February 14

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Women peacemakers born today

  • 1847 Anna Howard Shaw born Newcastle-on-Tyne, England (d. 1919). Leading suffragist; physician. First American female ordained Methodist minister. Inducted into National Women's Hall of Fame, 2000.

  • 1876 Keith Ransom-Kehler born Dayton, KY (d. 1933). Prominent Baha'i envoy; lectured throughout the world for peace and equality on behalf of her faith. Friend of Jane Addams; charter member of WILPF.

  • 1877 Julia Bertrand born Vosges, France (d. 1960). Nonviolent anarchist; radical anti-militarist; president of League of Feminists Against War (LFCG). Detained in prison camp for anti-military views, 1914-15.

  • 1885 Hazel E. Foster born Cleveland, OH (d. 1975). Professor; minister; educator. Social activist with organizations including Quaker Fellowship, the League of Women Voters, WCTU, SANE, ACLU, Jane Addams Peace Association, WILPF.

  • 1890 Jeanne Alexandre born Paris, France (d. 1980). French feminist. Advocated laying on tracks to stop draftee trains; supported peace initiative that led to foundation of WILPF, 1915.

  • 1904 Jessie Lloyd O'Connor born Winnetka, IL (d. 1988). Daughter of WILPF founding member Lola Maverick Lloyd. Journalist; social activist; second-generation WILPF member; lifelong pacifist. Traveled aboard Henry Ford Peace Ship as child, 1915.

  • 1941 Donna Shalala born Cleveland, OH. Served in Iran as Peace Corps volunteer, 1962-64; US Secretary of Health and Human Services, 1993-2001; University of Miami president, 2001-present.

  • 1953 Laila St. Matthew Daniel born Lagos, Nigeria. Lebanese-Nigerian psychologist. Led Nigerian Women Mourn protest against Boko Haram killings, 2014.

  • 1953 Alla Yaroshinskaya born Zhytomyr, Ukraine. Ukrainian politician and journalist; activist. Recipient of Right Livelihood Award for reporting on Chernobyl disaster, 1992; Nobel Peace Prize nominee, 2005.

  • 1970 Willemijn Verloop born Utrecht, Netherlands. Dutch peace activist. Founded War Child Netherlands in response to Bosnian conflict, 1994.

Women's peacemaking on this day

  • 1838 Elizabeth Pease Nichol wrote anti-slavery address to the women of Great Britain.

  • 1920 In Chicago, Carrie Chapman Catt founded the League of Women Voters.

  • 1945 Virginia Gildersleeve selected as the sole female American delegate to the upcoming United Nations Conference on International Organization.

  • 1980 Liliane Gronert founded the Liliane Foundation for disabled children of less-developed lands.

  • 1987 First protest by Raging Grannies Victoria BC, sang un-valentine to MP about nuclear issues, under an umbrella full of holes.

  • 2002 Jenni Williams founded the nonviolent organization Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) on the premise that, "the power of love can conquer the love of power."

  • 2002 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows founded by relatives of 9/11 victims, including Rita Lasar.

  • 2012 Commemorating Valentine's Day and WOZA's 10th Anniversary, 500 female protesters marched towards Zimbabwe's Parliament. Riot police interrupted the protest and beat several women.