The environmental impact of past scorched earth methods of warfare is well-known. Methods of modern warfare cause even greater devastation to the environment. WILPF US is a co-sponsor of this conference and hopes members from across our Section will be able to meet up at the World Beyond War Conference in Washington DC to learn more.
Below are photos of Congress, submitted by attendees (shown in no particular order).
From Chris Wilbeck, Congress Coordinator:
Mary Hanson Harrison Welcomes Group Thur
Sunday Singing Grannies
Pre-Congress Work with DM Branch
Loading the Van for Congress
From Chris Henning:
Harmony, Hope and Healing Peace Song
Tina from Harmony, Hope and Healing Singing with Meaning
Video at Hull House
In Hull House
From Cherrill Spencer:
Award from Trinity School
Palo Alto/Peninsula Branch Table Exhibit
Reimagine Banner
Larry Spivack, Fri Morning Plenary Speaker
From Cindy Domingo:
Pam Smith, Fri Night Peace Activist Panel
Robin Lloyd
Stefanee Parks Asche, Sat Afternoon Plenary/p>
Workshop
From D Nunns:
Virginia Pratt
Hull House Banner
Hull House Model
Chicago Mural
From Christa Perdue:
Rise Up Chicago
Beach Break
Jane Addams
From Ellen Thomas:
Honoring Peggy Lipschultz
Thur Night Plenary Panel
Waiting for Bus to Hull House
Workshop with Leah Bolger
From Liz Remmerswaal:
Liz Remmerswaal and Nancy Price
Marybeth Gardam
Passed
Liz and Pam Taylor
From Robin Lloyd:
Nancy Price and Thur Night Panel
Singing: D Nunns, Darien De Lu, Cappy Israel, Mary Hanson Harrison
From Leah Bolger:
Drones Quilt Project Posters
Hull House
Mary Dean
Phyllis Bennis & Leah Bolger
From Martha Spies:
Drones Project Quilt Square
Olga Bautista
Peggy Lipschultz
Walk to Hull House
We look forward to hearing from you.
Photo: "Walk to Hull House" courtesy of Cherrill Spencer
Congress is over, but the experience lives on!
Go to News from Congress for videos, reports and photos highlighting events and experiences.
This page is dedicated to videos, photos and stories recapping the events of WILPF’s 33rd Triennial Congress in Chicago July 27-30th, 2017.
Photos from Congress
Walk to Hull House by D Nunns
For more photos, go to Photos from Congress here».
Videos Shown During Congress
| WILPF Tribute Video | WILPF US Wonder Women Video |
| WILPF Tribute to Yvonne Logan | Rise UP—Greetings from Cameroon |
| Greetings from WILPF International Executive Committee | Trinity School Award to WILPF |
Videos Taken of Congress Sessions
Thursday Night Peace Activist Panel:
Phyllis Bennis: go here (from Martha Spiess); go here (from Ellen Thomas)
Kathy Kelly: go here (from Martha Spiess); go here (from Ellen Thomas)
Leah Bolger: go here (from Ellen Thomas)
Ellen Thomas: go here (from Ellen Thomas)
Friday Morning Plenary:
Larry Spivack: go here (from Ellen Thomas
Friday Night Chicago Activist Panel:
Mary Dean: go here (from Ellen Thomas)
Olga Bautista: go here (from Ellen Thomas)
Jeanette Hernandez: go here (from Ellen Thomas)
Pam Smith: go here (from Ellen Thomas)
Friday Night Entertainment:
Sophie of Harmony, Hope and Healing: go here (from Martha Spiess)
Saturday Morning Plenary:
WILPF International and the Commission on the Status of Women: CSW 61 and Practicum/Local2Global: go here (from Ellen Thomas)
Saturday Afternoon Plenary:
Stefanee Asche: go here (from Ellen Thomas)
Mary Hanson Harrison: go here (from Ellen Thomas)
Presentations at Congress
WILPF 101 Workshop: STARTING (OVER)
Reports from Congress
Women Cultivating Peace, by Mary Hanson Harrison, go here.
Report by Shivani Pandey, go here.
Report by Candace Perry, go here.
Next Steps on Ban the Bomb, by Robin Lloyd, go here.
Congress Experience Survey Results
For a summary of the results from the Congress Survey, go here.
To see the ratings for all aspects surveyed, go here.
To see the complete list of open-ended responses, go here.
From left: Jane Magers, Maggie Rawland, Linda Sapbovida, Jan Corderman. Credit: Al McDonell.
By Jan Corderman, Des Moines Branch and WILPF US Treasurer
The way toward nuclear disarmament has many different paths. Members of the Des Moines Branch took the opportunity to discuss the issue and distribute leaflets at the downtown farmers market. In an act of solidarity, simultaneous with the June 17 Women’s March to Ban the Bomb, members asked shoppers to help press for a good outcome during the second round of negotiations at the UN.
WILPFers were pleased to learn that President Mary Hanson Harrison’s op-ed, Stand up for Humanity: Ban the Bomb!, published two days before the farmers market, had been noticed. There was agreement that “There are no borders, no walls and no soldiers to hold the line when the nuclear blast hits home (wherever that may be),” as Mary noted in the op-ed.
New Registration Link
Urgent! There is a NEW REGISTRATION LINK for all ONE WILPF CALL participants. Maestro and InterOccupy have retired the old registration link. Please use the new link going forward, and promote it with your members who are not yet on our calls.
Here is the new registration link.
http://myaccount.maestroconference.com/conference/register/NW7UOTL6KBLOV3E
Please share this registration link with your members. And, if you have not yet joined our ONE WILPF calls, add them to your calendar. The calls are held the second Thursday of each month, at 4 pm pacific / 7 pm eastern.
July-October Contest
We are offering a prize to the branch with the most number of new ONE WILPF CALL attendees joining the call for the first time during the four months of July through October 2017.
We’re trying to make our monthly calls more widelyattended. Between July and October, the branch to have the most number of NEW people on the ONE WILPF CALL will win a DVD of Noam Chomsky’s Requiem for the American Dream. This DVD would make a great gift or a film to show in a program meeting. Chomsky is a national treasure.
Be sure to ask many of your members who don’t usually join the call to consider participating between July and October!
Yvonne Logan in Detroit in 2014. Credit: JAPA.
WILPF US President Mary Hanson Harrison shared with members the news that Yvonne Logan, “a dynamic and devoted past-president and patron of WILPF US,” died on Saturday, June 24, in St. Louis, Missouri. Yvonne was 97.
In her message, Mary said: “She was remarkable both as an activist and as a human being, who lived nearly a century (97 years). ‘A woman of considerable stature,’ as one member described her. Another wrote, encapsulating her essence: ‘A good soul for sure.’ The last quote came from Rodger Routh, WILPF DSM member and videographer, remembering her unfailing support and kindness when we interviewed her for the WILPF US legacy fundraising video a few years ago.”
When she was a young mother herself, Yvonne worked on the Baby Tooth Survey for the St. Louis Committee for Nuclear Information. Mary Hanson Harrison reminded members that Yvonne Logan was especially proud of the success of the “baby tooth survey/campaign,” which originated with two St. Louis physicians, who measured the levels of the radioactive isotope Strontium 90 in young children’s baby teeth. (WILPF played an important part in requesting and gathering samples for the survey.) The results led President John F. Kennedy “to negotiate a treaty with the Soviet Union to end above-ground testing of atomic bombs in 1963”; see more about the 1959-1970 survey, and more about the Tooth Fairy project.
In this video, filmed at the annual meeting of the WILPF St. Louis Branch, on April 23, 2017, Yvonne talks about the survey.
Her obituary in the St. Louis Dispatch notes: “Yvonne joined the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom in 1956, and remained dedicated to the organization throughout her life, including a period as the president of its U.S. section. She helped to organize countless demonstrations and was arrested many times in the course of her career as an activist.” Read the full obituary.
Donations in Yvonne’s memory and as a tribute to her legacy may be made to WILPF US (send a check made out to PDF/WILPF, P.O. Box 13075, Des Moines, IA 50310, and note in the memo line “Yvonne Logan Legacy”); or to her favorite project, the Disarmament Fund (Yvonne Logan), at the Jane Addams Peace Association, in New York.
New York City, June 17. Courtesy WILPF US Facebook page.
The June 17 Women’s March and Rally to Ban the Bomb “was a success, but the work isn’t over.” So reads the headline on the homepage of the Ban the Bomb website.
More than 150 events were held in solidarity with the main march, in New York City. Sister marches were held across the US and Canada, and in countries in Europe, the Pacific Rim, Africa, and the Middle East. See a full list of the cities holding marches on the Ban the Bomb march and rally website.
A number of WILPF US branches held events of their own on June 17—only a few of which are described in related news articles here. Other photos and reports are being collected on the WILPF US Facebook page.
The WILPF International blog post, “It Rained, It Poured—We Conquered,” reported: “Amid torrential downpours, against a backdrop of high rises, yellow cabs and food vendors, crowds of determined activists pushed their way across midtown Manhattan on 17 June. The sea of umbrellas was punctuated by bright bold signs demanding an end to nuclear weapons, and calls and chants to ban the bomb.” WILPF played a leading role in this “event built on a strong tradition of women’s leadership in mobilising for peace and disarmament that has existed since the start of the atomic age.” Read the full blog.
Photos from June 17 have been collected on the WILPF Flickr page.
Reaching Critical Will has posted live video of the New York march, and more videos—both informative and entertaining can be viewed on the Ban the Bomb website.
Vivian Schatz, seated, with Sylvia Metzler, Greater Philadelphia Branch co-chair; Marlena Santoya; and Linda Schatz, one of Vivian’s daughters. Courtesy Tina Shelton.
By Tina Shelton, Co-Chair, Greater Philadelphia Branch
On May 27, 2017, the Greater Philadelphia Branch of WILPF gathered to honor Vivian Schatz with its Peace and Justice Dove Award for her many years of service to the cause of peace and justice. She was recognized for her dedication to helping make the world a more humanitarian place. Her activism was noted in stories, and her work at both the national level (board member) and the branch level (before the Internet!) was saluted.
Branch member Marlena Santoyo compared Vivian’s service to that of others who have dedicated their lives to WILPF and to peace, such as Jane Addams. A fellow science teacher shared how Vivian’s impact on other science teachers has reached students all over the city of Philadelphia and beyond, by using the silkworm to teach the life-cycle and interconnectedness of things at a Philadelphia School Teacher Advisory Center.
The local Branch of the Granny Peace Brigade was on hand to honor Vivian in song.
Inset photo: The Granny Peace Brigade serenaded Vivian Schatz and luncheon guests. Courtesy Tina Shelton.
WILPF US Section
PO Box 13075
Des Moines, IA 50310
Tel: 617-266-0999
