Sheila Watt-Cloutier

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Overview

Sheila Watt-Cloutier born Kuujjuaq, Nunavik, Northern Quebec, Canada December 2, 1943. Inuit leader; environmental activist; alternative Nobel prize Right Livelihood recipient 2015; Nobel prize nominee 2007; UN Champion of the Earth 2004.

Quotations

“[T]he world appears to be breaking open on so many levels. Never has there been a time, at least not in my lifetime, where I have felt such concerted worry over how the world and our global society itself seems to be falling apart, crying out for strong leadership on issues which matter to us all, be that our environment, the economy or world peace.” (Right Livelihood Award acceptance speech, Nov. 15, 2015; photo wikipedia)

Esther Whinery Wattles

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Overview

Esther Whinery Wattles born Salem, OH March 27, 1819 (d. 1908). Schoolteacher. Radical Quaker nonresistant abolitionist. Member of several utopian communes in Ohio, Indiana, and Kansas dedicated to nonviolence and women’s rights.

Quotations

“Friends were preeminently the followers of the ‘Prince of Peace.’ But I see them sustaining organized powers, based upon a system of violence and blood.” (on quitting the Friends, Philanthropist, June 21, 1843, in Thomas Hamm, ”The Limits of the Peace Testimony”, 1993, p. 20; photo ancestry.com)

Verne Weed

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Overview

Verne Weed born Columbus, IN April 4, 1909 (d. 1986). Radical social worker; Hunter College professor; anti-Apartheid protester; headed Connecticut Children's Services. Opposed Vietnam War; harassed as Communist. Along with Thomas Mann, Picasso, and Chagall, signed Stockholm Peace Appeal for absolute ban on nuclear weapons, 1950.

Quotations

"I have done what I could for peace." (Feb. 26, 1957, House Un-American Committee hearing)

Mary Hays Weik

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Overview

Mary Hays Weik born Greencastle, IN December 18, 1898 (d. 1979). American internationalist author, journalist, and anti-nuclear leader. Chaired Federalist Forum, New York, 1950; promoted International Registry of World Citizens, 1954. Founded American Federation of World Citizens which opposed nuclear weapons and power. Led successful fight against Ravenswood nuclear power plant, 1962. Founded Committee to End Nuclear Hazards; opposed Indian Point plant.

Quotations

“The truth is, we have reached the point where humanity stands face to face with the struggle for money and power. In the face of so much organized greed, there is little chance for human survival unless a determined, rational campaign of opposition is begun. The ordinary citizen today has come to accept the control of his community by a few.” (“The Time Bomb at Infian Point”, Sept. 14, 1966)

Cora Weiss

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Overview

Cora Weiss (née Rubin) born Harlem, NY October 2, 1934. Peace activist; social worker. Supported Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee c. 1961. Co-founded Women Strike for Peace against nuclear weapons, 1961; formed Jeannette Rankin Brigade against Vietnam War, 1969. Went to Hanoi as co-chair of Committee of Liaison with Families of Prisoners to get three prisoners home, 1972. Active member of SANE; major supporter of UN. Founding director Riverside Church Disarmament Program, 1978. Led Hague Appeal for Peace, 1996. President of International Peace Bureau, 2000-06. Nobel Peace Prize nominee, 2002.

Quotations

"I firmly believe that it will be women, acting together, acting strategically, teaching, and organising who will be responsible for enacting the 'culture of peace' that will be necessary for the survival of humanity." (Open Democracy, March 18, 2004; photo colorado.edu)

Cornelia Weiss

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Overview

Cornelia Weiss born Steamboat Springs, CO June 16, 1966. Retiring in the rank of colonel, served in Europe, the Americas, and the Pacific. The Colombian Public Forces recognized her work in Colombia by awarding her the Medalla al Mérito Militar en Derecho Humanos y Derecho Internacional Humanitario “General José Hilario López Valdés” and the Medalla Militar “Servicios Distinguidos a la Justicia Penal Militar.” Fellowships include the Ian Axford Fellowship (New Zealand and Timor-Leste) and the Rotary Peace Fellowship (Thailand and Nepal). Knowing that history is often used as an excuse to exclude women, she excavates forgotten history about women, peace, and power while proactively seeking to create transformative policies and practices.

Quotations

“Having served in places like Colombia has reinforced how fortunate I am to have grown up in Steamboat. It’s a place where everyone has the opportunity to pursue their aspirations. My dream is for the new global generations to grow up in peace so that they can do the same.”

Marion Craig Wentworth

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Overview

Marion Craig Wentworth born St. Paul, MN January 25, 1872 (d. 1942). Playwright and speaker. Wrote popular antiwar vaudeville play “War Brides”, revealing war’s suffering at home, 1915; made into silent film, 1916.

Quotations

“What. . . to breed a soldier for the empire, to restock the land? And for what? For food for the next generation’s cannon? Oh, it is an insult to our womanhood! You violate all that makes marriage sacred!” (“War Brides”, 1915, p. 32)

Mary Hamilton Wesley

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Overview

Mary Hamilton Wesley born Cedar Rapids, IA October 13, 1935 (d. 2002). Freedom Rider; led resistance in Parchman Prison; second female CORE Field Secretary, 1961; first female CORE Southern Regional Director, 1963. Miss Mary case won in Supreme Court, 1963.

Quotations

"I will not answer them unless I am addressed correctly." (crmvet.org; photo Miss. 50th)

Anne Warren Weston

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Overview

Anne Warren Weston born Weymouth, MA July 13, 1812 (d. 1890). Co-founder of first nonviolence society, Boston 1838; proposed world's first nonviolence newspaper, The Non-Resistant.

Quotations

"The interest I take both in the cause of peace and that of abolition... I am desirous that the Non-Resistant Society should possess an organ of communication." (to W.L. Garrison, Nov. 11, 1838)

Caroline Weston

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Overview

Caroline Weston born Weymouth, MA October 13, 1808 (d. 1882). Pioneering supporter of world's first nonviolence society, Boston, 1838; abolitionist; school mistress.

Quotations

"We believe that our efforts may avail something to give 'a discontented & sorrow-stricken world.' We hope that we may be instrumental in promoting the great truths with which we have begun to make ourselves acquainted and that the time may soon arrive when Men no longer over-come of evil shall over come evil with good—when love shall throw down the barriers which pride, hatred would separate those who claim kindred with one another as the kindred of a common father." (draft appeal Sept. 1839, Bos. Pub. Lib. footnote)

Ellen Gould White

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Overview

Ellen Gould White (née Harmon) born Gorham, ME November 26, 1827 (d. 1915). Founder of pacifist Seventh Day Adventists, 1863; founded Loma Linda Hospital, 1909; abolitionist.

Quotations

"God's people, who are His peculiar treasure, cannot engage in this perplexing war, for it is opposed to every principle of their faith." (1863 Brock Liberty 118; photo wikicommons)

Charmaine White Face

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Overview

Charmaine White Face (Zumila Wobaga) born Pine Ridge Reservation, SD March 12, 1947. Oglala Sioux leader; biologist and journalist. Active participant in UN International Indigenous Rights Declaration, 2002. Fasted at Geneva Conference on Indigenous Rights, 2004. Joined 50-day Walk for a New Spring, 2015. Received 2007 Nuclear Free Future award for founding Defenders of the Black Hills, 2002; Giraffe Award for “sticking out her neck,” 2016.

Quotations

“Good can happen. Every time we do something, we give people the opportunity to do what is right. Even if nothing happens, they have the opportunity to know what's right." (Rapid City Journal, July 16, 2016; photo Wikipedia)

Marjorie M. Whiteman

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Overview

Marjorie M. Whiteman born Liberty Center, OH November 30, 1898 (d. 1986). American authority on international law; editor of classic Digest of International Law (1963-72); helped draft UN Charter 1945 and Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1949; legal counsel to Eleanor Roosevelt in UN Human Rights Commission; originated concept of consultation in inter-American affairs 1936; rescued documents of Charter of Organization of American States (OAS) in Bogotá revolution 1948; adviser on Law of the Sea 1958; first State Dept. Counselor for International Law 1965.

Quotations

“This Digest of International Law treats of public international law and related matters, particularly during the last two decades. . . The author has not attempted to adopt the role of prophetess. She has endeavored to treat of materials in an objective fashion.” (Intro.; photo intlawgirls)

Josepha Whitney

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Overview

Josepha Newcomb Whitney born Washington D.C. September 27, 1871 (d. 1968). Visual artist, specializing in landscapes. Suffragist. Chair of Connecticut Women’s Peace Party. President of New Haven League of Women Voters. Democratic candidate for state Senate, 1922.

Quotations

“[I]n striving to establish democracy and to give the peace-loving half of the people a voice in questions of militarism, commercialism and arbitration the woman-suffragists are the real ‘peace-fanatics.’” (The Survey, vol 33, 1915, p. 117; photo cornwallis historical society)