Women peacemakers born today

1870 Mary Johnston born Buchanan, VA (d. 1936). Popular novelist; pacifist opponent of World War I; member of WILPF; member of Fellowship of Reconciliation; suffragist; pioneer against lynching; Theosophist.
1897 Mollie Steimer born Dunaevtsky, Russia (d. 1980). Anarchist; opposed US involvement in World War I; sentenced to 15 years imprisonment; deported, 1921, by Russia and Vichy.
1899 Louise Yim born Korea (d. 1971). First South Korean representative to UN General Assembly, 1947; independence leader; first female member of parliament; founding president of women's college, 1934.
1927 Barbara Rütting born Ludwigsfelde-Wietstock, Brandenburg, Germany. German film actress and author; animal rights advocate. Early member of Green Party, 1982; resigned from party as pacifist after Green support of NATO bombing of Kosovo, 1999.
1943 Marlo Thomas born Detroit, MI. Antiwar actress; co-founder of Ms. Foundation, 1973; awarded Helen Caldicott Award for Nuclear Disarmament.

Women's peacemaking on this day

1911 British suffragists did mass smashing of windows of the press, businesses, and government offices.
1917 Occoquan Prison began force-feeding of suffragettes Lucy Burns and Dora Lewis.
1961 Mildred Olmsted organized first meeting of Soviet and US women at Bryn Mawr College; called for "complete disarmament."
1966 NOW founded in Chicago.
1991 Betsy Wright's 1982 Toyota auctioned by IRS for $451 unpaid war taxes at Westover Field.
1993 Conference on "Women, Violence & Nonviolent Action" sponsored by World Council of Churches through 25th.