War Resisters League Peace Award
Encyclopedia
Since 1958, the "War Resisters League
", the pacifist group founded in 1923, has awarded almost annually its War Resisters League Peace Award to a person or organization whose work represents the League's radical nonviolent program of Gandhian action.
War Resisters League
The War Resisters League was formed in 1923 by men and women who had opposed World War I. It is a section of the London-based War Resisters' International.Many of the founders had been jailed during World War I for refusing military service...
", the pacifist group founded in 1923, has awarded almost annually its War Resisters League Peace Award to a person or organization whose work represents the League's radical nonviolent program of Gandhian action.
Laureates
| Year | Awardee | Speaker at ceremony | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 | Jeannette Rankin Jeannette Rankin Jeannette Pickering Rankin was the first woman in the US Congress. A Republican, she was elected statewide in Montana in 1916 and again in 1940. A lifelong pacifist, she voted against the entry of the United States into both World War I in 1917 and World War II in 1941, the only member of Congress... |
||
| 1959 | AJ Muste | Martin Luther King, Jr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for being an iconic figure in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods following the... |
|
| 1960 | Fenner Brockway and Bayard Rustin Bayard Rustin Bayard Rustin was an American leader in social movements for civil rights, socialism, pacifism and non-violence, and gay rights.In the pacifist Fellowship of Reconciliation , Rustin practiced nonviolence... |
||
| 1961 | Tracy Mygatt and Frances Witherspoon | Murray Kempton Murray Kempton James Murray Kempton was an influential, Pulitzer Prize-winning American journalist.-Biography:Kempton was born in Baltimore on December 16, 1917. His mother was Sally Ambler and his father was James Branson Kempton, a stock broker... and Bayard Rustin |
|
| 1962 | Jim Peck Jim Peck James Edward "Jim" Peck is an American television and radio personality based in Milwaukee and is perhaps best known for his time as a game show host.-Early career:... |
Douglas Campbell Douglas Lloyd Campbell Douglas Lloyd Campbell, OC was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served as the 13th Premier of Manitoba from 1948 to 1958... and Bayard Rustin |
|
| 1963 | Dorothy Day Dorothy Day Dorothy Day was an American journalist, social activist and devout Catholic convert; she advocated the Catholic economic theory of Distributism. She was also considered to be an anarchist, and did not hesitate to use the term... |
Evan Thomas Evan Thomas Evan Welling Thomas III is an American journalist and author. He currently teaches journalism at Princeton University.-Life and career:Thomas was born in Huntington, New York and was raised in Cold Spring Harbor, New York... and AJ Muste |
|
| 1964 | James and Diane Bevel | A. Philip Randolph A. Philip Randolph Asa Philip Randolph was a leader in the African American civil-rights movement and the American labor movement. He organized and led the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first predominantly Negro labor union. In the early civil-rights movement, Randolph led the March on Washington... |
|
| 1965 | Bayard Rustin | Milton Mayer Milton Mayer Milton Sanford Mayer , a journalist and educator, was best known for his long-running column in The Progressive magazine, founded by Robert Marion LaFollette, Sr in Madison, Wisconsin.- Biography :... |
|
| 1966 | Norman Thomas Norman Thomas Norman Mattoon Thomas was a leading American socialist, pacifist, and six-time presidential candidate for the Socialist Party of America.-Early years:... |
Mulford Sibley | |
| 1967 | Barbara Deming Barbara Deming Barbara Deming was an American feminist and advocate of nonviolent social change.- Early life :Barbara Deming was born in New York. She attended a Friends school up through her high school years.... |
Ralph DiGia Ralph DiGia Ralph DiGia was a World War II conscientious objector, lifelong pacifist and social justice activist, and staffer for 52 years at the War Resisters League.... |
|
| 1968 | The Resistance | ||
| 1969 | Ammon Hennacy | Dinner was canceled | |
| 1970 | People Resisting within the Military | ||
| 1971 | Majorie Swann | Lanzo Del Vasto | |
| 1972 | Ann Upshure | Recognition only; not an official award | |
| 1973 | No dinner | ||
| 1974 | Daniel Berrigan Daniel Berrigan Daniel Berrigan, SJ is an American Catholic priest, peace activist, and poet. Daniel and his brother Philip were for a time on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list for their involvement in antiwar protests during the Vietnam war.... |
Allen Ginsberg Allen Ginsberg Irwin Allen Ginsberg was an American poet and one of the leading figures of the Beat Generation in the 1950s. He vigorously opposed militarism, materialism and sexual repression... |
|
| 1975 | Dave Dellinger | ||
| 1976 | Julius Eichel | ||
| 1977 | Marion and Ernest Bromley | ||
| 1978 | David Berkingoff and Prafulla Mukerj | ||
| 1979 | Igal Roodenko Igal Roodenko - Biography :Roodenko graduated from Townsend Harris High School in Manhattan, New York. He attended Cornell University from 1934 to 1938, where he received a degree in horticulture. Roodenko was a gay man, and a printer by trade.... |
||
| 1980 | Grace Paley Grace Paley Grace Paley was an American-Jewish short story writer, poet, and political activist.-Biography:Grace Paley was born in the Bronx to Isaac and Manya Ridnyik Goodside, who anglicized the family name from Gutseit on immigrating from Ukraine. Her father was a doctor. The family spoke Russian and... |
||
| 1981 | Ralph DiGia Ralph DiGia Ralph DiGia was a World War II conscientious objector, lifelong pacifist and social justice activist, and staffer for 52 years at the War Resisters League.... |
Recognition only; not an award | |
| 1982 | Bent Andreson | ||
| 1983 | Virginia Eggleston, Thomas Grabell, and Ashley King | ||
| 1984 | Larry Gara | ||
| 1985 | Barbara Reynolds Barbara Reynolds Barbara Reynolds is an English scholar, lexicographer and translator, wife of the philologist and translator Lewis Thorpe.-Early life:The daughter of Alfred Charles Reynolds, and the god-daughter of Dorothy L... |
||
| 1986 | Plowshares Disarmament Community Plowshares Movement The Plowshares Movement is an anti-nuclear weapons movement that gained notoriety in the early 1980s when several members damaged government property and were subsequently convicted.-History:... |
||
| 1987 | Dorie Bunting | ||
| 1988 | Don Luce]], Vietnam Veterans Against the War Vietnam Veterans Against the War Vietnam Veterans Against the War is a tax-exempt non-profit organization and corporation, originally created to oppose the Vietnam War. VVAW describes itself as a national veterans' organization that campaigns for peace, justice, and the rights of all United States military veterans... (VVAW), John McAuliff, David Truong, Bob Eaton, and Lady Borton |
||
| 1989 | Children of War | ||
| 1990 | Esther Pank and Riley Bostrom | ||
| 1991 | Gulf War Resisters | ||
| 1992 | War Tax Resisters, especially activists in Colrain, Massachusetts Colrain, Massachusetts Colrain is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 1,813 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area.- History :Colrain was first settled in 1735 as "Boston Township No... |
||
| 1993 | WRL’s 70th Anniversary | ||
| 1994 | No dinner/award | ||
| 1995 | No dinner/award | ||
| 1996 | The Living Theatre The Living Theatre The Living Theatre is an American theatre company founded in 1947 and based in New York City. It is the oldest experimental theatre group still existing in the U.S... |
||
| 1997 | Bob Moses Robert Parris Moses Robert Parris Moses is an American, Harvard-trained educator who was a leader in the 1960s Civil Rights Movement and later founded the nationwide U.S. Algebra project.-Biography:... |
||
| 1998 | Odetta Odetta Odetta Holmes, known as Odetta, was an American singer, actress, guitarist, songwriter, and a human rights activist, often referred to as "The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement". Her musical repertoire consisted largely of American folk music, blues, jazz, and spirituals... , Charlie King Charlie King (folksinger) Charlie King is a folksinger and activist. He was born and raised in Brockton, Massachusetts in 1947 and cites the folk music revival of the 1960s, the American Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War era as his as musical influences... , People's Voice Cafe, and Pete Seeger Pete Seeger Peter "Pete" Seeger is an American folk singer and was an iconic figure in the mid-twentieth century American folk music revival. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, he also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of The Weavers, most notably their recording of Lead... |
||
| 1999 | David McReynolds David McReynolds David McReynolds is an American democratic socialist and pacifist activist who described himself as "a peace movement bureaucrat" during his 40-year career with Liberation magazine and the War Resisters League... |
||
| 2000 | Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques, Puerto Rico Vieques, Puerto Rico Vieques , in full Isla de Vieques, is an island–municipality of Puerto Rico in the northeastern Caribbean, part of an island grouping sometimes known as the Spanish Virgin Islands... |
||
| 2001 | Kate Donnelly Kate Donnelly Kate Donnelly is the wife of former Governor of Puerto Rico Carlos Romero Barceló, and served as First Lady from 1977 to 1984. Prior to that, she served for eight years as First Lady of San Juan, Puerto Rico's capital city.... and Clay Colt |
||
| 2002 | Christian Peacemaker Teams Christian Peacemaker Teams Christian Peacemaker Teams is an international organization set up to support teams of peace workers in conflict areas around the world. These teams believe that they can lower the levels of violence through nonviolent direct action, human rights documentation, and nonviolence training. CPT sums... |
||
| 2003 | September 11 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows | ||
| 2004 | Fernando Suarez del Solar Fernando Suarez del Solar Fernando Suarez del Solar is a peace activist based in Escondido, California.On March 27, 2003, Fernando lost his son, Jesus Suarez del Solar, when he stepped on a US cluster bomb while fighting in the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Since then, Fernando has been traveling around the country speaking out... of Military Families Speak Out Military Families Speak Out Military Families Speak Out is a US based anti-Iraq war group.Military Families Speak Out was founded by two military families in November, 2002 to speak out against the planned US invasion of Iraq to try to prevent the invasion.... |
||
| 2005 | Karl Bissinger Karl Bissinger Karl Bissinger was an American photographer best known for his portraits of notable figures in the world of art following World War II.-Early years:Karl Bissinger was born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1914... and Ralph DiGia Ralph DiGia Ralph DiGia was a World War II conscientious objector, lifelong pacifist and social justice activist, and staffer for 52 years at the War Resisters League.... , both WRL staffers |
||
| 2006 | Women Resisting War from within the Military | ||
| 2007 | Center for Constitutional Rights Center for Constitutional Rights Al Odah v. United States:Al Odah is the latest in a series of habeas corpus petitions on behalf of people imprisoned at the Guantanamo Bay detention center. The case challenges the Military Commissions system’s suitability as a habeas corpus substitute and the legality, in general, of detention at... and Torture Abolition Survivors and Support Coalition International; posthumous lifetime achievement award to writer Grace Paley |
||
| 2008 | Kali Akuno and Shana Griffin representing grassroots groups working to rebuild New Orleans | A concert with Steve Earle, Allison Moorer, Stephanie McKay, Red Baraat Festival, and Jan Bell and the Cheap Dates | |
| 2009 | South African Poet and Freedom Fighter Dennis Brutus Dennis Brutus Dennis Vincent Brutus was a South African activist, educator, journalist and poet best known for his campaign to have apartheid South Africa banned from the Olympic Games.-Life and work:... , Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA), and Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ); Grace Paley Lifetime Achievement Award to Pan-Africanist and WWII Conscientious Objector Bill Sutherland |
External links
- https://secure.serve.com/resist/wrl_peaceawards.htm