, the password and the plans of our city are safe with me;

Never through me shall you be overcome.
Life is meant to be lived from a Center, a Divine Center

Thomas R. Kelly (1893 - 1941)

Scholar, educator, author, humanitarian

During WWI he worked with the Y.M.C.A. in Europe and with German prisoners of war.

1920s: Completed Seminary in the US and returned with wife to Berlin to work with American Friends Service Committee's (AFSC) children feeding program.

Taught philosophy in the US before returning to work with Quakers in Germany.

1937: After a period of stress, illness and depression he was “shaken by the experience of Presence - something that I did not seek, but that sought me.”

Wrote "A Testament of Devotion" to describe his experience of the Presence of God and how to transform a feverish existence to one of peace, joy and serenity by living "a life lived from the Center."
Woody Guthrie (1912 - 1967)

Singer, songwriter, author

Love casts out hate. Love gets rid of all fears.

Love washes all clean. Love forgives all debts. Love forgets all mistakes.

Love overcomes all errors and excuses and pardons

and understands the key reasons why the mistake, the error, the stumble, the sprawl, the fall, was made.

Looks like ever body is declaring war against the forces of force.

I took a bath this morning in six war speeches, and a sprinkle of peace.

That's what you get for building up a big war machine.

and then of course they them selves have to use force,

so you are against their force, and they're aginst yours.

It scares your neighbors into jumping on you,
We can throw our pebble in the pond and be confident that its ever widening circle will reach around the world.

We repeat, there is nothing we can do but love, to love our neighbor, to love our enemy as our friend. And dear God, please enlarge our hearts to love each other.

Dorothy Day (1897 - 1980)

Writer, mother, devout Roman Catholic.

Prayed: "to serve my fellow workers, for the poor."

Formed "The Catholic Worker" newspaper & Hospitality Houses.

Committed to pacifism, civil rights and the social Gospel.
...a democratic government represents the sum total of the courage

and the integrity of its individuals. It cannot be better than they are.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962)

Wife, mother; "eyes & ears" to US President with polio.

Redefined the role of U.S. First Lady, 1933 - 1945.

Visited troops, stood against discrimination and for civil rights.

Spokeswoman, campaigner, newspaper columnist and author.

U.S. Delegate to the United Nations General Assembly.

UN Chair, "Universal Declaration of Human Rights."
Father Emil Kapaun (1916 - 1951)

Roman Catholic priest, U.S. Army chaplain during the Korean war.

Ran through enemy fire to help soldiers, dragging them to safety.

Captured in 1950 while refusing to leave a wounded soldier.

Prayed and comforted fellow prisoners to rally their hope and determination to survive.

Is there anybody here who needs a little help?

People whose ambitions are confined to the limits of earthly things would be confounded at the beatitude on meekness.

Thank you, O Lord, for giving us food we cannot only eat but share.

Risked punishment to feed and clothe prisoners.
Lenore Marshall (1899 - 1971)

1933: Became the treasurer of the Writers' League Against Lynching

Active with Women's International League for Peace and Freedom.

1943 - 1969: Served on Post World War Council Executive Board.

1956: Concerned about the destabilizing effects of the arms race and inspired by Albert Schweitzer's "Call to Conscience" which stirred public action about the dangers of nuclear radiation she joined Clarence Pickett and Norman Cousins to found the National Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy (SANE.)

SANE's mission was to "develop public support for a boldly conceived and executed policy which will lead mankind away from war and toward peace and justice.”

1971: Concerned about the health effects of low-level ionizing radiation, she joined with Dr. John Gofman and U.S. Senator Charles Goodell to chair the Committee for Nuclear Responsibility (CNR,) calling for a moratorium on the construction of additional nuclear power plants.

Poet, novelist, essayist, and political activist.
Earl Warren (1891 - 1974)

Lawyer, District Attorney, Governor of CA (three terms)

Appointed the fourteenth Chief Justice of the United States in 1953.

1954: Brown vs Board of Education:

In civilized life, law floats in a sea of ethics.

Declared race-based segregation in public schools unconstitutional: In...public education, the doctrine of “separate but equal” has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.

1965: United States vs Seeger: Declared religious belief is a sincere and meaningful belief. occupying in the life of its possessor a place parallel to that filled by their God.
Clara McBride Hale (1905 - 1992)

...hold them, rock them, love them and tell them how great they are.

1940s: Based on her own childhood experiences of loss, she provided short-term and long-term care for community children in her home, found permanent homes for homeless children and taught parents essential parenting skills.

1960s: "Mother Hale" became a licensed foster parent, providing care for hundreds of children.

1969: Became the foster parent of an infant addicted to cocaine.

1969: Established Hale House and the foster care program for children afflicted with addiction.

1980s: Expanded Hale House services to include care for infants stricken with HIV and those who had lost parents to AIDS.

If you can’t hold children in your arms, please hold them in your heart.
Abraham Heschel (1907 - 1972)

First and foremost, we sit as human beings who have much in common: a heart, a face, a voice, the presence of a soul, fears, hope, the ability to trust, the capacity for compassion and understanding, the kinship of being human.

1938: Arrested by Gestapo in Frankfurt; deported to Poland; traveled to London.

1940: Arrived in NYC; joined faculty of Hebrew Union College, Cincinnati, OH.

1946-1972: Prof. of Jewish ethics and Mysticism at Jewish Theological Seminary.

Believed his faith required action for civil rights and against Vietnam war.

1965: Joined with Rev. John Neuhaus and Fr. Dan Berrigan to found CALCAV, Clergy and Laymen Concerned About Vietnam.

In a controversy the instant we feel anger, we have already ceased striving for truth and have begun striving for ourselves.

Polish-born American rabbi, author, educator, humanitarian, activist
Mildred Norman Ryder (1908 - 1981)

aka: "Peace Pilgrim"

1952: Became first woman to walk entire 2,050 mile Appalachian Trail.

This is the way of peace:

Overcome evil with good, falsehood with truth, and hatred with love.

Lived outdoors for long periods of time in harmony.

1953: Adopted name "Peace Pilgrim" and walked CA to New York.

Walked 25,000+ miles for personal and international disarmament.

...the way of peace is the way of love...
Loving your enemy is manifest in putting your arms not around the man but around the social situation, to take power from those who misuse it -- at which point they can become human too.

Bayard Rustin (1912 - 1987)

Humanitarian, pacifist, civil rights leader and organizer

Helped initiate 1947 Freedom Ride to address racial discrimination in interstate travel.

Chief organizer of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

Concerned with economic problems of African Americans, promoted union integration.

Aided refugees from Vietnam and Cambodia.

Died while on a humanitarian mission in Haiti.

The principal factors which influenced my life are:

1) nonviolent tactics;

2) constitutional means;

3) democratic procedures;

4) respect for human personality;

5) a belief that all people are one.
Elise Boulding (1920 - 1910)

There is no time left for anything but to make peacework a dimension of our every waking activity.

Sociologist, educator, author and major proponent of Peace and Conflict Studies academic programs.

1940: When Germany invaded Norway Elise became a pacifist, convinced that violence could not bring an end to war nor build a culture of peace.

Collaborating with husband, Kenneth Boulding, in the aftermath of WWII, researched the causes of war and what it takes to building a peaceful world

Joined Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, started a newsletter to unite women in behalf of world peace - the first of many, and earned her doctorate in sociology.

As Chair of Dartmouth College Sociology Department she developed the first Peace Studies program.

Believed women had an essential role in diplomacy, peace and conflict resolution.

The subject of peace has become bigger than the subject of war – the reason it doesn't seem so is that it's not reported in the media.
Fred Rogers (1928 - 2003)

When I was a boy I used to think that strong meant having big muscles, great physical power; but the longer I live, the more I realize that real strength has much more to do with what is not seen. Real strength has to do with helping others.

1953: Developed "Children's Corner," the first program for the nation's first community-sponsored educational television station, WQED.

1963: Ordained a Presbyterian minister with a mission to continue his work with families and children through mass media.

1968: Appointed Chairman of the Forum on Mass Media and Child Development of the White House Conference on Youth.

1968-2001: Produced Mr. Roger's Neighborhood where he spoke directly to his audience with empathy and respect. He developed week-long themes, including one on War and Peace.

“One of the greatest gifts you can give anybody is the gift of your honest self.”
Odetta Holmes (1930 - 2008)

songwriter, singer, civil rights activist
Harvey Lavan "Van" Cliburn, Jr. (1934-2013)

Concert Pianist

Won first-place at the 1958 International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow.

Despite the Cold War, Soviet Premier Khrushchev approved his winning.

Through his music he bridged the divide between the USA and Soviet Russia.

I was just so involved

The Russians reminded me of Texans.

with the sweet and friendly people

who were so passionate about music.
The major job was getting people to understand that they had something within their power that they could use, and it could only be used if they understood what was happening and how group action could counter violence…

Ella Josephine Baker (1903 - 1986)

Believed in the power of people to strengthen their communities.

Active in the National Association Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

Co-Founded Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC).

Helped form Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).

Staff, Southern Conference Education Fund (SCEF).
Sargent Shriver (1915 - 2011)

Founded Peace Corps and served as its first director.

Director of Office of Economic Opportunity, 1964-1968.

Architect of President Johnson's "War on Poverty" program.

Founded Head Start, Community Action, Legal Services to the Poor.

Served as U.S. Ambassador to France, 1968-1970.

The spirit of a nation cannot be maintained when 1/5 of its citizens are increasingly alienated, increasingly disaffected and increasingly vulnerable to irresponsible calls to violence.
Barbara Reynolds (1915 - 1990)

1951: The Reynolds family moved to Hiroshima, Japan where husband, Earle, was sent by the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission (ABCC) to conduct a three-year study on the effects of radiation on the children who had survived the first atomic bomb of 1945.

1954: The family and three young Japanese crew set sail for a world pleasure cruise. In Honolulu they docked next to "The Golden Rule" whose crew had been arrested for sailing into a nuclear testing zone in protest of nuclear weapons testing.

1958 - 1959: Vividly aware of the effects of nuclear radiation on children, Earle, Barbara, Ted and Jessica Reynolds and a young man, Mikami, who had family die in the Hiroshima attack, decided to to sail into the U.S. forbidden zone and later to Nakhodka, USSR to protest nuclear testing.

1960s: Barbara organized Peace Pilgrimages to all nuclear nations and other countries, traveling with survivors of the nuclear attacks called "hibakusha" and a young man orphaned by the A-bomb.

Opened a CA Friendship Center and World Friendship Center in Hiroshima, Japan where people could meet and talk with hibakusha and learn more about the effects of nuclear weapons.

1970s: Assisted refugees coming to the U.S. from Cambodia and Vietnam.

Founded the Peace Resource Center at Ohio's Wilmington College which houses the Hiroshima/Nagasaki Memorial Collection archives.
Irwin Abrams (1917 - 2010)

To change the world you have to change yourself.

1943-1946: Directed training for international relief workers for the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), while serving as a WWII conscientious objector.

Scholar, author, educator and humanitarian

1947: Organized the Quaker International Workcamp program

Pioneer in the field of peace research and authority on Nobel Peace Prize and the Lauriates.

Recipient of lifetime service award from by the Peace History Society and the Peace History Commission of the International Peace Research Association.

Received Antioch College's Arthur Morgan Award "for his long and exemplary service to the Antioch College community, the education community and the global community".
Fay Honey Knopp (1918 - 1995)

1962: Protested the effect of nuclear testing on children's health as Women Strike for Peace (WSP) delegate in Geneva, Switzerland.

1963: Joined women's interracial dialogues in Jackson, MS.

1964: Toured US with Japanese survivors of Hiroshima.

1965-1972: Acting regional head of AFSC and national volunteer.

1968: Co-founded Prisoner Visitation and Support (PVS) with the Rev. Robert Horton.

1970s: Founded Prison Research Education Action, NY State Council of Churches

Served on the board of Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors (CCCO).

Dedicated to seeking alternatives to prison.

..there really was a Light within me…A Light that Lighteth all human beings.”
Mary Travers (1936 - 2009)

Singer, song-writer, advocate for peace and human rights

Sang with the Song Swappers, singing back up for Pete Seeger

1961: Formed "Peter, Paul and Mary" with Peter Yarrow and Noel Paul Stookey.

1963: Performed for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

...we live in a world where dissent is hard-pressed; - treated as if it were unpatriotic.

I've always liked the concept of the loyal opposition.

It allows for dissent to be a respectable part of the whole.

1978: Reunited with Peter&Paul to protest the development of nuclear power plants.

1983: Protested the violence and U.S. support of El Salvador dictatorship.

1986: Dedicated "No Easy Walk to Freedom" to Nelson Mandela.

An advocate on behalf of the homeless in NYC and environmental concerns.
Norma Becker (1930 - 2008)

A New York City public education school teacher for 33 years.

Concerned about the use of dogs to subdue civil rights activists, she went south for summers to teach in the summer Freedom Schools.

During VietNam War she helped found New York City's Fifth Avenue Peace Parade Committee.

Served a Chair of War Resisters League (WRL) for 22 years.

A founder of Mobilization for Survival coordinating the 700,000 person 1982 March advocating the end to the nuclear arms race.

It was the right thing to do.
Cesar Chavez 1927 - 1993

After 8th grade became migrant farm worker to help his family.

Worked with Community Service Organization developing CA chapters.

Organized United Farmworkers Union with Dolores Huerta in 1962.

In non-violence the cause has to be just and clear as well as the means.

Kindness and compassion toward all living things is a mark of a civilized society.
Cyrus Vance (1917 - 2002)

Lawyer, US Cabinet member, diplomat.

1962: As U.S. Secretary of the Army, sent Army units to Mississippi to insure court-order integration of University of MS.

1967: Deputy Secretary of Defense Vance advised Pres. Johnson to pull troops out of South Vietnam and resigned from office.

1968: Served as delegate to Paris Peace Talks.

1977 - 1980: As Secretary of State under President Jimmy Carter

Sec. Vance emphasized the importance of negotiation over conflict.

Instrumental in efforts for SALT II, Panama’s Canal Zone and the

1978 Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt resulting in the 1979 Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty.

Participated in diplomatic missions to Bosnia, Croatia and South Africa.
Warren Christopher (1925 - 2011)

As Deputy Sec. of State, he negotiated release of 52 U.S. hostages in Iran.

Served as U.S. Secretary of State, 1993 - 1997.

Mediated 1993 Oslo Accords between Israel and Palestine and

Dayton Agreement ending 1992-1995 Bosnia-Herzegovina war.

Headed commission leading to police department reforms.

It's very important not to lose your temper in a courtroom, or in anything else you're doing.
Michael Jackson (1958-2009)

I'm starting with the man in the mirror.

I'm asking him to change his ways.

And no message could have been any clearer,

If you wanna make the world a better place

Take a look at yourself

And then make a change.

Singer, songwriter, dancer, producer, philanthropist

We are the ones who make a brighter day

So let's start giving.

There's a choice we're making.

We're saving our own lives.

It's true we'll make a better day -

Co-founded "We Are The World" with Lionel Richie.

Just you and me.
Rachel Corrie (1979 - 2002)

Student volunteer and peace activist

An AmeriCorps Washington State Conservation Corps (WCC) volunteer.

Initiated a "sister city" project between Olympia, WA and Rafah, Gaza Strip.

Organized a pen-pal program between children in Olympia and Rafah.

While in Gaza, Rachel participated in actions organized by International Solidarity Movement (ISM) to prevent the Israeli army'sdemolition of Palestinian houses.

Age 23: Corrie died while undertaking nonviolent direct action to protect the home of a Palestinian family from demolition.

We should be inspired by people... who show that human beings can be kind, brave, generous, beautiful, strong - even in the most difficult circumstances.
Being peaceful is a choice...not being peaceful is a choice too. Let's make peace our choice.

Mattie J. T. Stepanek (1990 - 2004)

Poet and peace advocate

We need to stop. Just stop.

Stop for a moment. before anybody says or does anything that may hurt anyone else.

We need to be silent. Just silent.

Silent for a moment. Before we forever lose the blessing of songs that grow in our hearts.

We need to notice. Just notice.

Notice for a moment. Before the future slips away Into ashes and dust of humility.

Stop, be silent, and notice. In so many ways, we are the same.

Our differences are unique treasures.

We have, we are, a mosaic of gifts To nurture, to offer, to accept.

We need to be. Just be.

Be for a moment. Kind and gentle, innocent and trusting,

Like children and lambs, never judging or vengeful.

And now, let us pray. Differently, yet together,

Before there is no earth, no life, No chance for peace.
Dorothy Height (1912 - 2010)

The struggle continues, but it's more subtle. Therefore, we need, in the strongest ways we can, to show our unity as a people and not just as a people of color.

As a teenager, she volunteered on voting rights and anti-lynching campaigns.

1930s: As Harlem Y.W.C.A. Assistant Exec. Director, she brought attention to the exploitation of black women working as domestic day laborers.

1937: Advocated for equal rights of African Americans and women.

1946: Oversaw the desegregation of the Y.W.C.A. facilities nationwide.

1957 - 1997: President of National Council of Negro Women for forty years.

1960s: Organized “Wednesdays in Mississippi” creating a dialogue of understanding among black and white women from the North and the South.

1965 - 1977: Founded and let the Y.W.C.A.’s Center for Racial Justice.

1994-2010: Executive Committee of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Chair.

We're all in the same boat now, and we've got to learn to work together.
George Willoughby (1914 - 2010)

1939: Resigned his ROTC commission to become a conscientious objector.

1940: Worked with wife at Scattergood, a hostel used by Central European refugees fleeing Nazism.

1943-1945: Worked with War Relocation Authority seeking housing for interned Japanese Americans; as dietician & land surveyor at Trenton Civilian Public Service (CPS), Camp, ND, and dietician at Alexian Brothers Hospital, Chicago, IL.

Traveled to Poland on a United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration cattle ship to provide livestock to war-torn Europe.

1950s: Served as Regional Director of American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) and later as National Director of Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors (CCCO).

Committed to peace and nonviolence, he was arrested for civil disobedience.

1957: Committee for Non-Violent Action (CNVA): he resisted U.S. nuclear weapons testing program.

1958: Arrested for sailing "The Golden Rule" to protest nuclear bomb testing. .

1963: Join the year-long Delhi- Peking Friendship Walk.

A member of Movement for a New Society (MNS), taught nonviolence throughout the U.S., & internationally, including in India, Sri Lanka & Thailand.
Genuine tolerance does not mean ignoring differences as if differences made no difference.

Genuine tolerance means engaging differences within a bond of civility and respect.

Richard John Neuhaus (1936 - 2009)

Religious leader, advocate for civil rights, social justice, ecumenical dialogue & living ones faith in the public square.

1960s: Lutheran pastor in Brooklyn, NY, arrested for demanding integration of public schools.

Answered Martin Luther King's call for clergy to join the 1965 Selma, AL March.

1965: Co-Founded Clergy and Laity Concerned About Vietnam (CALCAV) with Rabbi Heschel and Father Dan Berrigan.

Strong advocate for ecumenical dialogue.

1990s: Converted to Catholicism and ordained a Catholic priest.
Edward M. Kennedy (1932 - 2009)

"Lion of the U.S. Senate" served 47 years as Senator from MA.

Every generation has its own mission in the life of the nation. Your generation may well be the peace generation, because the issue of nuclear war or peace will in all likelihood be settled by you. We must demand a national leadership which will spend less time preparing for nuclear war and more time preventing one.

Champion of civil rights, voting rights, women’s issues, Title IX, peace & reconciliation in N. Ireland, gay rights, funding to combat the AIDs epidemic, Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act of 1986, the 1996 Mental Health Parity Act, a minimum wage increase & the 1997 Children’s Health Insurance )rogram, immigration reform & the 2009 Serve America Act expanding AmeriCorps.

Opposed U.S. increased involvement in Vietnam & the Salvadoran civil war and US support of Nicaraguan Contras; opposed the B-1 bomber, the MX missile, & the Strategic Defense Initiative weapons systems; opposed the Iraq War, voted against the 2002 Iraq War Resolution.

Advocated a full nuclear test ban, a nuclear freeze & nuclear disarmament.

Called universal heath insurance "the cause of my life.”
Pete Seeger (1919 - 2014)

American folk singer, humanitarian, environmentalist, peace, human and civil rights activist.

…some seeds fall on fallow ground, and they grow and multiply a thousand fold.

Who knows where some good little thing that you’ve done

may bring results, years later, that you never dreamed of?
Jonathan Schell (1943 - 2014)

News correspondent, author, columnist, educator concerned about U.S. policies, nuclear weapons, nuclear disarmament and global warming.

1967: Wrote “The Village of Ben Suc,” a firsthand report of the destruction of a South Vietnamese village by American forces and other books about U.S. engagement in Vietnam.

1982: “The Fate of the Earth,” examined the nuclear arms race and U.S. policy of determent, catalyzing the nuclear freeze movement and serving to inspire the movie, “The Day After.”

Wrote “The Abolition” calling for complete nuclear disarmament and The Seventh Decade, analyzing the threats posed by U.S. nuclear policy.

George Shultz, Henry Kissinger, Sam Nunn and (William) Perry (called) for...a world free of nuclear weapons…Ronald Reagan, of all people, was a fervent nuclear abolitionist...(Mikhail) Gorbachev was another nuclear abolitionist..

(President Ronald) Reagan had a human response, a moral response, to nuclear weapons. If we had a president who was dedicated to this aim, I think it could become a reality.

The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty...is maybe one of the most successful in all history and under it (190) nations have vowed to do without nuclear weapons.
Maya Angelou (1928 - 2014)

Author, poet, essayist, dancer, singer, actress, producer, civil rights activist, humanitarian. In 2005 authored "Amazing Peace:"

Thunder rumbles in the mountain passes, And lightning rattles the eaves of our houses. Flood waters await us in our avenues.

Snow falls upon snow, falls upon snow to avalanche Over unprotected villages. The sky slips low and grey and threatening.

We question ourselves. What have we done to so affront nature?

We worry God. Are you there? Are you there really? Does the covenant you made with us still hold?

Into this climate of fear and apprehension, Christmas enters, Streaming lights of joy, ringing bells of hope

And singing carols of forgiveness high up in the bright air. The world is encouraged to come away from rancor, Come the way of friendship.

It is the Glad Season. Thunder ebbs to silence and lightning sleeps quietly in the corner. Flood waters recede into memory.

Snow becomes a yielding cushion to aid us As we make our way to higher ground.

Hope is born again in the faces of children It rides on the shoulders of our aged as they walk into their sunsets.

Hope spreads around the earth. Brightening all things, Even hate which crouches breeding in dark corridors.

In our joy, we think we hear a whisper. At first it is too soft. Then only half heard. We listen carefully as it gathers strength.

We hear a sweetness. The word is Peace. It is loud now. It is louder. Louder than the explosion of bombs.

We tremble at the sound. We are thrilled by its presence. It is what we have hungered for. Not just the absence of war. But, true Peace.

A harmony of spirit, a comfort of courtesies. Security for our beloveds and their beloveds.

We clap hands and welcome the Peace of Christmas. We beckon this good season to wait a while with us.

We, Baptist and Buddhist, Methodist and Muslim, say come. Peace. Come and fill us and our world with your majesty.

We, the Jew and the Jainist, the Catholic and the Confucian, Implore you, to stay a while with us.

So we may learn by your shimmering light How to look beyond complexion and see community.

...We, Angels and Mortal's, Believers and Non-Believers, Look heavenward and speak the word aloud. Peace.

We look at our world and speak the word aloud. Peace. We look at each other, then into ourselves

And we say without shyness or apology or hesitation. Peace, My Brother. Peace, My Sister. Peace, My Soul.