Rama Devi Choudhury born Satyabhamapur, Cuttack, India December 3, 1899 (d. 1985). Gandhian leader; mother of activist Annapurna Maharana. Arrested on three occasions during independence movement, 1921, 1936, 1942; participated in Salt Movement; organized Gandhi's visit to the state of Orissa; walked 2400 miles with Vinoba Bhave's Bhoodan in Orissa. Organized relief for refugees from Bangladesh violence; helped in famine relief efforts, Koraput, 1951.
Alice Chown born Kingston, Ontario, Canada February 3, 1866 (d. 1949). Canadian radical pacifist and suffragist. Active at Hague Peace Conference, 1915; founded Women's Peace Organization in Toronto and Women's League of Nations Association, 1930. “[She] stressed that love ought to be the creative motivating force in the world.” (Josephson, Biographical Dictionary of Modern Peace Leaders, 1985, p. 167)
“[T]he evils we go out to fight with violence we shall graft upon our own nation’s life. Starting with hatred of our enemy’s cruelty, we shall end by being cruel ourselves; detesting the subservience of the German people to their state, we shall become indifferent to the subservience of our own people to our state. We shall lose our free institutions, free speech, free press, free assemblage, and have to struggle to regain them.” (http://bit.ly/Ivvc2H; photo Wikipedia)
Louise Christian born Oxford, England May 22, 1952. British solicitor who defended Guantanamo prisoner; leader of Stop the War Coalition 2001.
“We cannot stand by as innocent bystanders, there is no such thing as an innocent bystander when it comes to torture and abuse—we all have a responsibility.” (Innovative Minds, March 15, 2008)
On the Afghan war: "They are claiming justification under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, which is self-defence. But there were no people from Afghanistan involved in what happened on 11 September. There is no justification in international law. . . All we have achieved in Afghanistan is to replace the Taliban with gangs of warlords who have no legitimacy and who are fighting amongst themselves.” (Independent, Nov. 19, 2001; photo thejusticegap.com)
Queen Christina Vasa of Sweden born Stockholm December 8, 1626 (d. 1689). Patron of the father of international law, Hugo Grotius; major influence on Peace of Westphalia, which ended Thirty Years War, 1648; held Swedish throne, 1644-53; student of Islam.
"If we let God act within us, how good it would be. . . What miracles would God not work within us and outside of us!" (Maxims cited by Tracy Marks; Bourdin port. In Swe Nat. Gal. pd)
Christine Christopherson born Darwin, Australia October 15, 1959. Aboriginal artist. Arrested for trespassing on aboriginal land at Jabiluka uranium mine, 1999; jailed 12 days and compensated.
“Our imprisonment demonstrates the fear of governments and mining companies, a fear born of a refusal to recognise the past. Ultimately we are going to jail because we have a different history. . . Jail is our predestined outcome." (Open letter, February 26, 1999, mirarr.net; photo burragong international artists)
Overview
Margaret Chung born Santa Barbara, California October 2, 1889 (d. January 5, 1959). First known American-born Chinese female physician. After graduating from the University of Southern California Medical School in 1916 and completing her internship and residency in Illinois, she established one of the first Western medical clinics in San Francisco's Chinatown in the early 1920s.
Quotations
“Women of every nation, every country, should learn medicine, so that they can teach the women of their countries and their races how to care for themselves and their children—how to improve the coming generation.”
— Margaret Chung, Los Angeles Herald profile, 1914
Sandra Cisneros born Chicago, IL December 20, 1954. Poet and novelist; WILPF Sponsor, Jane Addams Peace Award.
"We make peace by being peaceful, every single day, every moment, with all the people we come in contact with. . . Peace is contagious, just like anger. If you make yourself peaceful, they will be peaceful too." (Cal State Dominguez, Sept. 11, 2007; photo schoolworkhelper.net)
Jeanne Martin Cissé born Kankan, Guinea April 6, 1926 (d. 2017). Diplomat; first woman to chair UN Security Council, 1972.
"As mothers, we give more importance to security and peace. I am an ambassador, but I am also a mother." (Nov 23, 1972, Jet, p. 18; photo guide2womenleaders.com)
Olive Ewing Clapper born Kansas City, MO February 4, 1896 (d. 1968). American peace advocate; author and lecturer. National treasurer of WILPF; promoter of strong UN; opponent of Cold War.
"If the peace issue is neglected or bungled we may as well begin to dig our cities underground." (1942, in One Lucky Woman, 1961, p. 341; photo with President Truman, care.org)
Clare of Assisi born Assisi, Umbria July 16, 1194 (d. 1253). Twice repelled armed invaders by nonviolence 1234.
"To preserve the unity of mutual love and peace, all who hold offices in the monastery should be chosen by the common consent of all the sisters." (Rule of St. Clare)
Helen Clark born Hamilton, New Zealand February 26, 1950. Professor of political science; leader of peace and disarmament movement. Opposed the Vietnam War; promoted nuclear-free zone. Prime Minister of New Zealand, 1999-2008; opposed US invasion of Iraq, 2003; first female head of UN Development Programme, 2009.
"The more we appreciate the importance of diplomacy, mediation, and peaceful resolution of conflict, so that others do not suffer the way in which soldiers and civilians suffered here." (at Ypres, site of WWI battle, June 9, 2012; photo UN)
Helen Bright Clark born Rochdale, Lancashire, England October 10, 1840 (d. 1927). Pioneering British women’s rights activist; suffragist. Quaker absolute pacifist. Raised two peacemaker daughters, Hilda and Alice. Founding member of anti-racist Society for the Furtherance of Human Brotherhood. Active in Aborigines' Protection Society. Decried Boer War as “a measureless calamity”; opposed WWI. Early signator of Open Christmas Letter to German women peace appeal, 1915. Served on committee for Hague Women's Peace Congress, 1915. Argued that suffrage would promote peace.
“And so far as the question of peace or war is to the front, we must all admit that overrides every other, for it carries the fate of every other question with it: and any government, or any party, that will keep the question of peace permanently unsettled, will succeed in stifling discussion and checking progress.” (Jan. 29, 1879, Bristol; photo ancestry.com)
Hilda Clark born Somerset, England January 12, 1881 (d. 1955). Quaker; physician. Founded Friends War Victims Relief, 1914; spearheaded Friends Relief Mission Austria, 1919-22; worked with Greek refugees; involved with WILPF & Women's Peace Crusade.
"We must be just though Nature is not." (London Faith & Practice, p. 108)
Lisa Pelletti Clark born Los Angeles, CA January 31, 1950. Interpreter and peace activist. Worked in Sarajevo during Bosnian War, 1993-95. Vice-President of Italian NGO Beati I Costruttori di Pace ("Blessed are the Peacemakers"). Opposed nuclear weapons at Aviano; led petition for nuclear-free Italy. Coordinated civil society mission for first democratic elections in Democratic Republic of Congo, 2006. Took part in peace missions to Somalia, Eritrea, Kenya, Albania, and Chiapas.
“I've always been on the side of those who suffer injustice, identifying with the women and men who live in the flesh the consequences of wars, violence and discrimination.” (text and photo, May 24, 2005, Affondi Noidonne)
Maureen Harding Clark born Scotland January 3, 1946. Served as Irish judge on International Criminal Court, 2002-6; presided over Yugoslavia war crimes tribunal, 1999.
"The ICC will work when you—the eyes and ears of the international community—inform it and the world what is happening." (Sept. 10, 2003, Second Dublin Platform; photo http://bit.ly/zhyCtM)
Septima Poinsette Clark born Charleston, SC May 3, 1898 (d. 1981). "Grandmother of American civil rights movement." Nonviolent teacher at Highlander Folk School, 1954; colleague of Martin Luther King, Jr. in SCLC; pioneered Citizenship Schools.
"I am one dedicated person working for freedom." (Lisa Baumgartner, Adult Ed. Research Conf. AERC, Jan. 1996; photo blogs.cofc.edu)
Maura Clarke born Rockaway Beach, Queens, NY January 13, 1931 (assassinated by Salvador military 1980). Maryknoll sister serving the poor in the wars in Nicaragua and El Salvador.
"[T]o search out the missing, pray with the families of prisoners, bury the dead, and work with the people in their struggle to break out of the bonds of oppression, poverty, and violence." (Telling the Stories that Matter, Dec. 2, 2013)
“Even though I am somewhat fearful of the difficult days ahead for our people of El Salvador, I feel convinced, Lord, that you want me there; that you will give me the light and strength I need.” (Dec. 1, 1980 Maryknoll Mission Archives; photo Wikipedia)
Jill Clayburgh born Manhattan, NY April 30, 1944 (d. 2010). Actress; co-founder Performers and Artists for Nuclear Disarmament (PAND) New York 1982.
“[D]oing something about the threat of nuclear war is the only thing that really matters.” (William Palmer, Films of the Eighties, p. 181; photo IMDb)
Xernona Clayton Brady born Muskogee, OK August 30, 1930. Nonviolent Civil Rights leader with Martin Luther King, Jr.; media leader SCLC; called "Dragon-slayer" by Calvin Craig, Green Dragon of KKK whom she converted to nonviolence; founded Trumpet Awards 1993 to those "who augment the richness of this great global society by partnering with the cause of justice and equality of all." International Civil Rights Walk of Fame 2004, Atlanta.
"People must be willing to devote their lives to making the world a better place." (Florida State University Newsletter, Jan. 25, 1993; photo concord.edu)
Sarah Norcliffe Cleghorn born Norfolk, VA February 4, 1876 (d. 1959). Quaker poet; pacifist; suffragist; socialist. Co-founded Anti-Enlistment League, 1915.
His country cowered under the mailed fist
Of the great soldier nation of his day;
But did he volunteer? Not he : instead
He talked in ill-timed, ill-judged platitudes,
Urging a most unpatriotic peace.
People that had been once slapped in the face
Ought to stand still, he thought, till slapped again;
And if we were insulted, we should watch
For chances to return it with a favor.
I will say for him, milksop as he was,
He was consistent: for he let himself
Be knocked about the streets and spit upon.
And never had the manhood to hit back.
Of course he had no sense at all of honor,—
Either his country's honor, or his own,—
Contemptible poltroon! His name was Jesus.
(Poem, "The Poltroon")
Women in Peace
is dedicated to highlighting the achievements of extraordinary, peacemaking women from around the world.
