Aileen Hernandez

Overview

Aileen Clarke Hernandez born Brooklyn, NY May 23, 1926. Civil rights leader; feminist. Second national president of National Organization of Women, 1970-71; Nobel Prize nominee, 2005.

Quotations

"My comments to the thousands of persons at the peace march [the 1971 Another Mother for Peace march in Los Angeles] were directed not just against the Vietnam War, but against all war, against the masculine mystique which glorifies violence as a solution to problems, and against the vast diverting of American energies and resources from socially needed programs into social destructive wars." (feminist.com; photo Race, Poverty, Environment)

Maria Julia Hernandez

Overview

María Julia Hernández Chavarria born San Francisco Morazán, el Salvador January 30, 1939 (d. 2007). Human rights leader; advocate for victims of El Salvadorean civil war; head of Pax Christi. Received Pacem in Terris award, 1991; considered for Nobel Prize, 2005.

Quotations

"Victims should come first." (photo http://bit.ly/GOzWet)

Helga Hernes

Overview

Helga Hernes (née Jahncke) born Deutsch-Krone, West Prussia (now Wałcz, Poland) January 16, 1938. Norwegian diplomat, cabinet member, and expert on women's issues. Two-time State Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with Gro Brundtland, 1988-89, 1990-93; Norwegian ambassador to Austria, Slovakia, and Switzerland; advisor at Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), 2005-present. Sponsored international conference on small arms, 1998; co-edited Women and War, 2011.

Quotations

"Since the end of the Cold War, the breakdown of security—through low intensity conflicts, civil wars, internal wars and a variety of transnational organized criminal activities—has cost millions of lives, predominantly among civilians. Violence has severe impacts, especially on women and children, and security problems are even more acute in refugee camps, which are commonly the scene of large-scale rapes, forced prostitution and other abuses. This highlights the need for the international community to put the consequences of armed conflict for civilians at the core of its thinking about disarmament, rather than insisting it stay at the periphery. It also underlines the necessity of promoting women's participation and representation in decision-making positions." (UN Institute for Disarm. Research, Geneva, Nov. 23, 2005; photo tv2.no)

Frances W. Herring

Overview

Frances W. Herring born May 31, 1902 (d. 1993). Professor of Government, Univ. California Berkeley; principal leader of Women (Strike) for Peace 1961; attended Oslo conference against Spread of Nuclear Weapons 1961; delegate to Jakarta women's peace conference with Vietnamese women 1965; Exec. Secretary Washington Committee for Academic Freedom; environmentalist.

Quotations

“[The purpose of Women Strike for Peace is] support for general and complete disarmament on a multilateral basis under effective international control.” (memo, Dec. 5, 1961, Andrea Estepa dissertation “Taking Of the White Gloves”, 2012, p. 67)

Yella Hertzka

Overview

Yella Hertzka (née Fuchs) born Vienna, Austria February 4, 1873 (d. 1948). Feminist; educator; horticulturalist. Founding member of WILPF; president of Austrian WILPF; urged disarmament of internal militias.

Quotations

"In case of the threat or the declaration of war, to organize women to refuse their support in money, work, or propaganda." (WILPF resolution, May, 1921; US Senate hearing War Dept. 1923, p. 863; photo http://bit.ly/Jfn83G)

Alice Herz

Overview

Alice Herz born Hamburg, Germany May 25, 1882 (d. 1965). Librarian; peace activist; Jewish refugee denied citizenship because of refusal to defend country by arms; died at age 82 of burns after self-immolation to protest Vietnam War, Detroit.

Quotations

"I choose the illuminating death of a Buddhist to protest against a great country trying to wipe out a small country with no reason." (photo theabolitionistmovement.org)

Susannah Heschel

Overview

Susannah Heschel born New York May 15, 1956. Professor Jewish studies; antiwar activist: led rally against second year Iraq War New York 2005; feminist.

Quotations

“I could forgive someone who has sinned against me, but not someone who has taken the life of another." (Linda Hirschorn “Forgiveness”; photo home.versatel.org)

Kerstin Hesselgren

Overview

Kerstin Hesselgren born Torsåker, Sweden January 14, 1872 (d. 1962). Called "Kerstin the First": first woman elected to upper house of Swedish parliament, 1922. Delegate to ILO, 1919; Swedish delegate to the League of Nations; opposed Italy's war on Ethiopia, 1935; member of first international committee on status of women, 1937.

Quotations

"How could women wish to bear children in a world that is so hopeless, so insecure!" (July 3, 1935, League Social Comm., in Feminism and Motherhood, p. 171, Allen; 1938 photo Wikipedia)

Noreen Hewett

Overview

Noreen Hewett (née Emerson) born Australia May 6, 1920 (d. 2012). Australian journalist, communist, and women’s leader. Co-founded Save Our Sons (SOS), opposing draft for Vietnam War. First woman journalist to visit People’s Republic of China, 1959.

Quotations

"Don't get angry, get organised!"

"We wanted mothers to stand up and say, 'I'm a mother and I don't want my son to go' or 'I don't want any son to go, not just mine.'" (Valley, July 21, 2015; photo smh.com.au)

Ali Hewson

Overview

Alison Hewson (née Stewart) born Dublin, Ireland March 23, 1961. Irish peace activist; wife of rock star Bono; 5 weeks famine relief Ethiopia 1985; aid to Nicaragua and Salvador 1986; led protest at Sellafield nuclear plant 1992; aboard Greenpeace’s MV Solo protesting Norwegian whaling 1994; Chernobyl documentary and aid 1993; ran 1.3 million postcard campaign against Sellafield 2002.

Quotations

“Nuclear fall-out doesn’t have any respect for borders.” (Glasgow Herald, April 25, 2003)

“Anyone who lives 600 kilometers around a nuclear installation should be concerned. If it happened at Chernobyl, it could happen anywhere.” (U2@ May 13, 2003; photo irishcentral.com)

Lida Gustava Heymann

Overview

Lida Gustava Heymann born Hamburg, Germany March 15, 1868 (d. 1943). German radical; feminist-pacifist; co-founder of WILPF. Co-founded the first German feminist society with her partner Anita Augspurg, 1902.

Quotations

“Millions of men have been left on the battlefield. They will never see home again. Others have returned broken and sick in body and soul. Europe’s soil reeks in blood. Shall this war of extermination go on? Women of Europe, where is your voice? Are you great only in patience and suffering? Come together in the North and South of Europe and protest with all your might against this war, which is murdering the nations, and perform your duty as wives and mothers, as protectors of true civilization and humanity.“ (“Women of Europe, when will your cry ring out”)

“A Europe with Women’s suffrage would not have become victim of a World War.” (Fembio, Lida Heymann; photo Wikipedia)

Elizabeth Coltman Heyrick

Overview

Elizabeth Coltman Heyrick born Leicester, England December 4, 1769 (d. 1831). Quaker pacifist; ex-army wife; radical pamphleteer; pioneering abolitionist; founder of women's reform groups; prison reformer; opponent of capital punishment and animal abuse.

Quotations

"Truth and justice, make their way best in the world, when they appear in bold and simple majesty; their demands are most willingly conceded when they are most fearlessly claimed." (1824 Immediate Abolition, 1837 ed. 22; photo Lond. YM Quakers in the World)

Emily Gregory Hickman

Overview

Emily Gregory Hickman born Buffalo, NY July 12, 1880 (d. 1947). History professor; peace advocate; delegate to Universal Peace Conference, Brussels 1936; member of Shotwell Commission planning for UN; State Dept. expert at creation of UN 1945.

Quotations

"It is very essential that the United States delegation of five [to the first meeting of the UN] includes at least one woman." (Oct. 10, 1945, Judy Litoff & David Smith, What Kind of World Do We Want?, p. 228, 2000)

Rosalyn Higgins

Overview

Rosalyn Higgins (née Cohen) born London, England June 2, 1937. First woman justice of International Court of Justice (ICJ); President of ICJ 2006-9; professor of international law, expert on terrorism and UN peacekeeping.

Quotations

"Serbia has violated the obligation to prevent genocide, under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, in respect of the genocide that occurred Srebrenica in July 1995." (Feb. 27, 2007 judgment, para. 5; photo ICJ)

Julia Butterfly Hill

Overview

Julia Lorraine "Butterfly" Hill born Mount Vernon, MO February 18, 1974. Spent 738 days living in the redwood tree Luna in civil disobedience protest against logging practices.

Quotations

“Love in action has the answer. . . All life is created in love, and thus in the depths of every human being lies a good heart. Some have lost their path from this love, so it up to us to show them the way." 

Bronagh Hinds

Overview

Bronagh Hinds born Belfast, Northern Ireland July 27, 1951. Contributed to peacemaking efforts in Iraq, Liberia, Timor, and Colombia. Co-founded Northern Ireland Women’s Coalition to help negotiate peace talks between Ireland and Northern Ireland, 1998. Founded DemocraShe to empower women in politics, policy influence, and peace-building, 2000. Received UK Woman of Europe Award for contribution to Northern Ireland peace agreement, 1998.

Quotations

“If we're talking about getting violence out of society at every level, children learn best in the home. When you smack a child it's very often out of frustration of the parent.” (BBC Question Time, May 20, 1999; photo Women’s National Coalition)

Beatrice M. Hinkle

Overview

Beatrice Moses Hinkle born San Francisco, CA October 10, 1874 (d. 1953). Pioneer psychoanalyst, Jungian; pacifist co-founder WILPF 1915; feminist member of Heterodoxy Club New York; first woman public health officer 1905. (photo womeninmedicinemagazine.com)

Carmelita Hinton

Overview

Carmelita Hinton (née Chase) born Omaha, NE January 1, 1890 (d. 1983). American internationalist educator; led Jane Addams Centennial; Hull House associate; founded Putney School, 1935.

Quotations

"[T]o strive for a world outlook, putting oneself in others' places, no matter how far away or how remote. . . so that one definitely progresses along the long slow road toward achieving a civilization worthy of the name." ("Fundamental beliefs," to Putney alumnae, May 1954; photo: http://bit.ly/H2ynys)

Raicho Hiratsuka

Overview

Raicho Hiratsuka (née Haru) born Tokyo, Japan February 10, 1886 (d. 1971). Pioneering Japanese feminist. Founded and edited first Japanese women’s journal, Bluestocking, 1911. Undertook peace mission to US on outbreak of Korean War asking for Japan to remain pacifist and neutral, 1950.

Quotations

“In the beginning, Woman was truly the Sun. An authentic person.” (Seito Manifesto, 1911; photo ko.wikipedia)

Jane Hirshfield

Overview

Jane Hirshfield born Manhattan, NY February 24, 1953. Poet, essayist, and translator. “A Peace Benediction” dedicated at Zen Concert for Peace, 2012.

Quotations

“What poems give us is a way to feel through the underlying dilemmas, a way of recognizing that your own life and the lives of others are not in any way separable. If you don’t recognize that what happens to anyone happens to you, we will go on committing violence to one another.” (“How Can Poems Transform the World?”, Washington Post, May 13, 2015; photo literary-arts.com)