Shan Cretin born New Orleans, LA December 5, 1946. Quaker peacemaker and professor of public health, Harvard. Co-founded Los Angeles Alternatives to Violence Project. Pacific Southwest Regional Director, American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), 2003-2010; General Secretary, AFSC, 2010-current.
“[W]e also witness the transformative power of dialogue, love, and nonviolent action to bring people together.” (Aug. 9, 2012; photo AFSC)
Marian Ellis Cripps, Baroness Parmoor, born Nottingham, England January 6, 1878 (d. 1952). Quaker war resister; twin sister of peacemaker Edith. Aided victims of Boer War; opposed conscription in World War I. Co-founded Fellowship of Reconciliation; founding member WILPF. President of World YWCA, 1924-28. Authored pamphlet against atom bomb, 1948. Head of British WILPF, 1950. Worked to end Korean War and admit China to UN.
“At the end of this war the world will have to decide which way it desires to go, towards disarmament or destruction, there will be no middle course. The choice is really between basing our civilization on faith or fear, and the question of armaments stands at the parting of the ways.” (Friends’ Quarterly Examiner, 1917, in Oldfield, Thinking Against the Current, p. 120)
Tarja Cronberg (née Mattila) born Helsinki, Finland June 29, 1943. Finnish Green politician, “a Peace-builder”; Minister of Labor 2007-09; European Parliament member 2011-14, chaired its Iran committee which achieved nuclear control treaty 2015; Director Copenhagen Peace Research Institute 2001-03; vice president International Peace Bureau.
“The [Iran treaty] is a small step towards a world free of nuclear weapons. It has, until further notice, reduced the risk of proliferation in the Middle East. The alternative—no deal—would have carried with it a much greater risk of proliferation. It is also an example of how nuclear diplomacy can work in a multilateral context. States do change their behavior, when regime change is not on the table.” (“Diplomacy Can Work”, Sept. 1, 2015; photo tarjacronberg.fi)
Margaret Brackenbury Crook born Dymock, Gloucestershire, England May 5, 1886 (d. 1972). Radical suffragist and feminist; professor of religion Smith College. First British Unitarian woman minister; counseled World War I conscientious objectors; served in Quaker relief during war, 1916-17; executive secretary American WILPF, 1920.
There was no room for her in the car.
There was a mother in it.
And five children
And the driver.
There was no room in the car.
In any case she had lived
Six years beyond her span.
The children must have their mother.
She was nobody's mother,
Since the last war, that is.
She was nobody's wife,
That is since that last war.
She gave them all that she had;
Now she had only herself to give,
At seventy-six, and all alone.
All that was left to her
From the last war
Was a generous spirit.
(The children must have their mother.)
She stepped from the running board;
And the overloaded car
Started for Paris.
("Refugees", from Shoreline Unitarian Univ.; photo Unitarian-Universalist Assn.)
Nan Cross born Pretoria, South Africa January 3, 1928 (d. 2007). South African opponent of Apartheid and conscription. Co-founded Conscientious Objector Support Group, 1980; End Conscription Campaign, 1983; Ceasefire Campaign against arms trade, 1993. Climbed onto tank at arms show with sign: "Arms are for hugging, not killing" (Mail & Guardian, July 14, 2007)
Sheryl Crow born Kennett, MO February 11, 1962. Rock musician. Opposed nuclear weapons; voiced early opposition to Iraq War. Donated a portion of concert proceeds to UN World Food Programme, 2008.
"War is based on greed and there will be huge karmic retributions that will follow. I think war is never the answer to solving any problems. The best way to solve problems is to not have enemies." (American Music Awards, Los Angeles, Jan. 14, 2003; photo http://bit.ly/JTc4ya)
Rachel Crowdy-Thornhill born Paddington, London, England March 3, 1884 (d. 1964). Internationalist; poet. Highest ranking woman in League of Nations Secretariat, 1919-1932; headed section on Social Questions and Opium Traffic. Played instrumental role in 1921 treaty against White Slave Traffic, and 1925 treaty on illicit drugs.
“You may be able to disarm the world. . . but unless you introduce better economic conditions, better social conditions and better health conditions in the world, you will not be able to maintain peace even if you attain it.” (April 12, 1927; 1930 photo, National Portrait Gallery)
Frances Crowe born Carthage, MO March 15, 1919. Quaker; opponent of nuclear weapons, Vietnam War and Iraq War; active protester into her 90s. Co-founded Traprock Peace Center, 1979. Arrested over 15 times for nonviolent protests, including 30-day sentence for 1984 Electric Boat protest.
“I have a vision of a better world, where people can live cooperatively, without violence, and that we would be able to feed the hungry, house the homeless, and provide shelter for people if we weren’t spending so much money on war.“ (Boston Globe, Dec. 13, 2010; photo grassrootspeace.org)
Penélope Cruz Sánchez born Madrid, Spain April 28, 1974. Spanish film star; founded Sabera Foundation for homeless Calcutta girls, 1999; Partner of UN World Food Program, 2005.
"We need to stop the dying and start the living; stop the hunger and start the hoping." (quote and photo World Food Programme)
Gloria Cuartas Montoya born Sabaneta, Antioquia, Colombia June 18, 1960. Social reformer and peacemaker. Elected Mayor of Apartadó, 1994. Received UNESCO Cites of Peace Award, 1996; promoted Cities of Peace in Latin America. Founded “Feminine Resistance and the Map of Hope.”
“To have witnessed 1,200 crimes, to see dozens of raped and murdered women, to witness how they cut off a child's head and thrown at me, to see how they killed elderly people. . . [we] no longer had anything to lose and that [we] would go to the end, regardless of the shortcomings.” (Margarita Vidal interview, El Pais-Cali, Oct. 5, 2008; photo el universal)
Claire Culhane (née Eglin) born Montreal, Canada September 2, 1918 (d. 1996). Nurse; leading Canadian opponent of VietnamWar in "Enough/Assez" campaign; established hospital in Vietnam 1967; 10-day fast for peace 1968; opposed Cold War and atomic bomb; prison abolitionist.
"Insist that they make every classroom a classroom for peace by teaching our children to respect and honor children of other countries, and not to be concerned only in the safety of our own people." (Brian Thorn, Peace & Change, p. 633, Oct. 2010; photo notwavingbutdrowningat.blogspot.com)
Patrisse Marie Cullors-Brignac born Los Angeles, CA June 20, 1983. Artist; African-American human rights activist. Co-founded Black Lives Matter movement with Alicia Garza and Opal Tometi. Supported divestment to aid Palestine cause, 2015.
"In order to have any peace with justice, we have to address the needs of the most marginalized by our societies.” (Divest, Feb. 10, 2015)
Nelsa Libertad Curbelo Cora born Montevideo, Uruguay November 1, 1941. Ecuadorean peacemaker; former nun. General coordinator, human rights organization SERPAJ. Member of Mediation Commission for the indigenous uprising of Ecuador, 1990. Witnessed Contras arms handover to the Sandinista government, Nicaragua, 1990. Participated in peace agreement between guerrillas and Guatemalan government, 1996. Founded Ser Paz ("Being Peace") with Guayaquil youth gangs, 1999. Nobel Peace Prize nominee, 2005.
"Nothing is more revolutionary than love. . . Love is the greatest power in the universe. Love is more powerful than violence, more powerful than the atomic bomb. Love has the power to transform lives, to change cities and the whole world. Only love has this deep creative power. I am absolutely sure of it." (quote & photo Huffington Post, Aug. 13, 2013)
Jamie Lee Curtis born Los Angeles, CA November 22, 1958. Actress; children's author, Is There Really a Human Race?; opponent of global warming and Iraq War.
"Thank you for voting against the War and for continuing to voice that opposition." ("Thank you, Barack Obama", Huffington Post, Nov. 4, 2008; photo Josh Hallett wiki)
Hannah Tracy Cutler born Becket, MA December 25, 1815 (d. 1896). Pioneering woman physician; abolitionist speaker widowed by mob killing her husband; first president of American Woman Suffrage Assn. 1870; delegate to World Peace Convention, London 1851.
“Emboldened me to speak before the great congregation on behalf of woman’s equal. . . right to have her interests represented in the council of nations.” (Ohio Cultivator, March-April 1852, Frances Kaye “The Ladies Department”, Agricultural History, 1976, vol. 50, p, 422; photo Wikipedia)
Women in Peace
is dedicated to highlighting the achievements of extraordinary, peacemaking women from around the world.
