The Portland Alliance, May 2005
In response to the global
threat of WWI, Jane Addams and other suffragists formed the Women’s
Peace Party in 1915 (Addams won the 1931 Nobel Peace Prize for her
work). In two year’s time they had thousands of members and 200 local
groups working for an end to the “reckless destruction” caused by men
in powerful positions. Ninety years later, and eighty-six years after a
name change, the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom
(WILPF) continues to work for disarmament and promoting human rights in
37 countries.
To celebrate the 90th anniversary of WILPF, the Portland branch of
WILPF and the Women’s Studies Department of Portland State University
are co-sponsoring day-long events on Tuesday, May 3. They have chosen
to convene a parade, period costumes encouraged, starting from O’Bryant
Square and finishing with an educational event at PSU’s Multicultural
Center to commemorate the achievements WILPF has made over nine decades
of activism.
The Oregon chapter of WILPF formed in the early 1920s and the first
meeting was held at the First Unitarian Church. Despite the usual scorn
promoters of peace faced, Portland WILPF kept up its work for the cause
through the ‘40s when they aided a group of displaced Japanese
Americans and one member, Alice Plympton, went on a peace pilgrimage to
Washington in 1948. The ‘60s brought coordinated efforts opposing the
Vietnam War and a creative campaign against violence-promoting
children’s activities and toys. Concerned about the messages being sent
to children, WILPF made anti-war toys and exhibited them at the 1965
State Fair’s “Peace Booth” while sending letters to toy manufacturers
and the press about the issue.
When the war ended, Portland WILPF turned its efforts to women’s
reproductive rights, South African apartheid, and shutting down the
Trojan Nuclear Plant. Several WILPF members were arrested and fined,
but the nuclear facility was successfully shut down. Anti-nuclear
activities kept on through the ‘80s as billions of dollars were wasted
on Star Wars and other military boondoggles. The ‘90s began and ended
with protests against the Persian Gulf War and with lots of gay and
lesbian, police accountability, and anti-racism activism in between.
Reading WILPF’s archives in preparation for this article, I was taken
with how much these mostly white women participated in actions
promoting racial equality. White women leaders are constantly plagued
by accusations of racism despite the long record of organized women
taking both anti-sexism and anti-racism actions. Many of the founding
members of WILPF, Jane Addams included, were also founding members of
the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
Racial equality has been a major focus throughout WILPF’s history and
that tradition continues today through campaigns criticizing Israel’s
treatment of Palestinians, seeking to abolish the prejudicial death
penalty and releasing prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal.
“One of the great experiences within the organization has been the
opportunity to attend International Congresses,” said Barbara Drageaux,
WILPF member since 1992. “There, a sisterhood among women of many
nations is truly grasped as we live and eat together and organize on
behalf of one another. Living in international community for even a
week expands your horizons beyond your greatest imagination and
intensifies your commitment to peace and justice on this planet.”
Pat Hollingsworth, member since 1968, agrees that the women of WILPF
have played a larger role in fostering international peace than is
recognized by history: “Their resolutions called for an end to
discrimination against women and a method of resolving conflict by
establishing a Society of Nations and an International Court of Law. In
effect they were the prototype of the United Nations. Since that
beginning, WILPF has maintained a strong influence at the United
Nations as a non-government organization.”
To learn more about the herstory behind the history of the
international peace movement, join current WILPF members on May 3 for a
day of education and celebration.
S.M. Berg is an activist, bicyclist and writist who can be reached at smberg@hevanet.com.
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