Jan Rose Kasmir
Encyclopedia
Jan Rose Kasmir is a former US high-school student who took part in the protest against America’s involvement in Vietnam in Washington DC where thousands of anti-war activists had gathered in front of The Pentagon
on 21 October 1967 and was photographed by famous French photographer Marc Riboud
.
The photo of Jan Rose Kasmir, with a flower in her hands and a kindly gaze in her eyes, standing in front of several rifle-wielding soldiers stationed to block the protesters became a well-known symbol of struggle for peace and non-violent resistance (see also flower power
).
Georgetown University
history professor Michael Kazin
said "one of the reasons that photograph became famous is that there was an effort to talk to the soldiers, to convince them to throw down their guns and join us." Kazin, a fellow Pentagon protester in 1967, wrote the 2000 book America Divided: The Civil War of the 1960s. The protesters' plans ranged from the earnest to the absurd: organizer Abbie Hoffman
held a mass exorcism, hoping to levitate the Pentagon 300 feet off the ground, turn it orange and vibrate out any evil spirits.
The rally resulted in some of the first violent clashes of the antiwar movement. Soldiers and federal agents lobbed tear gas into the crowds trying to force their way into the building. Six hundred eighty-one protesters were arrested, and dozens were beaten as they were pushed off the Pentagon's steps. The violence, memorably chronicled in novelist Norman Mailer
's firsthand account, The Armies of the Night, focused the world's attention on the peace effort as never before.
Kasmir then became a massage therapist. Since 2001 she has been living in Aarhus
, Denmark
, with her 19-year-old daughter, Lisa Ann, and her Danish husband.
More than 30 years after the protest, a French newspaper tracked down Kasmir, and in February 2003 Marc Riboud followed her to a protest in London against the war in Iraq. She took with her a poster-size copy of the 1967 photograph and Riboud photographed her again.
The Pentagon
The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense rather than the building itself.Designed by the American architect...
on 21 October 1967 and was photographed by famous French photographer Marc Riboud
Marc Riboud
Marc Riboud is a French photographer, best known for his extensive reports on the East: The Three Banners of China, Face of North Vietnam, Visions of China, and In China.-Early life and education:...
.
The photo of Jan Rose Kasmir, with a flower in her hands and a kindly gaze in her eyes, standing in front of several rifle-wielding soldiers stationed to block the protesters became a well-known symbol of struggle for peace and non-violent resistance (see also flower power
Flower power
Flower power is a slogan used by the American counterculture movement during the late 1960s and early 1970s as a symbol of passive resistance and non-violence ideology. It is rooted in the opposition movement to the Vietnam War. The expression was coined by the American Beat poet Allen Ginsberg in...
).
Georgetown University
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...
history professor Michael Kazin
Michael Kazin
Michael Kazin is a professor of history at Georgetown University. He is co-editor of Dissent magazine. See his website: http://michaelkazin.com- Early life :...
said "one of the reasons that photograph became famous is that there was an effort to talk to the soldiers, to convince them to throw down their guns and join us." Kazin, a fellow Pentagon protester in 1967, wrote the 2000 book America Divided: The Civil War of the 1960s. The protesters' plans ranged from the earnest to the absurd: organizer Abbie Hoffman
Abbie Hoffman
Abbot Howard "Abbie" Hoffman was a political and social activist who co-founded the Youth International Party ....
held a mass exorcism, hoping to levitate the Pentagon 300 feet off the ground, turn it orange and vibrate out any evil spirits.
The rally resulted in some of the first violent clashes of the antiwar movement. Soldiers and federal agents lobbed tear gas into the crowds trying to force their way into the building. Six hundred eighty-one protesters were arrested, and dozens were beaten as they were pushed off the Pentagon's steps. The violence, memorably chronicled in novelist Norman Mailer
Norman Mailer
Norman Kingsley Mailer was an American novelist, journalist, essayist, poet, playwright, screenwriter, and film director.Along with Truman Capote, Joan Didion, Hunter S...
's firsthand account, The Armies of the Night, focused the world's attention on the peace effort as never before.
Kasmir then became a massage therapist. Since 2001 she has been living in Aarhus
Aarhus
Aarhus or Århus is the second-largest city in Denmark. The principal port of Denmark, Aarhus is on the east side of the peninsula of Jutland in the geographical center of Denmark...
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, with her 19-year-old daughter, Lisa Ann, and her Danish husband.
More than 30 years after the protest, a French newspaper tracked down Kasmir, and in February 2003 Marc Riboud followed her to a protest in London against the war in Iraq. She took with her a poster-size copy of the 1967 photograph and Riboud photographed her again.