Women have been historically linked with anti war movements. While some scholars consider this position reductionist, others have argued that women's traditional roles as mothers and nurturers situate them as natural opponents of militarism and warfare. The women represented in this theme found the struggle for peace to be their life's work. Both
Vera Brittain and
Dora Russell were radicalized for peace by their very different experiences in England during the First World War: Brittain, a young woman who lost both her fiance and her brother in the conflict, and Russell, who saw her future husband imprisoned for his outspoken resistance.
Eva Sanderson and
Claire Culhane were both outspoken Canadian anti-Vietnam War activists.
In addition to the four case studies presented here, women are also featured in the counterpoint theme to this one, Women and War. They also appear elsewhere, presented in various themes: Marion S. Simpson under The Hamilton Connection, Constance Malleson and Jane Abbott in Civilians Caught up In War, and Vera Brittain once again, this time as a young woman exchanging letters with her sweetheart in the trenches Life at the Front.
Brittain, Vera, Paperback cover, April 1944
When war was declared on 4 August 1914, Vera Brittain, like most of her contemporaries, was swept up in the excitement which accompanied the announcement of hositilities. However, her voluminous papers reveal her transformation into a brave and unwavering voice for peace, even during the Second World War, when so many other public intellectuals concluded war to be the only recourse against the threat of Hitler’s Germany.
Photograph, [197-?] or [198-?]
Dora Russell (1894-1986) was much more than the second of Bertrand Russell’s series of four wives. A liberated young woman, with advanced views on women’s rights and an unconventional approach to sexuality, throughout her long life she worked tirelessly for the cause of greater human understanding and peace.
Toronto Association for Peace, Leaflet, [1958 or 1959]
A founding member of the Toronto Association for Peace, for 14 years Eva Sanderson led the group’s struggle for peace, primarily through its concerted efforts against nuclear weapons.
Photograph, 24 December 1969-12 January 1970
Canada’s foremost peace activist during the Vietnam War was an unlikely figure: a 50-year old hospital records librarian and grandmother whose first-hand experiences in Vietnam propelled her into an eight-year public battle with the Canadian government.
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