Hannah Kent Schoff born Upper Darby, PA June 3, 1853 (d. 1940). Social reformer for children's rights; organized International Conference on Child Welfare 1908 Washington DC.
"Child welfare! It is man and woman welfare; it is nation welfare really." (New York Times, April 23, 1911; photo poweltonhistoryblog.blogspot.com)
Inge Scholl born Forchtenberg, Bavaria, Germany August 11, 1917 (d. 1998). Member of White Rose nonviolent resistance to Hitler; arrested but released; postwar leader opposing Pershing nuclear missiles; arrested for protest at Mutlangen 1985.
"The meaning and goal of passive resistance is to topple National Socialism, and in this struggle we must not recoil from our course, any action, whatever its nature." (White Rose leaflet, 1943; photo Spartacus Educational)
Sophie Scholl born Forchtenberg, Bavaria May 9, 1921 (executed 1943). Leader of White Rose nonviolent resistance to Hitler.
"I did the best that I could do for my nation. I therefore do not regret my conduct and will bear the consequences that result from my conduct." (Final statement to Nazi court when asked about supporting the troops on the Eastern front; Aretz portrait for 20 pf. stamp, Wikipedia)
Dorothy Schramm born Tilton, NH June 16, 1909 (d. 2006). Early leader in American promotion of UN; chaired first UN Day 1942; leader against racism. Eleanor Roosevelt's My Day Oct. 24, 1958 told of UN birthday celebration in Iowa: "Mrs. Dorothy Schramm, whose energy and organization work has resulted in the formation of many AAUN [American Association For the United Nations] chapters in Iowa, told us of many other cities that were holding celebrations and of some of the imaginative programs that were being carried out. Interesting to me, in particular, was one in which the newspapers and groups highlighted the value of the World Court. They acted out a dispute over an island in the river between Iowa and Illinois."
Ellen Wolf Schrecker born Philadelphia, PA August 4, 1938. Historian, "the dean of the anti-anti-Communist historians"; opponent of Cold War, Korean War and Vietnam War.
"[T]he main legacy [of the Cold War] is the national security state that produced and was produced by the militarization of American foreign policy." (Schrecker, ed., Cold War Triumphalism, p. 18, 2004; photo askmarpublishing)
Adele Schreiber born Vienna, Austria April 29, 1872 (d. 1957). German-Austrian feminist, economist, Socialist, pacifist member of German parliament 1920-4, 1928-33; exiled by Hitler.
"If women could make politics, we would do away with war." (Karen Offen, Eur. Feminisms, p. 363, 1932; photo de.Wikipedia)
Olive Schreiner born Wittebergen, South Africa March 24, 1855 (d. 1920). Writer; environmentalist; close friend of Gandhi and nonviolence advocate. Opposed the rule of Cecil Rhodes. Foresaw and opposed the Boer War and World War I.
"On that day, when woman takes her place beside the man in the governance and arrangement of the external affairs of her race will also be the day that heralds the death of war as a means of arranging human differences." (Woman & Labor, Ch. IV, 1911; photo Wikipedia)
Katharina Schüddekopf born Magdeburg, Germany February 8, 1916. Member of White Rose, nonviolent Hitler resistance movement. Disabled university student; sentenced to year in prison for knowledge of intentions to spread anti-Nazi writings, 1943.
"The war has hardly spared a person, without consideration for good and bad, poor or rich, condition or class, Christian or heathen. Gone are our homes, possessions, cultural properties; professional prospects are hopeless, health is ruined; humans, who once stood near, are dead in far places." (sermon "Christian Experience of Life in Modern Times")
Irma Schwager (née Wieselberg) born Vienna, Austria May 31, 1920. Pacifist and anti-nuclear protester, nominated for Nobel Peace Prize 2005; visited Vietnam during US bombing 1971; exiled 1938 she resisted Nazis in France, seeking German soldiers to desert.
"Resistance is necessary—Resistance will be necessary in the future." (photo klahrgesellschaft.at)
Mary Anne Schwalbe (née Goldsmith) born Manhattan, NY March 31, 1934 (d. 2009). Founding Director of Women’s Refugee Commission 1990-4; active in International Rescue Committee; 6 months in Thai refugee camp; Balkans election observer; educator Dean of Admissions Radcliffe. Harvard.
“Just imagine that you are awakened tonight by someone in your family who says to you ‘Put the things you treasure most in one small bag that you can carry. And be ready in a few minutes. We have to leave our home and we will have to make it to the nearest border.’ What mountains would you need to cross? How would you feel?. . . Especially if across the border was a land where they didn’t speak your language, where they didn’t want you, where there was no work and where you were confined to camps for months or years.” (Will Schwalbe, The End of Your Life, p. 120; photo dailymail)
Alice Schwarzer born Wuppertal, Germany December 3, 1942. Leading German feminist; lifelong pacifist; journalist; controversially advocated women’s military service to break “male craziness” of power, but "if she were a man, she would refuse to serve," she would be a conscientious objector, and hoped other women would join her. (Belinda Davis, “The Gender of War and Peace:”, p. 104; EMMA July 1978 ff.)
On the Iraq War: "The world superpower USA no longer seems accustomed to anyone contradicting its views, not even on issues about life and death, the death of others." (SFGate, March 15, 2003; photo aliceschwarzer.de)
Rosika Schwimmer born Budapest September 11, 1877 (d. 1948). Hungarian internationalist and pacifist, feminist and suffragist editor, lecturer; first woman diplomat 1918; founded pacifist Hungarian Feminist Assn. 1904; WILPF founding member 1915; led Women’s Peace Party 1914; cofounder Campaign for World Government 1937; World Peace Prize 1937; nominated for Nobel Prize 1947.
"I am an uncompromising pacifist. . . I have no sense of nationalism, only a cosmic consciousness of belonging to the human family." (cited by prosecution in Supreme Court's denial of US citizenship, US v. Schwimmer, 1929; photo Wikipedia)
Gudrun Schyman born Tãby, Uppland, Sweden June 9, 1948. Feminist politician; Member of parliament; led Socialist Left Party 1993-2003; founded Feminist Initiative Party 2005; opposed NATO militarization of North.
“It is therefore high time to redefine the concept of security—security must be about human security and not national security. . . Sweden can and should instead focus on conflict prevention and peace-mediation institutions.” (Feminist Initiative, Aug. 8, 2010)
“[W]e have had a long period of majority looking upon the budget as a goal in itself that should be used to traditional things like the military, and we have to cut that budget and I think that when you see the feminist movement, a strong feminist and peace movement, you see that feminists are antimilitarists and that’s why we have to get into the rooms where the decision is made about the money.” (Dec. 15, 2015, Reconstruction Women’s Fund; photo alchetron)
Rose Scott born Glendon, New South Wales October 8, 1847 (d. 1925). Pioneering Australian internationalist; feminist; peace organizer. Opposed Boer War; promoted arbitration and international organization.
"Men have come to look upon women as a sort of appendage to themselves, a sort of tail that has only to wag when man—the dog—is pleased. And many men's attitude. . . is that of serious and painful surprise. . . if. . . informed that in the future his tail would assert its own individuality." (New South Wales Parl.; photo c1866 wikicom pd)
Molly Scott Cato born Wales May 21, 1963. British Green Economist; Member European Parliament for SW England 2014; opposed Iraq War, nuclear weapons, arms trade; welcomes refugees; Professor of Strategy & Sustainability.
“[O]ur responsibility towards refugees from war zones is clear under international law.” (New Statesman, Aug. 15, 2015)
“Western foreign policy has for decades supported tyrants who have oppressed the peoples of oil-producing states across the Middle East. Our interventions in the region have been driven almost entirely by self-interest, taking little account of the wish for self-determination of the people who live there.” (The Independent, Dec. 15, 2015; photo groucestercitizen.co.uk)
Yvonne Scruggs-Leftwich born Niagra Falls, NY June 24, 1933. Black civil rights leader; professor of political science; Fulbright professor Univ. of Munich; head of Black Leadership Forum.
"My country—and it is, indeed, my country, built and paid for with the very essence of my ancestors—has engendered bad feelings across the globe." ("Confronting Racism Would Enhance U.S. Security." womensenews.org, Sept. 19, 2001; photo Library of Congress)
Vida Scudder born Madurai, India December 15, 1861 (d. 1954). American social reformer; absolute pacifist; socialist; professor; scholar; lesbian.
"The rejection of private ownership as the only gateway to freedom and to peace." (On Journey 1937; photo c. 1890 wikicom pd)
Julia Scurr (née Sullivan) born Limehouse, East London, England February 17, 1873 (d. 1927). British labor leader and suffragist. Led deputation to prime minister representing 1000 women protesting unemployment, 1905. Fed 7,000 dock workers' children in dock strike, 1912. Opposed World War I; marched in women’s East End peace march, broken up by patriots, 1917. Arrested as Poplar councilor for tax refusal, 1921; in response, declared: “No Surrender”; six weeks in Holloway prison led to her death.
“We are happy about going to prison for a principle. We expect all working women to carry on the fight.” (Labour Research, Oct. 2009; photo spartacus.org)
Jocelynne Scutt born Perth, Western Australia June 8, 1947. Australian lawyer, feminist who opposed wars in Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan.
"When a country is invaded illegally, international law is breached, UN determinations flagrantly ignored, and truth disappears, the only solution is to get out. Nothing done in the name of the occupation of Iraq can be moral. When based in illegality, lies, untruths and hypocrisy, moral foundations crumble like sand. The Iraqi occupation is immoral. That is the bottom line." (On Line Opinion, March 5, 2007; photo holmeslist.com.au)
Julia Sebutinde born Entebbe, Uganda February 28, 1954. Trainer in peace and conflict resolution; Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), 1996. First female African judge appointed to World Court, 2012; presided over trial of Charles Taylor for war crimes.
“The three accused persons have committed violations of human rights in which civilians were mutilated, [and] other civilians were killed and burnt in their houses. . . They also were participants in abducting children for slavery and as child soldiers." (Conviction of three Sierra Leone militia leaders, sentenced to 50 years; BBC, Jul. 19, 2007; photo http://bit.ly/IwwjM2)
Women in Peace
is dedicated to highlighting the achievements of extraordinary, peacemaking women from around the world.
