Emma González born Parkland, FL November 11, 1999. Teenage gun violence activist. Survivor of Parkland massacre, 2018.
“To each of you powerful women I say this, you know that you are forces to be reckoned with, you can and have inspired peace and understanding and most importantly right now you can inspire your audience to vote. Now more than ever women need to continue to rise up.” (Variety, Oct. 12, 2018; photo pr week)
Hannah Griffitts born Philadelphia, PA July 27, 1727 (d. 1817). Quaker poet. Supported Patriot cause, but opposed Revolution. Her poem “Female Patriots” (1768) celebrated women’s resistance to British taxes.
“Oh! Speak contending brethren into Peace,
Bid the sweet Cherub bless our weeping Shores,
And friends again in her soft Bands unite”
(after the Battle of Long Island, 1776; portrait revolvy.com)
Jean Claire Gore born Chicago, IL November 15, 1925. Began program Reading to End Racism; chaired Jane Addams book Award, 1989-93. National President, WILPF, 1993-96. Mission to USSR, 1983; exchange visits to China, 1988. Called for peaceful resolution of Cuba crisis, 1996. Opposed Vietnam War; protested nuclear missiles, 2003.
“We have met to help end the nuclear arms race and return to détente.” (USSR trip, 1983)
On Cuba: “WILPF has long been a proponent of citizen diplomacy, to build bridges of peace and friendship between the peoples of nations in conflict.” (Dec. 27, 1996; photo On the neutron trail)
Kerstin Grebäck born Sweden June 19, 1942. Peacemaker. Leader in Great Peace Journey, 1985. Secretary-General, Swedish WILPF, 1990; International Co-President, WILPF, 2011. Headed Women for Women, 1993. Received Right Livelihood Award, 2002.
“The international community is still unaware of the effect of conflicts on women and the importance of women participating in the peace process.” (Kvinne till Kvinne, Apr. 11, 2018)
Judy Gumbo (née Judy Clavir) born Toronto, Ontario, Canada June 25, 1943. Co-founder of satirical antiwar Yippies. Made peace visit to Vietnam, 1970. Organizer of 1971 Mayday protest with record 14,000 arrests.
“If the government won't stop the war, we'll stop the government.” (Mayday slogan; Yippie Girl)
“I came home from Vietnam understanding that every one of us can—and should—feel proud of what we did and what we continue to do to end all wars.” (The Rag Bag, Feb. 28, 2013; photo Wikipedia)
Paula Green born Paterson, NJ December 16, 1937. American peacemaker; psychotherapist. Consultant on transforming conflict, bridging divides, and strengthening peace. Founding Director, Karuna Center for Peacebuilding, 1994; Professor Emerita and founder, CONTACT Program for peacebuilding at School for International Training, 1997. Trained Israeli Combatants for Peace in nonviolence. Received Dalai Lama’s award as “Unsung Hero of Compassion.”
“The roots of our wars can be understood through the examination of greed, hatred and delusion. It’s all about desire, about self. . . Until we change ourselves, and the unjust social structures in which we’ve embedded ourselves, we’re not going to have peace.” (Barre Buddhist Center, Spring 2002)
“The presence of ISIS and other armed groups makes the need for nonviolent campaigns much more urgent than ever, because people are seeing the results of violence, the extremes of violence in the past year or two. That should be an opportunity to strengthen nonviolence.” (Hampshire Gazette, Sep. 16, 2016; photo newsblaze)
Patricia Giles (née White) born Minlaton, Australia November 16, 1928 (d. 2017). Australian legislator and nurse midwife. First president of World Women Parliamentarians for Peace, 1985; chair of UN Global Commission on Women’s Health, 1993-96; three-time president of International Alliance of Women, 1996–2002. Led Australian delegation to UN Women’s Year. Supported Women’s Peace Camp, Canberra.
“[A] career in politics can be civilised and rewarding; that it provides a unique opportunity to influence people and events, and to serve one's country and its people; and that it can be constructive, rewarding and even fun.” (quoted by Senator George Brandis in Senate, Aug. 10, 2017; photo spirit radio.com.au)
Emilie Gourd born Geneva, Switzerland December 19, 1879 (d. 1946). Swiss journalist and feminist; suffrage leader. Headed Geneva office of International Alliance of Women (IAW) program of promoting a culture of peace; IAW Peace Study Conference Amsterdam, Nov. 1927. (photo Wikipedia)
Andrée Geulen-Herscovici born Brussels, Belgium September 6, 1921. Belgian teacher. Rescued nearly 1000 Jewish children during World War II. Honored with Yad Vashem Righteous Among Nations Award, 1989.
“What I did was merely my duty. Disobeying the laws of the time was just the normal thing to do." (Haaretz, Aug. 22, 2017)
To a German, asking if she wasn’t ashamed to teach Jews: “Aren’t you ashamed to make war on Jewish children?” (quote and photo yadvashem.org)
Aella Greene born Chester, MA May 6, 1838 (d. 1902). American journalist and poet; historian of underground railroad. Opposed US imperialism in mock common talk.
“An’ ain’t there work enuff fer them
In Porterrek [Puerto Rico] an’ Kuby? [Cuba]
An’is this lan’ so good that they
Vamoose earoun’ creation
Tew hunt fer foreign tribes to save
From heathen degradation?. . .
Ye know ye grabbed them Fillerpeans [Phillippines]
Tew make yewer kentry bigger.”
(“Springfield Republican”, Dec. 2, 1898, in Liberty Poems, p.46)
Teresa Shaughnessy Grady born Pontiac, IL November 11, 1927 (d. 2016). Matriarch of Catholic Worker antiwar family; her daughters Mary Ann Flores, Ellen DeMott, Clare and Teresa Grady have been repeatedly arrested and imprisoned. Began opposing Vietnam War with Berrigans, supporting her husband John Peter Grady’s leadership of Camden 28 raid in draft board, 1971, and Catonsville Nine defense. (photo Ithaca Voice)
Sunanda Gandhi (née Ambegaonkar) born Gujarat, British India October 10, 1932 (d. 2007). Nonviolent philosopher. Co-founder, M. K. Gandhi institute for Nonviolence, Memphis, TN, 1991.
“We are not alone—we are with Him or Her, the Spirit.” (Graceful Passages, Potamkin; photo geni.com)
Marsha Gómez born Baton Rouge, LA December 24, 1951 (d. 1998). Sculptor; potter; indigenous peace activist. Co-founded Indigenous Women’s Network, 1983. Created sculpture “Mater del Mundo” for Mother’s Day protest against Nevada nuclear tests, 1988.
“The energy and spirit that go into my work result in a unique expression of respect and reverence for women, the Earth, and indigenous way of life.” (Chicana Feminisms, Apr. 20, 2012; photo marshagomez.com)
Dorothy Gibson (née Alexander) born Malvern, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia July 5, 1899 (d. 1958). Australian pacifist, communist, progressive educator. Executive in prewar Victorian Council Against War and Fascism, and International Peace Campaign. Member of postwar Australian Peace Council, 1949; served in Congress for International Co-operation and Disarmament, 1959, opposing Vietnam War. (photo auscp.org.au)
Jean Grossholtz born April 17, 1929. Professor of politics and women’s studies; nonviolent direct action activist. Multiple arrests for nonviolent protests, first arrested in factory protest, 1941; protested Vietnam War, 1973; anti-OAS protest, 2000; arrested for Iraq War protest; arrested at Vermont Yankee protest, 2014. Helped organize Women’s Pentagon Action, 1980; led nonviolent protest vs. G8 Summit, 2007.
“We as women from diverse countries, religions, classes, and ethnicities reject the use of violence by any group for any reason. Violence against people is never justified. We call for peace as an end and as a means.” (Women on Life on Earth, response to 9/11 with V. Shiva, Sep. 17, 2011; photo arbeiterfotographie)
Edith Goode born Springfield, OH November 13, 1882 (d. 1970). Animal rights activist and humanitarian; feminist; suffragist. Founding member, National Women’s Party, 1916. WILPF member. Lobbied for women’s rights at UN founding San Francisco, 1945. Founding member, Humane Society, 1954; provided for humane treatment of animals in Law of Sea, 1958. Life partner of pacifist Alice Morgan Wright.
“In the long run the public attitude toward kindness, towards the obligation we all have towards animals, will determine how the animals will fare.” (Humane Society, “Goode and Wright”; photo humanesociety.org)
Zoé Genot born Brussels, Belgium May 29, 1957. Ecology-Green member of Belgian parliament, 1999-. Advocate for Muslim rights, anti-colonialism, peace in Nuke-free Zone and Acting for Peace; opposed Gaza massacre. Arrested for invading Kleine-Brogel AFB to protest nuclear weapons, 2018.
“Nuclear weapons are not and will never be a solution.” (banner at Kleine-Brogel protest, Jun. 10, 2018; photo Geoffrey Roucourt)
Jean Gump (née Dalton) born Chicago, IL May 24, 1927 (d. 2018). Plowshares antinuclear protester. Marched at Selma, 1968. Co-founded Kalamazoo Nonviolent Opponents of War. Four years prison for painting cross in blood on Minuteman silo hatch, Missouri, 1986. Arrested for protest at OakRidge security center, 2011; arrested for two protests at Morton Thiokol, Chicago; also Motorola, SAG Elmhurst.
“I actually felt that disarmament begins with disarming a weapon, similar to Rosa Parks started desegregation on a bus.” (bylifetoday, April 26, 2018; photo nuclear resister)
Tulsi Gabbard born Leloaloa, American Samoa April 12, 1981. Politician. Army Major; served two tours in Iraq War, 2004-06. Took part in peacekeeping training with Indonesian Army, 2011. Elected US Representative for Hawaii, 2012. First US national figure to oppose war in Syria, 2015.
“The war to overthrow Assad is counter-productive because it actually helps ISIS and other Islamic extremists achieve their goal of overthrowing the Syrian government of Assad and taking control of all of Syria—which will simply increase human suffering in the region, exacerbate the refugee crisis, and pose a greater threat to the world. Also, the war to overthrow Assad is illegal because Congress never authorized it.” (press release, Nov. 19, 2015; photo Wikipedia)
Matilda Joslyn Gage born Cicero, NY March 25, 1826 (d. 1898). Feminist; suffragist leader and historian. Co-author of "Declaration of Rights of the Women of the United States" with Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, presented at Philadelphia Centennial, 1876. Organized International Council of Women, 1888.
“There is a word sweeter than Mother, Home, or Heaven; that word is Liberty.” (her epitaph, Fayetteville NY; photo Wikipedia)
Women in Peace
is dedicated to highlighting the achievements of extraordinary, peacemaking women from around the world.
