Margaret Ann Backhouse

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Overview

Margaret Ann Backhouse born Darlington, Durham, England May 4, 1884 (d. 1977). Quaker head of Friends Service Council who received Nobel Peace Prize for Quaker relief 1947; founded British Campfire Girls 1921; teacher Westhill College, Birmingham.

Quotations

“War will not cease until mankind has learnt the positive nature of peace. We speak of the present and the between-the-war period as 'peace-time' but we all know that it would be truer to describe the condition as the period when there is no official warfare. There is not peace in the minds of men and there will not be until we have replaced misunderstanding by sympathy—fear by trust—jealousy and hatred by love.” (Oslo, Dec. 12, 1947)

Gertrud Baer

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Overview

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Gertrud Baer born Hamburg, Germany November 25, 1890 (d. 1981). German-American feminist; pacifist; delegate to WILPF conference Hague, 1919; International President WILPF, 1932-7; head of Equal Rights International, Open Door International for Economic Emancipation of the Woman Worker.

Quotations

"Conflicts will never be settled by brute force. Brute force breeds brute force, which means destruction; what Europe needs today is productive work and peaceful reconstruction." ("Germany's Part in World Reconstruction", Annals of Am. Academy, July 1922, p. 146; photo Swarth. Col. Peace Col.)

Zuleikhan Bagalova

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Overview

Zuleikhan Bagalova born Kara-Balta, Kazakhstan June 2, 1945. Leading Chechen actress and director. Demonstrated horrors of first Chechen War in Moscow, 1997; joined Russian appeals to world leaders against second war, 2001, 2003. Nobel Peace Prize nominee, 2005.

Quotations

“[T]his is a commercial war. We see how the Russians export oil in convoys protected by armoured personnel carriers and helicopters. Maybe Putin wishes to end this conflict but not all of his generals are rich enough yet and not all the 'mercenaries' are generals.” (Institute for War and Peace Reporting, July 6, 2001; photo Wikimedia)

Alice Bailey

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Overview

Alice Bailey (née Bateman) born Manchester, England June 16, 1880 (d. 1949). Esoteric teacher, promoter of UN; founder of World Goodwill 1932, "Love in Action."

Quotations

"What are right human relations but love among men, groups and nations? What is international cooperation but love on a world scale?" (Externalisation of the Hierarchy, p. 602, 1957; photo divinetruth.com)

Hannah Johnston Bailey

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Overview

Hannah Johnston Bailey born Cornwall-on-the-Hudson, NY July 5, 1839 (d. 1923). Quaker head of Peace & Arbitration Department of Women's Christian Temperance Union 30 years 1887-1916, the most influential American peace organization of the last quarter of nineteenth century; editor of two peace publications, Pacific Banner and The Acorn 1889-1895; opposed all wars and conscription; suffragist, opposed capital punishment; officer of Universal Peace Union promoting nonviolent resolution of disputes, opposing imperialism; joined Women’s Peace Party opposing World War I, and WILPF.

Quotations

"The subject of peace is one of vital importance to women. . . It is her mission to bring life, not death, to this world. It is not consistent with this mission that she should bring sons into the world, and in sorrow and self sacrifice bring them to noble manhood to be slain in battle. The life of one boy (if he were my boy) is of more value than the perpetuation of a government." (1887 Lake Mohonk Conference, in John Craig, "Hannah Johnston Bailey." Quaker History, p. 3, Spring 1995; photo Swarthmore Peace Coll.)

Pearl Bailey

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Overview

Pearl Mae Bailey born Newport News, VA March 29, 1918 (d. 1992). African-American singer and actress. Named as America's "Ambassador of Love" by Richard Nixon, 1970; appointed special ambassador to the UN by Gerald Ford, 1975. Promoted campaign against AIDS.

Quotations

“What the world really needs is more love and less paperwork.” (in Weekly World News, Apr. 25, 2005)

Wilhelmina Sherriff Bain

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Overview

Wilhelmina Sherriff Bain born Edinburgh, Scotland September 5, 1840 (d. 1944). New Zealand pacifist who opposed Boer War; promoted arbitration and disarmament as alternatives to war; she said she "would live, and die, for Peace" (Dict. New Zealand Bio.); opposed conscription 1909; teacher, feminist, suffragist, poet.

Quotations

"[T]he cult of Moloch had widened and strengthened until it appeared to have become the ruling passion of the human race." (May 1900, in Megan Hutching, "'Mothers of the World': Women, Peace and Arbitration." New Zealand Journal of History, p. 176, 1993)

"[I]f any section of humanity has cause to be interested in the prevention of war, that section is womenkind. . . In the wider field of devastated homes and maimed lives, and it is the women who have had to bear the brunt of this suffering." (London, July 1899, in Hutching, p. 176; photo nzhistory.net.nz)

Eva-Lee Baird

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Overview

Eva-Lee Baird born New York, NY April 29, 1940. Grandmother for Peace; art teacher; photographer; arrested 2005 for protest at New York recruiting station; acquitted; Toys-R-us protest 2006; protested Obama wars 2009.

Quotations

“We’ve been involved in social justice and civil rights all our adult lives.” (The Daily Beast, Dec. 4, 2014)

"The merchants of war are putting tremendous pressure on President Obama to lead the country down a path of destruction. We the people must pressure him to choose the path of peace." (March 17, 2009, Joan Wile blog; photo the epoch times)

Matilde Bajer

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Overview

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Matilde Bajer (née Schlüter) born Frederikseg, Denmark January 4, 1840 (d. 1934). Danish peace leader; peace partner of 1908 Nobel Peace Prize laureate; feminist and suffragist. Founded Danish Women's Peace Assn., 1906; first woman elected to Danish upper house, 1918; first president Women's Union for Progress, 1886. (photo da.Wikipedia)

Ella Baker

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Overview

Ella Baker born Norfolk, VA December 13, 1903 (d. 1986). Nonviolent human rights activist; founder of Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, 1960; Southern Christian Leadership Council, 1957; Director NAACP, 1943-6; protested Ethiopian War, 1936; WILPF.

Quotations

"We are not fighting for the freedom of the Negro alone, but for the freedom of the human spirit, a larger freedom that encompasses all mankind." (Zinn SNCC 106; photo Ella Baker Ctr. wikicommons pd)

Sara Josephine Baker

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Overview

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Sara Josephine Baker born Poughkeepsie, NY November 15, 1873 (d. 1945). Physician; first US woman to serve in League of Nations, as representative to Health Committee, 1922-4; pioneer in public health, esp. for immigrants.

Quotations

"Women could force the world to abandon war as a national policy if they would simply refuse to bear children until governments came to their senses, or realized that there would be no future soldiers." (Fighting for Life, p. 243; photo pd Wiki)

Ivonne A-Baki

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Overview

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Ivonne Abdel-Baki (née Leila Ivonne Juez) born Guayaquil, Ecuador February 23, 1951. Artist; diplomat; peacemaker; head of Yasuní rainforest conservation project in Amazon. Founded Art for Peace, 1997; instrumental in Peru-Ecuador peace, 1998. Presidential candidate, 2002; Trade Minister, 2003-05; President of Andean Parliament, 2007-08; candidate for head of UNESCO, 2009. Created Galapagos Conservancy Foundation, 2009; UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador.

Quotations

"Women have the ability to understand the issues in different ways than men. They are better equipped to see the interests of both sides. Usually, men see their own position and move very little. A woman tries to find the way to compromise—maybe you have to give up a little, but everyone wins. . . Peace is not just about non-violence. It's not just about stopping wars. It's about inclusion. People want to be accepted in society as human beings no matter where they are from or what religion they are from or what color they are." (Sage Magazine, November 29, 2012; photo Twitter)

Christina C. Bakker-van Bosse

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Overview

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Christina C. Bakker-van Bosse born Batavia, Java, Dutch East Indies June 17, 1884 (d. 1963). Dutch pacifist and feminist; co-founded NAOR Netherlands Antiwar League 1914; founded women’s organization DAWIEC; book on European minorities The Open Wound of Europe 1930; only woman founder of World Federation of UN Associations WFUNA 1946; Women’s mission to Palestine 1935.

Dora Bakoyannis

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Overview

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Dora Bakoyannis (née Mitsotakis) born Athens, Greece May 6, 1954. Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs 2006; Mayor of Athens 2002-6; Minister of Culture 1992-3; chaired UN Security Council 2006 ceasefire Lebanon; promoted European Union Lisbon Treaty 2007.

Quotations

"Smart power is much more than brains. . . Much of our success depends on the heart; on the force of our values. These common principles include respect of democracy, human rights, free trade, free enterprise, tolerance of cultural, linguistic and religious diversity." (Feb. 13, 2008, Washington D.C.; photo Wikipedia)

Florence Balgarnie

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Overview

Florence Balgarnie born Scarborough, Yorkshire, England August 19, 1856 (d. 1928). Militant British suffragette; international speaker on reform; pacifist leader of International Arbitration & Peace Association; Secretary of British Anti-lynching League.

Quotations

"If only the women of England could be made to feel half as much for the horrors of a great battle as they cared for the smashing of their best tea-things at home, we should very soon see war cease." (Heloise Brown, The Truest Form of Patriotism, p. 128, 2003)

Edith Ballantyne

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Overview

Edith Ballantyne born Czechoslovakia December 10, 1922. WILPF International President, 1992-8; Secretary General, Representative at UN; awarded Gandhi Peace Award, 1996; awarded first International Peace Woman Award, 2003.

Quotations

"As education is an important force in bringing about enlightened change, disarmament and non-proliferation education can be such a force to help our world move from militarism to a culture of peace—a goal of the United Nations." (with Felicity Hill, Disarmament Forum 2001; WILPF photo 1983)