Inga Thorsson

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Overview

Inga Thorsson (née Sjöbäck), born Malmö, Sweden July 3, 1915 (d. 1994). Disarmament expert; Nobel prize nominee; ambassador to UN 1966, 1970-82, to Israel 1964; headed Swedish delegation to UN Disarmament Conferences 1974-82; member of parliament; founded first Swedish peace corps (SCI) camp Tostarp 1937; proposed first world environment conference; member WILPF.

Quotations

"We have now reached the stage where disarmament alone, although an absolute necessity, is not enough. The stockpiles of arms are in themselves a mortal threat to mankind but there are also other threats to our existence. Disarmament for peace is not sufficient: it must be supported by development for peace." (Better World quotes; photo dornsife.usc.edu)

Setsuko Thurlow

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Overview

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Setsuko Thurlow born Hiroshima, Japan January 3, 1932. Social worker; speaker. Canadian hibakusha survivor of Hiroshima bombing, 1945. Made several world voyages on Peace Boat. Awarded the Order of Merit, Canada's highest honor, for her peace work, 2007.

Quotations

"[S]urvivors. . . became aware that the main motive for the atomic bombings was political to impress the Soviet Union and to force Japan to surrender before the Soviet Union could enter the war against Japan so that the US need not share the victory over Japan with the USSR. They did not see it as a military necessity as the American government claimed. The survivors saw themselves as pawns in the opening moves in the Cold War rather than as sacrifices on the altar of peace. Some survivors became able to conceptualize and articulate the meaning of nuclear weapons as a threat to planetary survival. This ability enabled them to transcend their own personal tragedies and empowered them to become committed to the mission of warning the world of the dangers of the nuclear age. . .
On the cenotaph in the Peace Park in Hiroshima is an inscription which reads, 'Rest in peace; the mistake will not be repeated.' This has become the prayer and vow of many survivors, who are determined to make sure that the deaths of loved ones has not been in vain and that no human being will ever have to repeat their fate. I am committed to share the warning of Hiroshima until my last breath." (Toronto, 2003)

“How much longer can we allow the Nuclear Weapon States to continue threatening all life on earth?”(Vienna, Dec. 8, 2014; photo Nuclear Abolitionist)

Kip Tiernan

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Overview

Kip Tiernan born West Haven, CT June 17, 1926 (d. 2011). Pacifist civil rights leader; organized antiwar protest 1968; founded Rosie's Place 1974 in Boston, first American women's shelter; co-founded Boston Food Bank, Boston Women's Fund, Ethical Policy Institute; nominated for Nobel Peace Prize 2005.

Quotations

"For all the women of all wars—Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Korea, Latin America, El Salvador, Africa, Ireland, North America, Asia, Sarajevo, Bosnia, Afghanistan and Baghdad, who have given up their sons and husbands to the war machinery of man, we pray to the Lord." (1975 Good Friday litany, updated 2003, Poor People's United Fund; photo gbfb.org)

Johnnie Tillmon

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Overview

Johnnie Tillmon born Scott, AR April 10, 1926 (d. 1995). Organizer and welfare rights advocate. Co-founded first welfare rights group ANC Mothers Anonymous of Watts, 1963; founded National Welfare Rights Association (NWRA), 1967. Opposed Vietnam War.

Quotations

"I'm a woman. I'm a black woman. I'm a poor woman. I'm a fat woman. I'm a middle-aged woman. And I'm on welfare. In this country, if you're any one of those things, you count less as a person." (Ms., 1972; photo dailykos.com)

Katherine Tingley

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Overview

Katherine Tingley born Newbury, MA July 6, 1847 (d. 1929). Absolute pacifist; Theosophist leader who founded International Brotherhood League 1897, Parliament of Peace 1913.

Quotations

"Yes, let us rise in protest and call on our American government to demand that this abominable war cease." ("An Appeal to the Soul-Life of America." Jan. 24, 1915, in Theosophy and Some of the Vital Problems of the Day; photo Wikipedia)

Isabella Tod

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Overview

Isabella Tod born Edinburgh, Scotland May 18, 1836 (d. 1896). Northern Irish feminist and internationalist who opposed imperialism and use of force.

Quotations

"We have to fight for and protect the interests of the weak, by teaching the strong that they have no rights by virtue of their strength." (Journal, June 1, 1884; photo scoilnet.ie)

Nadezhda Tolokonnikova

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Overview

Nadezhda Tolokonnikova born Norilsk, Krasnoyarsk, Russia November 7, 1989. Member of punk protest collective Pussy Riot. Performed anti-Putin protest at Cathedral of Christ the Savior, Moscow, 2012; arrested and sentenced to 2-year prison term. Opposed invasion of Crimea, 2014. Received Hannah Arendt Prize, 2014.

Quotations

“Our goal was political protest in artistic form. There was no hate, not a drop." (Rolling Stone, Aug. 7, 2012)

“Don’t believe it when they say that we are few, that we are weak. Together we will change this country.” (Peace and Freedom, March 10, 2014; photo huffingtonpost.com)

Alexandra Tolstoy

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Overview

Alexandra Tolstoy born Yasnaya Polyana, Russia June 30, 1884 (d. 1979). Youngest daughter and favorite disciple of nonviolent theorist Leo Tolstoy. Founded Tolstoy Foundation which helped 500,000 refugees, including Rachmaninov and Nabokov, 1939; arrested five times by Soviets.

Quotations

"[We can] help the world and make it better, and maybe to help the people who are enslaved regain freedom and live again like normal beings." (speech at Nenry George School, New York, July 1961; photo Wikipedia)

Annalena Tonelli

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Overview

Annalena Tonelli born Forli, Romagna, Italy April 2, 1943 (d. 2003). Italian aid worker. Brought the Wagalla Massacre to light; saved some Somalis thought to be dead, 1984. Received Nansen Refugee Award, 2003. Assassinated at the tuberculosis hospital she founded, Borama, Somalia.

Quotations

“The little ones, those without a voice, those who count for nothing in the eyes of the world, but so much in the eyes of God, his beloved ones, have need of us, and we must be with them and for them, and it doesn’t matter at all if our action is like a drop of water in the ocean.” (at the Vatican 2001, 30Days 2004; photo Wikipedia)

Aida Touma-Sliman

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Overview

Aida Touma-Sliman born Nazareth, Palestine July 16, 1964. Christian-born Arab peacemaker. Israeli citizen and member of the Knesset. Co-founder and CEO, Women Against Violence (WAV), 1992. Co-founded Al-Badeel, a coalition against honor killings, 1993. Joined Women in Black, 1989. Coordinator of Engendering the Peace Process, 1995-96. Offered food and medical relief to West Bank during Israeli invasion of West Bank and Gaza, 2001. Upon election to Knesset, assumed leadership of Committee on the Status of Women and the newly established Anti-Racism Caucus, 2015.

Quotations

“The women on the other side of the fence deserve to live lives free of occupation and checkpoints.” (International Women’s Day protest, 2015, +972 magazine; photo tlv1.fm)

Katrina Trask

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Overview

Katrina “Kate” Trask (née Nichols) born Brooklyn, NY May 30, 1853 (d. 1922). Pacifist and internationalist novelist and poet. Co-founded Yaddo artist center. Published poem “The Statue of Peace”, 1914; peace pamphlets “The Logic of War”, and “The Conquering Army”. Playwright of popular play “In the Vanguard”, 1913.

Quotations

“Blow a man to pieces in the name of patriotism, and then try to patch the pieces together in the name of humanity. It’s really comic when you think about it.” (Maria Beach, Women Staging War, 2004, p. 49; photo Wikipedia)

Mary Travers

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Overview

Mary Travers born Louisville, KY November 9, 1936 (d. 2009). Antiwar singer; member of Peter, Paul & Mary; marched with Martin Luther King, Jr.; arrested in Apartheid protest with her mother and daughter, 1984.

Quotations

On US war in Central America:

Killed the people to set them free
Who put this price on their liberty
Don't you think it's time to leave
El Salvador?

(song, "El Salvador"; photo with Salvadorean refugee, jdshigherground)

Brenda Travis

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Overview

Brenda Travis born McComb, MS March 16, 1945. Civil rights activist; Joined SNCC, 1960. Arrested for walk-in, buying bus ticket and waiting for bus, 1961; jailed one month for trespassing. Arrested again when she tried to go back to school.

Quotations

“I knew I could not sit still and be silent. . . So I volunteered to go to jail.” (quote and photo: Civil Rights Movement Veterans)

Margaret Ellen Traxler

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Overview

Margaret Ellen Traxler born St. Paul, MN March 11, 1924 (d. 2002). Prominent women’s rights activist; Catholic Sister of Notre Dame. At forefront of civil rights movement at Selma, AL, 1965; Pax Christi pacifist spoke against the Vietnam War at Paris peace talks; attended Women’s Peace Conference Cyprus, 1972. Promoted peace in Northern Ireland; opposed nuclear arms.

Quotations

“[I]f you’re a woman, you must fight for women.” (quoted at memorial service, Call to Action News, Apr. 2002)

Marietta Tree

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Overview

Marietta Peabody Tree born Lawrence, MA April 17, 1917 (d. 1991). American diplomat appointed by JFK; US representative to UN Human Rights Commission and Trusteeship Council, 1961; mother of Vietnam author Frances Fitzgerald.

Quotations

"What role should women play in this society? What can we do to help solve great questions of the day—the great unanswered questions. . . of hunger midst plenty,—sickness and disease midst the great breakthrough of modern medicine,—illiteracy in the age of communication and the most important question of all, 'Shall we live in peace?'" (quotations from "Women at Penn"; photo archives.upenn.edu)

Kit Tremaine

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Overview

Katherine “Kit” W. Tremaine born New Orleans, LA January 9, 1907 (d. 1997). Author, poet; philanthropist who vigiled against Vietnam War; proud member on Pres. Nixon’s enemies list; boycotted Apartheid; advocate of homeless.

Quotations

“I continued to demonstrate against the Vietnam War in front of the Santa Barbara Art Museum. Our protest consisted of a silent vigil for the hour noon and one.” (Fragments, p. 163)

“Love is the universal answer no matter what the question, and that we must seek to manifest it in all possible ways.” (ibid., 188; photo bluedolphin)

Flora Tristan

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Overview

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Flora Tristan born Paris, France April 7, 1803 (d. 1844). French feminist pioneer and utopian Socialist who believed women's leadership would bring peace.

Quotations

"[I propose a] law of love and union destined to end all conflict between men." (Méphis, in Susan K. Grogan, French Socialism and Sexual Difference, p. 175, 1992; photo Wikipedia from colegiofloratristan.blogspot.com)