Henrietta Sargent born Gloucester, MA November 18, 1785 (d. 1871). Pioneering abolitionist; founder of Female Anti-Slavery Society, Boston; 1835 meeting mobbed.
"Touched by that power, the warrior's sword,
The ploughshare's form shall take.
Mercy and Truth combined appear,
Each cruel yoke to Break."
(poem Olive Tree, Sept 1851; photo Mass. Hist. Soc.)
Linda N. Sarsour born Brooklyn, NY March 19, 1980. Palestinian-American; co-chair Women’s March 2017; Executive Director Arab American Assn. of NY. 2011; arrested at Day Without a Woman protest 2017.
“We’re going to stand up to fascism and racism and xenophobia. And we’re not going to allow this administration to roll back the rights that many people have fought for so that we can be here today. . . we promoted Kingian nonviolence, the six principles of Kingian nonviolence. We are here in the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King.” (Democracy Now, Jan. 27, 2017; photo muslimobserver.com)
Sadako Sasaki born Hiroshima, Japan January 7, 1943 (d. 1955). Atomic bomb survivor; led peace appeal through efforts to create 1000 paper cranes.
"This is our cry, this is our prayer: peace in the world." (Hiroshima Peace Memorial inscription; photo Facebook)
Shigeko Sasamori (née Niimoto) born Hiroshima, Japan June 16, 1932. 13-year-old atomic bomb survivor.
“We must never start a war. Never own any nuclear weapon. Stop the nuclear power plant. That is what we should declare to the world.”
“It is very important to keep our heart of love and consideration by our side and we won’t want to start to have any war. Life is the most important thing in our world.” (Memories of War I, Oct. 8, 2015; photo now.etown.edu)
Saskia Sassen born The Hague, Netherlands January 5, 1947. Dutch-American sociology professor and authority on globalization of cities.
“Ten years after 9/11, we are less secure in the world, less significant for the world, and we are poorer. The War on Terror consumed vast amounts of our government’s resources, impoverished our government, rewarded many soldiers with unemployment and mental illness, and destroyed the small family enterprises of many of the men and women who served in the military, even as it gave vast riches to arms dealers and the Haliburtons of this world. The evidence suggests that opting for militarizing our response to the horror of 9/11 was a fatally flawed choice.” (Sassen: 10 Years Later; photo cgt.columbia)
Louise-Aimée Saumoneau born Poitiers, France December 17, 1875 (d. 1950). Led first International Women's Day in Paris, 1914; pacifist socialist opposed to World War I; imprisoned 7 weeks for antiwar stand, 1915.
"Workers have nothing to gain from this war, they have everything to lose, everything, everything that is dear to them." (Socialist women's resolution, Bern, March 1915 in Sowerwine p. 148)
Kshama Sawant born Pune, India October 17, 1973. American social activist; economics professor. Socialist member of Seattle City Council, 2014-present. Arrested for participation in Occupy protest blocking eviction, 2012, and Seatac minimum wage protest, 2014. Opposed Israel-Gaza war.
“It is the responsibility of elected officials everywhere to openly speak out to stop the humanitarian catastrophe, and to condemn it in the strongest possible terms... All killing of innocent people, women and children especially, should be condemned. And the last month of killings of Palestinians in Gaza is not only stomach-turning, it is only one in a long and documented series of war crimes stretching over decades. This has been happening with the tacit or overt complicity of US imperialism.” (Aug. 4, 2014 speech; photo seattle.gov)
Michaela Sburny born Vienna, Austria May 17, 1959. Leader of Austrian Green Party supporting nonviolence, direct democracy, feminism, and human rights.
"In truth, we need more Europe." (Aug. 5, 2005; photo de.Wikipedia)
Bosilijka Schedlich born Split, Yugoslavia April 12, 1948. Croatian-German post-conflict healer. Founded Southeast European Cultural Center to help thousands to recover from trauma of Balkan war, Berlin, 1991; Nobel Prize nominee, 2005.
"The trauma of war fills all our cells with fear; healing allows a return to peace, to trust, as a human being." (quote and photo World People's Blog)
Karla Schefter born Allenstein, E. Prussia March 25, 1942. Founded Chak-e-Wardak hospital, Afghanistan, 1989; founded Committee for Promotion of Medical & Humanitarian Aid, 1993. One of 1000 female Nobel Peace Prize nominees, 2005.
“Over every mountain there is a path.” (World People's Blog, Jun. 5, 2007; photo Lippoldsberg cloister)
Amélie Scheltema (née Hains) born Boston, MA April 26, 1928. Marine biologist at Woods Hole Inst.; draft counselor in Vietnam War; Quaker conflict resolution trainer.
"Quakers taught me where to stand. You oppose evil without rancor, hatred, or fear. You stand in that place that’s right and true. You simply say 'That’s not to be done.’" (photo bibapp.mbl.edu)
Paolina Schiff born Mannheim, Baden, Germany July 27, 1841 (d. 1926). Italian professor historian of German literature; pacifist founder International Union for Peace and Arbitration Milan 1888; feminist leader founded first national women’s organization 1880; Socialist organized first women’s labor strike Milan.
“[W]oman is the element of peace, she is an eternal protest against war because her common sense sees other outcomes, because it is not overwhelmed by a sensationalist enthusiasm that shows only the materiality of the thing and time, but the whole, the finality and the end.” (B. Bisnvh, “Militarism, Maternity and Peace,” p. 16; photo archivio biografico)
Annemarie Schimmel born Erfurt, Thuringia, Germany April 7, 1922 (d. 2003). German orientalist scholar; Peace Prize of German Book Trade 1995 for her promotion of understanding of Islam; student of Sufi mysticism.
“Judaism, Christianity, and Islam knew the ideal of eschatological peace where lion and lamb lie together in the time of the just ruler. But peace is nothing static. . . Peace too is a process of living growth which begins in each of us. The Muslim mystics considered the constant struggle with their lower qualities the real jihad: "the greater war in the way of God" and when their souls had finally reached peace they were capable of working for peace in the world.” (“A Good Word is Like a Good Tree” prize acceptance speech March 1996; photo ndeyeandujar.wordpress.com)
Lisa Schirch born Bluffton, OH October 16, 1969. Mennonite Professor of Peacebuilding; author of women’s peacemaking manual 2004; director of 3P Human Security 2007; Director of Human Security Alliance for Peacebuilding.
“[P]acifism is a commitment to peace and a belief that the use of violence to achieve peace is inherently problematic. Violence is like a virus: it leads to more violence. The use of violence to attempt to stop other people’s violence creates unintended second and third order problems.” (“The Art of Peacebuilding”, May 5, 2013; photo emu.edu)
Edit Schlaffer born Stegersbach, Burgenland, Austria September 25, 1950. Social scientist. Founded Women Without Borders, 2002, SAVE (Sisters Against Violent Extremism), 2008.
"It is better to sit together at a table and to talk and to argue than to stand at an open grave and cry." (hardnewsmedia.com/2009/03/2702)
"We recognize the untapped potential of women as a driving force for change, and as future leaders of an equitable, interconnected, and peaceful world." (Peace x Peace, Sep. 14, 2011)
Mary Beth Schlagheck born Richmond Center, WI September 3, 1938. Peace activist; arrests for nonviolent protests at Nevada Test Site; Whiteman AFB.; Offut AFB; Truax AFB; drone protest Volk Field 2013; cared for 11 children of imprisoned protester Helen Woodson 1982; chaired Wisconsin Network for Peace & Justice; began 35+ year weekly peace vigil Mondays at Madison IRS 1981-present.
"To be that presence in the public square—it just seems so American to me." (Wisc. State Journal, Dec. 6, 2011; photo community shares.com)
Therese Schlesinger-Eckstein born Vienna June 6, 1863 (d. 1940). Austrian Socialist suffragist and social reformer who led the opposition to World War I. First woman elected to parliament 1918.
"I was moved to lead a fight against the oppression and exploitation of women on behalf of those so sorely oppressed." (Riemert and Fout, European Women, pp. 95-99, 1980; photo Austrian Nat. Archives)
Helga Schmid born Dachau, Bavaria, Germany December 8, 1960. Top German and European diplomat. Executive Secretary-General of the European External Action Service, 2010-current. Credited by UN women's report with successful nuclear treaty with Iran, 2015. Actively promoted peace in Colombia, Palestine, Ukraine, Libya.
“When it comes to the solution to the Syria crisis, the EU position is clear: a lasting solution to the conflict can only be achieved through a Syrian-led political process leading to a transition. Which means obviously that you also talk to the representatives of the Assad regime.” (Interfax interview, April 17, 2015; photo vebidoo.de)
Lorraine Schneider (née Art) born Chicago, IL January 17, 1925 (d. 1972). Antiwar artist. Created iconic poster “Primer” which stated “WAR IS NOT HEALTHY FOR CHILDREN OR OTHER LIVING THINGS,” 1966; used by Another Mother for Peace campaign against Vietnam War, 1967.
“Man will learn to resolve his inevitable difference through nonmilitary alternatives. But it is up to us, the artists. . . to prepare the emotional soil for the last step out of the cave.” (to UN disarmament conference, Geneva, Sept. 26, 1972; photo Boyle Heights History blog, May 22, 2013)
Rose Schneiderman born Saven, Russian Poland April 6, 1882 (d. 1979). Labor organizer and social reformer; Socialist and feminist; led labor delegation to Versailles Conference 1919; organized first international trade union women's meeting, D.C.; led "Uprising of 20,000" 1909; established International Ladies Garment Union 1913, International Congress of Working Women.
"What the woman who labors wants is the right to live, not simply exist. . . The worker must have bread, but she must have roses, too." (1912, Cleveland; photo amazingwomeninhistory.com)
Women in Peace
is dedicated to highlighting the achievements of extraordinary, peacemaking women from around the world.
