Elinor Byrns

Overview

Elinor Byrns born Lafayette, IN June 14, 1876 (d. 1957). American peace leader and lawyer; feminist suffragist and absolute pacifist. Co-founded Women’s Peace Society, 1919; Women’s Peace Union, 1921. The Women's Peace Union successfully advocated for the passage of the Kellogg-Briand Pact to outlaw war, 1928. Opposed World War I and capital punishment.

Quotations

“A government which learns to respect life will be a sane government, realizing the folly and wickedness of permitting, much less of forcing, its citizens to indulge in the abnormality of war. It will know that life, in itself valuable, can be made rich and beautiful. It will understand that its citizens can never reach the highest point of development unless they abandon such ugly practices as killing, and the violation of the personality of others, and concentrate rather on creative, constructive activities.” (Senate Hearing, 1927, Wikipedia from Alonso)