Dorothea Dix

Overview

Dorothea Dix born Hampden, ME April 4, 1802 (d. 1887). American prison reformer, teacher and humanitarian; advocated care of the insane; superintendent of Union nurses in Civil War.

Quotations

"In politics, if you want anything said, ask a man. If you want anything done, ask a woman."

"I come to present the strong claims of suffering humanity. I come to place before the Legislature of Massachusetts the condition of the miserable, the desolate, the outcast. I come as the advocate of helpless, forgotten, insane, and idiotic men and women." (Memorial to the Legislature of Massachusetts, Jan. 19, 1843; photo Unitarian Universalists)

Assia Djebar

Overview

Assia Djebar (née Fatima-Zohra Imalayen) born Cherchell, Algeria June 30, 1936 (d. 2015). Algerian novelist and filmmaker; portrayed terrible violence of Algerian War for independence with the nonviolent alternative proposed by Camus. Received Neustadt International Prize for Literature in recognition of her body of work, 1996; awarded Peace Prize of the German Book Trade, 2000.

Quotations

“[T]his geology stained red with blood. What magma of sounds lies rotting there? What stench of petrifaction seeps out? I grope about, my sense of smell aroused, my ears alert, in this rising tide of ancient pain. Alone, stripped bare, unveiled, I face these images of darkness. . . How are the sounds of the past to be met as they emerge from the well of bygone centuries? . . . What love must still be sought, what future be planned, despite the call of the dead?” (1985, in Ben Salem, “I shall Intervene,” 2011)

El-Ghalia Djimi

Overview

Djimi el Ghalia born Agadir, Morocco May 28, 1961. Western Sahara nonviolent human rights activist. “Disappeared” in Moroccan custody, 1987-91. Vice-president of Sahrawi human rights organization ASVDH.

Quotations

“Despite this climate of grave violations of human rights, crimes against humanity and war crimes, Sahrawi society is evolving to claim these legitimate rights by peaceful means. Faced with barbarity we find that the relentless pursuit of peace and human dignity is fully respected.” (Rome, Nov. 26, 2006; photo territoriosocupadosminutoaminuto.blogspot.com)

Lavinia Dock

Overview

Lavinia Lloyd Dock born Harrisburg, PA February 26, 1858 (d. 1956). Internationalist; nurse; militant suffragist. Opposed World War I; arrested during suffragist activities for picketing the White House, 1917; after second arrest, sent to Occoquan Prison for 25 days, and 15 days after her third arrest.

Jody Dodd

Overview

Jody Dodd born November 9, 1957. WILPF leader; War Resisters League.

Quotations

"I am outraged at the news that Bush has made an agreement to provide India with nuclear materials/technology! India is outside the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and therefore it is in violation of International Law, the NPT and US Law for the US to do so. This action will only further to advance global proliferation and weaken the NPT." (letter to Sen. Spector, March 2, 2006; photo WRL)

Hedwig Dohm

Overview

Hedwig Dohm (née Schlesinger) born Berlin, Germany September 20, 1831 (d. 1919). German Jewish writer, pioneering feminist, Socialist.

Quotations

"I hate Hate." (Vienna, in Wider den Haß, vol. 17, p. 10, 1915)

"War is Cannibalism. The cannibal is literally saturated with the flesh of his fellow men, as the war feeds the countless mouths of the cannon, the yaw insatiable for human food." ("The Abuse of Death." 1917; c. 1870 photo de.Wikipedia)

Alma Dolens

Overview

Alma Dolens (née Teresita Pasini) born Perugia, Italy February 18, 1876 (d. unknown). Leading Italian peace advocate; feminist; journalist. Organized first Italian women's peace organization, 1908. Opposed Italian war against Libya, 1911. WILPF founding member, 1915.

Quotations

“The enemy is not at the border; it is all around us: it is poverty, tuberculosis, unemployment.  The cure for these diseases is the end of formidable and costly weaponry.” (Brussels, Jun. 2, 1914, in Sandi Cooper, Patriotic Pacifism, 1991, p. 211; photo International Women’s Day http://bit.ly/ygwcWz )

Alma Dolens (née Teresita Pasini) born Perugia, Italy February 18, 1876 (d. unknown). Leading Italian peace advocate; feminist; journalist. Organized first Italian women's peace organization, 1908. Opposed Italian war against Libya, 1911. WILPF founding member, 1915.

Quotations

“The enemy is not at the border; it is all around us: it is poverty, tuberculosis, unemployment.  The cure for these diseases is the end of formidable and costly weaponry.” (Brussels, Jun. 2, 1914, in Sandi Cooper, Patriotic Pacifism, 1991, p. 211; photo International Women’s Day http://bit.ly/ygwcWz )

Alma Dolens (née Teresita Pasini) born Perugia, Italy February 18, 1876 (d. unknown). Leading Italian peace advocate; feminist; journalist. Organized first Italian women's peace organization, 1908. Opposed Italian war against Libya, 1911. WILPF founding member, 1915.

Quotations

“The enemy is not at the border; it is all around us: it is poverty, tuberculosis, unemployment.  The cure for these diseases is the end of formidable and costly weaponry.” (Brussels, Jun. 2, 1914, in Sandi Cooper, Patriotic Pacifism, 1991, p. 211; photo International Women’s Day http://bit.ly/ygwcWz )

Agnes Dollan

Overview

Agnes Dollan (née Moir) born Glasgow, Scotland August 16, 1887 (d. 1966). Pacifist feminist and suffragette; Socialist politician; public antiwar protests throughout World War I; led local Women's International League 1915; co-founded Women's Peace Crusade 1916; jailed in rent protest 1917.

Quotations

"If the government could afford £30,000,000 for warships it can afford to finance work for the unemployed." (election speech, Dec. 4, 1921; photo radicalglasgow.blog)

Kate Donnelly

Overview

Kate Donnelly born New Haven, CT September 29, 1952. Nonviolence trainer and teacher; publisher. Participant and chronicler of Women and Life on Earth Conference, 1979, and Women's Pentagon Action, 1980. Led War Resisters League (WRL) campaign against war toys; edited WRL Handbook for Nonviolent Action, 1989. Recipient War Resisters League Award, 2001.

Quotations

"Let's face it—without intelligent, compassionate youth, there's not much hope for our planet, never mind our 'movement.'" (quote and photo Peace Women Across the Globe)

Jean Donovan

Overview

Jean Donovan born Westport, CT April 10, 1953. (d. 1980). Catholic lay worker beaten, raped and murdered by Salvadoran National Guard.

Quotations

“The Peace Corps left today and my heart sank low. The danger is extreme and they were right to leave. . . Now I must assess my own position, because I am not up for suicide. Several times I have decided to leave. I almost could, except for the children, the poor bruised victims of adult lunacy. Who would care for them? Whose heart would be so staunch as to favor the reasonable thing in a sea of their tears and helplessness? Not mine, dear friend, not mine.” (quote and photo Wikipedia)

Mary Antoinette Doolittle

Overview

Mary Antoinette Doolittle born New Lebanon, NY September 8, 1810 (d. 1886). Shaker Eldress and lecturer; wrote War Positively Unchristian.

Quotations

"War is incompatible with Christianity. It is not only un-christian, but is immoral, unscientific, and retards civilization." (The Shaker Manifesto, p. 3, Jan. 1879; photo historicmapworks.com)

Sarah Platt Doremus

Overview

Sarah Platt Doremus born Manhattan, NY August 3, 1802 (d. 1877). "Jewel of New York" who organized international relief to Greece 1828, Ireland 1869; inspired by appeals of oppressed Chinese women, she started single women's missions.

Quotations

"If I have anything to do, I do it." (elementaldesign.net; portrait ancestry.com)

Marthe Dortel-Claudot

Overview

Marthe Dortel-Claudot born Vic-sur-Cère, France August 20, 1907. Co-founded nonviolent Catholic fellowship Pax Christi 1945 for reconciliation with Germans.

Quotations

"Jesus died for all. Nobody should be excluded from my prayer." (journal, Advent 1944; quote and photo Pax Christi International)

Elise Dosenheimer

Overview

Elise Dosenheimer born Ungstein, Bavarian Palatinate, Germany November 22, 1868. (d. 1957). Scholar of German literature. Pacifist friend of WILPF leaders; advocate of women’s contribution to peace. Lecturer at first WILPF peace summer school Vienna, 1920; delegate to WILPF conference, Vienna, 1921. Deported to French concentration camp, from which she was rescued by US WILPF.

Quotations

On equality for women: "[It is] an attempt with the help of women to work for the political, moral and social peace in the world." (quote and photo Maya Linthe, Bücherfrauenblog, Nov. 18, 2014)

Madeleine Z. Doty

Overview

Madeleine Zabriskie Doty born Bayonne, NJ August 24, 1877 (d. 1963). Lawyer; World War I correspondent; pacifist co-founder of WILPF; first international secretary 1925-31; started first Junior Year Abroad in Geneva 1938; advocated prison reform after spending voluntary week in prison.

Quotations

"I set out to remake the world. I would study law, be a great woman lawyer, see justice done." (Alice Rinehart, One Woman Determined to Make a Difference, p. 21, 2001; photo asteria.fivecolleges.edu)

Sue Doughty

Overview

Sue Doughty born York, England April 13, 1948. British Quaker pacifist Liberal Democratic member of Parliament 2001-5 who opposed Iraq War and international arms sales.

Quotations

"Even though some of the countries have peace, it is a fragile peace. The last thing that we want is a lot of guns, small arms and larger munitions washing around in such countries." (addressing Parliament, Nov. 6, 2003; photo yournextmp.com)

Alice May Douglas

Overview

Alice May Douglas born Bath, ME June 28, 1865 (d. 1943). Peace activist; poet and children's author. As head of the Women's Christian Temperance Union's Peace and Arbitration branch, actively promoted peace education and peaceful settlement of disputes. Founder and composer of Peace Makers' Band. Published The Peacemaker and a story of Russian Mennonite exiles. Delivered paper "The Inconsistency of Military Drill" for Child Study Conference, Liege.

Quotations

"[T]wo little boys, who by reading history, had become imbued with war aspirations and were writing essays on war and making pictures to illustrate warfare, were induced to use their talents for peace, and to write for The Acorn." (WCTU Minutes, Nov. 1894, p. 441; photo Mary Livermore, American Women Fifteen Hundred Biographies, 1897, p. 156)

Helen Gahagan Douglas

Overview

Helen Gahagan Douglas born Boonton, NJ November 25, 1900 (d. 1980). US Delegate to UN General Assembly, 1946; Calif. Representative on House Foreign Affairs; resisted Cold War and HUAC; Honorary Co-Chair of WILPF; promoted UN control of nuclear weapons; helped write Marshall Plan.

Quotations

"The air needs to be cleared of suspicion and doubt and fear. . . What we need now in the world is friends." (postwar speech to Congress, in A Full Life, p. 214; photo US govt. wiki pd)

Sarah Mapps Douglass

Overview

Sarah Mapps Douglass born Philadelphia, PA September 9, 1806 (d. 1882). Black abolitionist educator and headmistress; co-founder Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society 1833; led desegregation of Quaker meetings, and promoted education of Black women.

Quotations

"Banish prejudice from your hearts." (Liberator, May 1832; photo friendsmedia.org)

Elizabeth Dowdeswell

Overview

Elizabeth Dowdeswell (née Patton) born Belfast, Northern Ireland November 9, 1944. Canadian stateswoman; first woman head UN Environmental Program as Under Secretary 1992-8; professor environmental studies; Lt. Governor Ontario 2014.

Quotations

“People, young and old, must gain the capacity to make sound environmental decisions; to act instinctively to protect life on Earth. . . We know that no environmental issue has yet emerged that is not within the capabilities of the human race to resolve. We have tremendous knowledge and technological capability. And we have very compelling evidence on most issues for the need to act. But, somehow, what is still missing is the political will to do so.” (Aug. 11, 1997 UN Gen. Assembly; photo royalroads.ca)