Sylvia Helena de Figuerido Steiner born Saõ Paulo, Brazil January 19, 1953. Judge of International Criminal Court, 2002; presiding judge over war crimes trial of Jean-Pierre Bemba for charges of mass rape in Central African Republic. (photo http://bit.ly/FO7s94)
Sandra Steingraber born Champaign, IL August 27, 1959. Biologist and ecologist; poet. Jailed 10 days for peacefully blocking entrance to Inergy fracking facility, Ithaca, 2013. Founded We Are Seneca Lake to protest fracking, 2014.
“Citizens write, testify, protest. Mothers contemplate civil disobedience. Some have done it.” (poem to Gandhi, “Invitation to Albany”, Jan. 27, 2013)
“Accepting a jail sentence demonstrates seriousness of intent, shows respect for the law, opens a bigger space in the public conversation for all-important media stories.” (Nov. 30, 2014)
Rita Steinhagen born January 20, 1928 (d. 2006). Catholic nun; medical technician; volunteer Witness for Peace Nicaragua; twice arrested in protest against School of Americas, 1996; sentenced to 6 months prison, 1997. Founded the Minneapolis-based Bridge organization for runaway youth, 1971.
"Unfortunately, civil disobedience is the only thing that gets people's attention." ("Sister Soldier", mda.com, Nov. 18, 1998; photo http://bit.ly/FO90ip)
Ruth Steinkraus-Cohen born Cleveland, OH June 8, 1920 (d. 2002). Internationalist promoter of UN; published UN Calendar for Peace 20+ years; sponsored jUNe Day hospitality for UN; protested movie "Amerika"; promoted lectures on international law; pianist.
"The UN is doing God's work on earth. From the atom to cruelty in zoos, there's a UN body paying attention to it." (Westport Magazine, Jan. 2001; photo flickr.com)
Greta Stendahl born Karlsborg, Sweden March 11, 1883 (d. 1968). Quaker pacifist, peace activist, and suffragist. Swedish pioneer of peace education. WILPF leader. President, Swedish schools Peace Association; leader of Nordic teachers' peace covenant. Co-founded first peace education society, whose purpose was "to promote the creation of the ethical and social spirit which must form the necessary basis for the relationship between peoples," 1916. Aided refugees during World War II. (1934 photo Bla Boken Nykterhetsfolkets Kalender)
Jessie Stephen born Marylebone, London April 19, 1893 (d. 1979). British militant suffragist, pacifist and Socialist labor organizer; leader in No Conscription Fellowship opposing First World War.
Suzanne Stephen (née Browne) born Pretoria, South Africa June 30, 1888 (d. 1972). Quaker. Founded anti-Apartheid organization Black Sash 1955, for which she was banned. Known as "the prisoner's friend," taught long-term detainees.
On war: "It is a sin against man and God." (Leonard Kenworthy, Living in the Light, vol. II, p. 232, 1984)
Carola Stern (née Erika Assmus) born Ahlbeck, Usedom, Pomerania, Germany November 14, 1923 (d. 2006). German human rights leader; co-founder and first chair German Amnesty International 1961; Carl von Ossietzky Medal 1972; American spy in E. Germany until flight to west 1951; co-founded journal L ’76 for Czech dissidents.
“I always say: the smartest thing I did in my life was to found Amnesty International.” (Wikipedia; photo ksts.de)
Emma Gelders Sterne born Birmingham, AL May 13, 1894 (d. 1971). Children's history writer; internationalist; Communist Party member; early opponent of Vietnam War. Member of civil rights organization Congress of Racial Equality (CORE); jailed 10 days for anti-draft protest, Oakland, CA, 1967.
Doris Stevens born Omaha, NE October 26, 1888 (d. 1963). Chronicler of American suffragists; Executive Secretary of the Congressional Union for Womens Suffrage; arrested 1917, sentenced to 60 days in Occoquan Prison but pardoned after 3 days; arrested picketing Metropolitan Opera house, 1919.
"Nothing in this world so ruffles the pompous dignity of a court as non-resistant defendants." (Jailed for Freedom, p. 212)
Lilian Stevenson born Dublin, Ireland November 16, 1870 (d. 1960). "The Grande Dame of Christian Pacifism"; founder of Fellowship of Reconciliation, 1914; author of bibliography of peace books for children.
"The unnoticed heroism of peace is too often unknown to the children." (A Child's Bookshelf, p. 15)
Alice Stewart (née Naish) born Sheffield, England October 4, 1904 (d. 2002). Recipient of Right Livelihood Award, 1986, for effect of nuclear radiation.
"Truth is the daughter of time." (favorite quotation, Gayle Greene; photo http://bit.ly/wjivaV)
Annalee Stewart (née Kyger) born Bloomington, IL February 17, 1900 (d. 1988). First woman Methodist minister 1924; WILPF national president, 1946-50; Legislative Secretary lobbyist, 1949-64; opposed Korean War, Vietnam War; questioned Cold War and Nato; co-chair WILPF Committee to Oppose Conscription of Women for World War II; opposed nuclear weapons, germ warfare; strong advocate of UN; delegate to First Inter-American Womens’ Conference, 1947.
On NATO: “We fear the day when the major emphasis and money will go into military aid programs and rearmament and the spread of the kinds of weapons that were then being developed and it would be more difficult to get that which our organization has worked for since the beginning since Jane Addams proposed 49 years ago world disarmament under law.” (Aug. 18, 1964, Hearings of House Committee on Agreement for Cooperation, p. 63; photo Swarthmore.edu)
Lynne Irene Stewart born Brooklyn, NY October 8, 1939. Human rights lawyer; sentenced to 28 months prison for helping terrorist, 2009.
"Once we allow the government to define the people we’re defending, it’s a slippery slope downward to the government will just no longer need lawyers, no longer need defenses, no longer need any kind of court proceeding, because they will decide in advance who is guilty and who is not." (Democracy Now, June 24, 2004)
"I see myself as being a symbol of what people rail against when they say our civil liberties are eroded, I hope this will be a wake-up call to all the citizens of this country, that you can't lock up the lawyers, you can't tell the lawyers how to do their jobs. I will fight on, I'm not giving up, I know I committed no crime. I know what I did was right." (NYTimes 11 Feb. 2005; photo 2005 wikicom pd)
Helene Stöcker born Elberfeld, Germany November 13, 1869 (d. 1943). German feminist; founder of War Resisters International 1923; WILPF founding member.
"For us, there exists only one party—the party of humanity." (Revolution 529, cited by Braker; photo constancalucas blog)
Monika Stocker born Aarau, Switzerland July 1, 1948. Swiss politician, peace advocate; Green party member Swiss National Council 1987-91; co-sponsor 1000 Women for Nobel Prize 2005; co-president PeaceWomen Across the Globe; president feminist Swiss Christian Peace Service (cfd) 2010.
“Knowing that there is a network of female energy, against the insanity of war and violence, is vital for me and for many others.” (10 Years PeaceWomen Across the Globe; photo neuewege.ch)
Ceija Stojka born Kraubath, Austria March 23, 1933. Romani musician, painter, and author. Auschwitz survivor; writes on human rights and survival in concentration camps.
“If the world does not change now, if the world does not open its doors and windows, if it does not build peace—true peace—so that my great-grandchildren have a chance to live in this world, then I cannot explain why I survived Auschwitz, Bergen-Belsen, and Ravensbruck.” (quote and photo Romanielders.org)
Brenda Stokely born Harlem, New York December 19, 1945. Co-chair New York City Labor Against the War (NYCLAW). Organizer Million Worker March opposing war Oct. 2004; Black Socialist labor leader; opposes Israeli occupation; founder Troops Out Now 2004, Blacks in Solidarity Against the War 2005.
"We're going to bring down the imperialist powers who think they have the right to slaughter our children!" (Jan. 19, 2003, Washington DC; photo lpa.ipg.com)
Rose Pastor Stokes born Augustów, Poland July 18, 1879 (d. 1933). American Socialist labor organizer, poet and journalist; opposed World War I; sentenced to 10 years in prison for opposition to draft.
"I am for the people, while the government is for the profiteers." (March 20, 1919 letter to Kansas City Star; photo Jewish Woman's Archive)
Lucy Stone born West Brookfield, MA August 13, 1818 (d. 1893). Peace orator, pioneer feminist, suffragist, abolitionist; rescued Stephen Foster from Cape Cod mob with nonviolent confrontation; inspired Susan Anthony, Frances Willard and Julia Ward Howe.
"I expect to plead not for the slave only, but for suffering humanity everywhere. Especially do I mean to labor for the elevation of my sex." (to her mother, March 14, 1847)
"Make the world better." (last words to her daughter Alice, 1893; photo Wikipedia)
Women in Peace
is dedicated to highlighting the achievements of extraordinary, peacemaking women from around the world.
