Violet Oakley

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Overview

Violet Oakley born Jersey City, NJ June 10, 1874 (d. 1962). American artist. First woman to create a major mural, for the Pennsylvania state house, reflecting her own pacifist ideals, 1906. It depicted Quaker founders George Fox and William Penn, the Quaker peace with the Indians, ransoming slaves, and “International Unity and Understanding,” showing swords beaten into plowshares. Made peace mission to the League of Nations, where she painted portraits of founders, Geneva; did same for UN. Wrote tribute to her friend Jane Addams.

Quotations

"[My life is a] pilgrimage of a painter seeking peace."

“Here beginneth the legend of peace. . . Touch not mine anointed.” (caption of mural showing white couple protected from Indian violence; c. 1900 self-portrait explorePAhistory.com)

Thoraya Obaid

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Overview

Thoraya Ahmed Obaid born Baghdad, Iraq March 2, 1945. Saudi Arabian Director of UN Population Fund, 2001-10. Began first women’s development program in Western Asia, 1975.

Quotations

"Increased political will is needed to ensure that women and girls receive real protection from sexual violence and abuse in their homes and communities.” (UN Security Council, Oct. 28, 2004)

“When women and girls suffer deep discrimination, they are more vulnerable to the worst effects of disaster or war, including rape and less likely to contribute to peacebuilding, which threatens long-term recovery.” (State of World Population, 2010; photo UNFPA)

Victoria Ocampo

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Overview

Victoria Ocampo born Buenos Aires, Argentina April 7, 1890 (d. 1979). Argentine writer and intellectual leader; feminist. Friend of Gabriela Mistral, with whom she shared a birthday. Adopted Gandhi’s example of nonviolence, 1924. Called on women to vow to overthrow patriarchal violence by ahimsa (soul-force). Imprisoned for opposition to Perón regime for four weeks, 1953.

Quotations

“I believe that by educating the child, that is, the man of tomorrow, woman can change the face of the world. And since up to the present date, 1977, man has failed in his attempts at peace, each minute becomes more urgent.” (Doris Meyer, Victoria Ocampo: Against the Wind and the Tide, 1979; photo danassaya.wordpress)

Maura O'Connell

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Overview

Maura O'Connell born Ennis, County Clare September 16, 1958. Irish singer at Music for Peace concert Nashville Peace & Justice Center 2003.

Quotations

if we get another shot—
better try to aim a little higher.
it's gonna take a lot of thought
but we can't keep fighting fire with fire!

when guns of love are brought in to battle
the nights will burn like never before.
pride will fall.
foundations rattle.
when guns of love
put an end to war.
("Guns of Love")

"I got my first e-mail today, saying I shouldn't support the Peace and Justice Center, and I said, 'Should I be supporting the Bombing and Injustice Center?' That wasn't in the Yellow Pages." (CMT, March 13, 2003; 2006 photo wikicom pd)

Jessie Lloyd O'Connor

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Overview

Jessie Lloyd O'Connor born Winnetka, IL February 14, 1904 (d. 1988). Daughter of WILPFfounding member Lola Maverick Lloyd. Journalist; social activist; second-generation WILPF member; lifelong pacifist. Traveled aboard Henry Ford Peace as child, 1915; delegate to People's World Constitutional Convention, 1950. Active and vocal opponent of HUAC, the Vietnam War, and Cold War militarism.

Quotations

On her decision to perform war relief during WWII: "I was torn. I didn’t really believe in war, and on the other hand I wouldn’t really oppose the war against Hitler." (http://bit.ly/IPeHxr)

"We have passed the ball of evil back and forth without a rest;
Love would be a shock absorber, but we have never made the test;
We did everything for Jesus save to follow his behest,
And war goes marching on."
("Hymn for the Atomic Age," to the tune of "Battle Hymn of the Republic," quoted in Harvey and Jessie, p. 211; photo http://bit.ly/IBCWl2)

Caroline Love Goodwin O'Day

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Overview

Caroline Love Goodwin O'Day born Perry, GA June 22, 1869 (d. 1943). Pacifist Representative from New York (Rye) 1934-1943; opposed both World Wars, and draft; member of WILPF; social worker and friend of Eleanor Roosevelt.

Quotations

"As mothers whose sons would be obliged to go to war; as women who, with the children, would remain at home to be the victims of air raids and bombing of cities, we should have the right to vote against it [the draft], and express our desire for peace." (Washington Post, July 15, 1937; photo Wikipedia)

Odetta

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Overview

Odetta (née Holmes) born Birmingham, AL December 31, 1930 (d. 2008). African-American folk musician for peace and civil rights; known as "the voice of the civil rights movement." Opposed Vietnam War.

Quotations

"What is there left to be bombed except for civilians, many of which will be children. . . If there is an evil, it's on both sides of power." (Chicago Tribune, March 14, 2003)

Oh freedom, oh freedom, oh freedom over me
And before I'd be a slave I'll be buried in my grave.

(photo soulbounce.com wiki)

Elizabeth Odio Benito

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Overview

Elizabeth Odio Benito born Punta Arenas, Costa Rica September 15, 1939 (d. 1993). International justice and human rights defender; Yugoslav War Crimes tribunal 1993-98; vice-president International Criminal Court 2003; instrumental in ruling that rape is torture; judge in conviction of Thomas Lubanga for war crime of recruiting child soldiers 2012.

Quotations

"After this tribunal, no single war criminal can say, 'I did not know that rape was not allowed in war.'" (June 1996, in New York Times, Jan. 10, 1999; photo world-citizenship.org)

Sadako Ogata

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Overview

Sadako Ogata born Tokyo, Japan September 16, 1927. Diplomat and Professor of International Relations; UN High Commissioner for Refugees 1992-2001; Japan's International Cooperation Agency 2003-12; Asian Nobel prize Magsaysay Award for peace and international understanding 1997; Indira Gandhi Peace Prize 2001.

Quotations

"Women are also crucial to building peace and making the transition to sustainable development. In fact, women are often the first to build bridges across divided communities and to work toward co-existence and reconciliation." (Geneva, Nov. 29, 2000; 1993 photo Johns Hopkins)

Kemi Ogunsanya

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Overview

Kemi Ogunsanya born Lagos, Nigeria March 1, 1930. Conflict prevention and mitigation adviser at African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD), working in Burundi, Sudan, Somalia, Uganda and the Congo.

Quotations

“African women are now involved in politics and distinguished by their positive contributions to peace-making and peace-building.” (“Qualifying Women’s Leadership in Africa”, Conflict Trends, 2007; photo Gender, Peace & Security Hub)

Kate Richards O'Hare

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Overview

Kate Richards O'Hare born Ada, KS March 26, 1877 (d. 1948). Socialist leader; prison reformer. First major protester against World War I; her antiwar activities resulted in her receiving a 5-year prison term, of which she served 14 months. Organized Children’s Crusade, a march on Washington DC to demand amnesty for war resisters, 1922.

Quotations

“We Socialists knew the relation of profits to war and we insisted on telling the truth about it. We talked war and profits, war and profits, war and profits until the administration was compelled, in sheer self-defense to attempt to squelch us.” (Appeal to Reason, Jul. 24, 1920; photo LibraryThing from Library of Congress)

Hiro Ohashi

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Overview

Hiro Ohashi born Japan February 1, 1882 (d. 1973). Japanese botanist. Delegate to Fourth WILPF congress, Washington DC, 1924. President, Japan Women’s University, 1947-56.

Quotations

“It is the general trend of the world today to establish a world community by forgetting the difference of customs, environments, and colors, to promote the happiness of mankind.” (“Speech to Young People”, Report of Fourth WILPF Congress, 1924, p. 123; photo jwu.ac.jp)

Gedong Bagus Oka

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Overview

Gedong Bagus Oka (née Ni Wayan Gedong) born Kangasem, Bali, Dutch East Indies October 3, 1921 (d. 2002). Balinese Hindu leader. Gandhian philosopher of nonviolence and truth. Member of Indonesian Parliament, 1968, 1999. Founded Gandhian ashram Canti Sena, 1970. Awarded Gandhian Jamnalal Bajaj Prize, 1994.

Quotations

“For Gandhiji ahimsa and active, pure love were interchangeable terms.” (Baidyanath Saraswati, ed., Cultural Dimensions of Education, 1998, p. 26; photo snipview.com)

Sybil Oldfield

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Overview

Sybil Oldfield (née Mence) born London, England April 28, 1938. British professor; biographer of women peacemakers. Active in Committee for Nuclear Disarmament, 1968-present; member of WILPF, 1978-present.

Quotations

“We do need a disarmament race worldwide; we do need an effective, impartial, and therefore respected international UN policing force. Perhaps we should not withhold aid but rather give to the subjects of dictatorship, acting on the basic principle of fellow humanity, instead of punishing the victims for the crimes of their rulers.” (‘Thinking Against the Current’, p. 123; photo sussex.ac.uk)

Sharon Olds

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Overview

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Sharon Olds born San Francisco, CA November 19, 1942. American poet. Inspired by anti-Vietnam women poets. “May 1968” recreated resistance to Vietnam War; “The Dead and the Living” lamented Armenian genocide, 1983.

Quotations

On refusing the First Lady's dinner invitation: “[T]o speak about my deep feeling that we should not have invaded Iraq, and to declare my belief that the wish to invade another culture and another country—with the resultant loss of life and limb for our brave soldiers, and for the noncombatants in their home terrain—did not come out of our democracy but was instead a decision made "at the top" and forced on the people by distorted language, and by untruths. I hoped to express the fear that we have begun to live in the shadows of tyranny and religious chauvinism—the opposites of the liberty, tolerance and diversity our nation aspires to. . . So many Americans who had felt pride in our country now feel anguish and shame, for the current regime of blood, wounds and fire. I thought of the clean linens at your table, the shining knives and the flames of the candles, and I could not stomach it.” (The Nation, Oct. 10, 2005; photo vogue.com)

Louise Olivereau

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Overview

Louise Olivereau born Douglas, WY April 9, 1884 (d. 1963). Seattle stenographer poet, pacifist and philosophical anarchist, opposed to all force and violence; sentenced 1917 to 10 years prison for "espionage" of counseling conscientious objection to World War I, served 28 months.

Quotations

"We do not counsel resistance. . . We counsel one thing—obedience to your own conscience." (Sarah E. Sharbach, "A Woman Acting Alone: Louise Olivereau and the First World War", Pacific Northwest Quarterly, vol. 78, pp. 1-2, January-April 1987)

"Anarchy, then, is a condition without force or violence. Anarchism is the working philosophy of those who desire to bring about a condition of society in which force and violence will have no place. . . I am convinced that violence breeds violence, war breeds hatreds and fears and revengeful desires which lead to other wars." (her trial defense, in Minnie Parkhurst, "The Louise Olivereau Case", p. 23, 1917; photo from prison http://bit.ly/J0YdRL)

Mildred Scott Olmsted

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Overview

Mildred Scott Olmsted born Glenolden, PA December 5, 1890 (d. 1990). Quaker peace activist; delivered Quaker relief in Germany, 1919; WILPF US national organization secretary, 1935; WILPF Executive Director, 1954-66.

Quotations

"I said before I left Germany that I would never again support a war for any cause. People are always exploited." (F. Early interview, July 27, 1985 in Atlantis 12. I: 148; photo Swarthmore.edu)

Cathinca Olsen

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Overview

Cathinca Olsen born Copenhagen, Denmark August 3, 1868 (d. 1947). Gandhian ceramist, painter and designer. Leader of Gandhian Friends of India; stayed at his ashram 1928-9 where she painted.

Quotations

"All over the world there are dark and threatening clouds, unworthy and terrible things happen. . . I am very glad as are many all over the world to know that the warm and vivid eyes of the man who wishes all the world good are open." (May 28, 1933 letter to Gandhi; text and photo Danish Peace Academy)

Catherine O'Neill

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Overview

Catherine O’Neill (née Vesey) born Queens, NY July 17, 1942 (d. 2012). Founding chair of Women’s Refugee Commission working to aid women in war zones 1989; IMF publicity; director UN office in DC 1999-2005.

Quotations

“I have never stopped being struck by the ability of women from all different parts of the world to bond, connect, understand their shared values, and click with their aspirations. It’s fantastic, and it’s a great sign of hope.” (Easthampton Star, Jan. 10, 1913; photo New York Times)