Margaret Drabble born Sheffield, Yorkshire, England June 5, 1939. Quaker pacifist, leading British novelist who openly opposed Iraq War.
"A nation that can paint those faces on death machines must be insane." (Daily Telegraph, May 7, 2003; photo Cambridge Univ.)
Mary Elisabeth Dreier born Brooklyn, NY September 26, 1875 (d. 1963). Labor reformer and suffragist leader; artist; arrested 1909 in shirtwaist strike; organizer of first antiwar parade 1914; chaired Women's Trade Union League’s Outlawry of War committee; associate of Jane Addams at Hull House; Indian rights advocate; opposed Cold War and nuclear weapons.
Ingeborg Drewitz (née Neubert) born Berlin, Germany January 10, 1923 (d. 1986). German novelist and playwright. Worked with Amnesty International; protested nuclear weapons. Awarded Ossietzky Medal for Human Rights, 1980.
“The hope of my generation said: Never again war! Never again armament! Never again fascism! They said: take responsibility.” (Ecumenical church conference, Berlin, 1985)
Shirley Graham Du Bois born Evansville, IN November 11, 1896 (d. 1977). African-American/Cherokee musician; playwright; biographer; peace activist; Communist; exiled to Ghana, 1961; promoted African unity.
"In this great crisis of the world's history. . . we look forward to Peace and backward to War." (Her delivery of speech of W.E.B. Du Bois, Accra, Dec. 12, 1958; photo findagrave)
Rachel Davis DuBois born Woodstown, NJ January 25, 1892 (d. 1993). Quaker; pioneer in intercultural relations. WILPF leader at Hague Conference, 1922, International Conference of Trade Unions, 1922; founded Junior International League for Peace, 1922; led WILPF Auto Peace Tour, 1922. Developed assembly program technique to combat racism, 1924; SCLC trainer. Headed State Dept. mission to assist resettled Germans, 1951.
"My lifelong interest in race relations and intercultural education—my concern that people from different backgrounds be encouraged to share the best of their traditions and customs, thus building a richer culture and having fun doing it."
On her message: "Is it not that LOVE. . . is the greatest of all powers, and that is because there is that of God in each of us, we are all God's children? For God is Love." (All This and Something More (1984), p. 254; photo http://bit.ly/xa3e06)
Gabrielle Duchêne born Paris, France February 26, 1878 (d. 1954). French radical; pacifist; journalist; opposed imperialism. Founded French WILPF; organized national Peace Action Week, 1930, Women's Congress Against War and Fascism, 1934. As the enfant terrible of WILPF, she called for sanctions against Italy following Mussolini's attack on Ethiopia.
Madelene Taylor Duckles born Loomis, CA May 19, 1916 (d. 2013). Musicologist; leader in West Coast WILPF, Women Strike for Peace opposing nuclear weapons and Vietnam War; One of first women to visit Hanoi 1969; local chair Committee of Responsibility which brought war injured Vietnamese children to US for treatment. Co-founder Women for Peace, 1961; arrested Livermore Nuclear Weapons Lab protest; protested militarization of society.
“WHERE THERE IS ORGANIZED VIOLENCE AT THE TOP THERE WILL BE INDIVIDUAL VIOLENCE AT THE BOTTOM.” (Calif. Task Force Report on Peace & Armed Conflict, June 29, 1996)
“If we cannot protest when our government ceases to act like a democracy, if we cannot ‘speak truth to power,’ who will speak for us?” (Andrea Estepa dissertation, ”Taking the White Gloves Off,” p. 178)
"We argue that diplomacy and co-operation can be much more effective tools to settle differences than armed conflict, and they are much cheaper as well. . . Tax money that could be used for education, women's issues, and healthcare is instead being spent inventing and maintaining ways to kill people." (Daily Californian, April 9, 2001; photo music.berkeley.edu)
Muriel Duckworth (née Ball) born Austin, Quebec, Canada October 31, 1908 (d. 2009). Quaker; absolute pacifist; Canadian "Peace Movement's Best Friend"; president of VOW, 1967-72; opposed Vietnam War; awarded Pearson Peace Medal, 1991.
"People are against this war with Iraq, but they have to understand that all war must be eliminated." (ZNet, March 8, 2003; photo lifeinlegacy.com)
Helena Stuart Dudley born Florence, NE August 31, 1858 (d. 1932). Biologist; Christian Socialist; pioneer settlement worker who remained pacifist through World War I; member of WILPF and FOR; partner of pacifist Vida Scudder; died Geneva after WILPF convention.
"It is almost demonical, the sweep toward conscription and these enormous war loans." (to Jane Addams, 1917, in Allen Davis, Spearheads for Reform: The Social Settlements & the Progressive Movement 1890-1914, p. 221, 1984)
Peggy Duff (née Margaret Doreen Eames) born London, England February 8, 1910 (d. 1981). Peace organizer. Worked for postwar relief organization Save Europe Now, 1945-48; helped establish the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), 1957; CND Organizing Secretary, 1957-1967. Organized Aldermaston Marches; voiced opposition to Vietnam War and Greek junta. Described by Noam Chomsky as, "One of the people who really changed modern history."
"Which is to be banned, the H-bomb or the human race?" (Lead banner in first Aldermaston March, 1958 http://bit.ly/dvO5Zy; photo Ken Garland http://bit.ly/JGtn2W)
Greta Duisenberg (née Greetje Nieuwenhuizen) born Heerenveen, Friesland November 6, 1942. Dutch opponent of Israeli occupation; accused of anti-semitism.
"If [Israelis] want really to have peace, they should stop confiscating land all the time for all those settlements. . . I think there should be peace and the military situation of the Israeli government should stop because their actions are terrible. You can't have peace when you have all these killings around. There should be dialogue and negotiations.” (Haaretz, Feb. 11, 2017; photo Israel-palestina.info)
Yvonne Dumont (née Fafe) born Paris, France September 3, 1911 (d. 1986). French Communist politician; active in Resistance WWII; member of postwar Movement for Peace; delegate of pacifist Women’s International Democratic Federation to UNESCO; believed women worked best politically through pacifist protests.
“Their maternal instinct renders them more quickly empathetic in the suffering and anguish of the women in Vietnam; their instinctive horror of war making them more apt in understanding that there is no true security for any people as long as war rages in any part of the world.” (1967, Alessandro Brogi, Confronting America, p. 347; photo senat.fr)
Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz born San Antonio, TX September 10, 1938. Radical feminist history professor; Marxist revolutionary; opposed Vietnam War, aid to Contras, and Iraq wars.
"Women's liberation is the most important, the most revolutionary social force to appear in the long history of resistance to oppression, exploitation, colonialism, racism, and imperialism." (Springfield, MA, Apr. 19, 1969, in Outlaw Woman, p. 184, 2002; photo reddirtsite.com)
Sheena Duncan (née Sinclair) born Johannesburg, South Africa December 7, 1932 (d. 2010). Anti-Apartheid leader, succeeded mother Jean Sinclair as head of Black Sash 1975-, 1983-6; pacifist promoting nonviolent liberation; arrested 1986 for praying at parliament for black mourners; active in End Conscription campaign.
“Our task is to find non-violent ways in which power can be transferred to the powerless thereby creating a society of true peace and justice.” (encyclopedia.com; photo theguardian.com)
Heyde Maria Durán-de Lopez born Palmira, Colombia March 9, 1939. Diplomat. Doctor of law; peacemaker in civil war. Junior Minister for Shantytowns.
“We have to start by forgiving: ourselves for what we have done wrong and with equal largeness of heart ‘our enemies.’ We have been born into a society convulsed with hate and ambition: may the next generation learn to love and forgive so they can live in peace.” (Michael Henderson, All Her Paths Are Peace, 1994, p. 124; photo congressovisible)
Denise Durant born Jemappes, Belgium February 23, 1903 (d. 1969). Belgian feminist; socialist organizer; anti-militarist; pacifist.
Mignonette Patricia Durrant born Jamaica May 30, 1943. Jamaican diplomat. Ambassador to Germany, 1987-92; Director-General Jamaican Foreign Ministry, 1992-95. Chaired preparatory session on "A World Fit for Children," 2000; President of UN Security Council, emphasizing effect of war on women and children, 2001; first UN Ombudsman, 2002-07.
"We therefore call upon all states to commit themselves to maintaining only the levels of arms necessary for self defense, to reject weapons of mass destruction and to take steps necessary to eliminate them." (Oct. 21, 1997 for Caricom at UN; photo UNICEF)
Josephine Duveneck (née Whitney) born Brookline, MA, USA April 12, 1891 (d. 1978). Quaker pacifist. Early leader of WILPF 1922. Founded organic farm and social justice center Hidden Villa, Santa Cruz mountains, California, 1924. Hidden Villa was America's first international multicultural youth camp and offered safe haven for refugees from Nazi rule and Japanese internees. Cesar Chavez used Hidden Villa as a base of operations during his organization efforts.
“I do believe mankind will find a way to overcome the menace of fratricide. It may take years, with many setbacks, but eventually the only possible solution will result in unity and cooperation among all nations.” (Life on Two Levels, 1978, p. 308; photo Los Altos Hist. Society)
Manuela Dviri Vitali Norsa born Padua, Italy January 13, 1949. Italian-Israeli peace activist; author and playwright. Protested war after the death of her soldier son, 1998; received Peres Award for Peace and Reconciliation for saving Palestinian children, 2005.
"We are all 'citizens' of the same world. Why destroy it and destroy ourselves?"
"I believe it will be very difficult to achieve peace and reconciliation without the presence of women at the negotiating table." (quotes and photo Ara Pacis peace initiative/forgiveness)
Women in Peace
is dedicated to highlighting the achievements of extraordinary, peacemaking women from around the world.
