Laura Ormiston Chant

Overview

Laura Ormiston Chant (née Dibbin) born Woolaston, Gloucestershire, England October 9, 1849 (d. 1923). English suffragist, social reformer, poet, and author. First woman vice-president of Peace Society, 1889. Undertook relief work in Bulgaria for Armenian refugees, 1894-96. Led Red Cross nurses in Greek war on Crete, 1897. Opposed toy soldiers, arguing for peace education in the nursery.

Quotations

“[I] could not imagine a mother looking on placidly at the number of men who were trained in the world for no other purpose than to be run through with bayonets.” (Journal of IAPA, July 31, 1885, in Heloise Brown, Truest form of Patriotism, p. 127; photo fineartamerica.com)