Ava Helen Pauling

Overview

Ava Helen Pauling (née Miller) born Beavercreek, OR December 25, 1903 (d. 1981). American pacifist speaker and organizer; anti-nuclear advocate. Three-time national vice-president of WILPF. Founding member, Women Strike for Peace, 1961. Honorary chairwoman, Women Act for Disarmament. Introduced her chemist husband Linus Pauling to peace advocacy, for which he won his second Nobel Prize, 1962. Opposed internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII. Spoke against Cold War militarism.

Quotations

“Say NO to the war in Cambodia
NO to the war in Vietnam
...NO to imperialism
NO to Pentagonism
Let us fight the real enemies of mankind.
Hunger, disease, poverty, illiteracy, discrimination, and exploitation.”

(San Diego City College, May 14, 1970, in Mina Carson, Ava Helen Pauling, p. 166)

“No woman wants to be put up on a pedestal, where she can be easily ignored and neglected... She wants to be taking and doing her part in the affairs of the world with her feet on the ground and sharing in and contributing to the life around her.” (paulingblog, July 25, 2012; photo scarc.library.oregonstate.edu)