November 8

Women peacemakers born today

  • 1342 Julian of Norwich. English altruist; mystic.

  • 1897 Dorothy Day born Brooklyn, NY (d. 1980). Founder of nonviolent Catholic Workers, 1930.

  • 1908 Martha Gellhorn born St. Louis, MO (d. 1998). Pacifist author; war correspondent; opposed war in Vietnam, Contra War, nuclear weapons.

  • 1949 Bonnie Raitt born Burbank, CA. Quaker antiwar singer; performer at No Nukes Rally, 1979; participant in Earth Day protest, 1999; climbed redwood with Joan Baez.

  • 1962 Isabelle F. Picco born Monaco. Monegasque diplomat; delegate to UN since Monaco’s accession 1993; Permanent Representative 2009; Vice President UN General Assembly 2013.

Women's peacemaking on this day

  • 1837 Mt. Holyoke, first American women's college, opened.

  • 1938 Crystal Bird Fauset elected first African-American in state legislature, Pennsylvania.

  • 1967 Thich Ku Thuong immolated self in Vietnam War protest.

  • 1983 Pine Gap Women's Peace Camp set up in Alice Springs, Australia.

  • 1986 40 Finnish women protested nuclear plant Oikiluola.

  • 1991 First Women's Conference for a Healthy Planet Miami, organized by Bella Abzug.

  • 2000 Coalition of Women for a Just Peace founded, uniting 8 Israeli women’s peace groups.

  • 2005 In Eugene, Oregon, Code Pink blocked ROTC classes, hanging a banner that read, “Outraged Women Say NO to War.”

  • 2005 Zimbabwe authorities arrested Netsai Mushonga for organizing training session on nonviolent conflict resolution.

  • 2006 Cindy Sheehan and three women arrested in Iraq War protest at White House.

  • 2007 Breasts Not Bombs protest at White House.

  • 2010 Ten-day fast at White House by 11 women of La Mujer Obrera in protest of poverty and violence on US-Mexican border.

  • 2012 Praying for Peace in the Land of Buddha Kathmandu, Nepal 12th meeting of 13 indigenous Grandmothers.