Help Us Prepare for 75th Anniversary Activities
Published on April, 04 2020
Thousands of paper cranes were donated to WILPF US last summer by Japanese atomic bomb survivors and peace activists. Photo by Jan Corderman.
By Ellen Thomas, Cherrill Spencer, and Robin Lloyd
Disarm/End Wars Issue Committee
May 2020
Plans are underway to mark two important 75th anniversaries, and we need your help!
WILPFers Robin Lloyd, Cherrill Spencer, and Charlotte Dennett are preparing an interactive website showing a timeline that follows the unfolding of two major events that happened in 1945: (a) development of the atomic bombs which were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and (b) the creation of the United Nations. There will be Zoom meetings on various dates along the timeline with keynote speakers.
We will soon be sending out an eAlert with the link to this interactive timeline, and will be asking you to let your friends know about it.
Please look for the eAlert, when we will announce the date and time of the first Zoom event. Martha Hennessey, one of the Kings Bay Plowshares defendants due to be sentenced on May 28-29, will be speaking!
Paper cranes, books, and videos
Jan Corderman is volunteering to send out packages from the WILPF office to all 40 WILPF branches, each containing hundreds of folded paper cranes. We will be distributing the thousands that were donated to us last summer by Japanese atomic bomb survivors and other Japanese peace activists…six huge boxes full!
Robin Lloyd is planning a display for Burlington, VT, and Judy Adams is planning activities with the cranes in the San Francisco mid-peninsula region. Branches should contact Jan Corderman ahead of time to let her know you’re looking forward to receiving them, and to ensure that they go to the right address (not a P.O. Box).
We are developing a letter to send in the package that will include a list of books about Hiroshima that have been written for children, youths, and adults, and films that you might want to show remotely or (if possible) in gatherings. It will also include a request that you send announcements of your commemoration activities this year, and photos from past Hiroshima and Nagasaki events, to Ellen Thomas to post on the WILPF US Facebook page. Also send Ellen your suggestions for books and videos that people may want to use.
