Sunday, August 03, 2008
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What was the Women's Encampment for a Future of Peace and Justice?
WEFPJ was an all-women’s community of protest and challenge to violence and militarism housed on 52 acres bordering the Seneca Army Depot in upstate New York.
Commonly known as the Seneca Women’s Peace Camp or Seneca, the encampment was modeled after the Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camp in England (1981-2000) where hundreds of British sisters were creating nonviolent protest in the face of the scheduled deployment of U.S. Cruise missiles.
Though the U.S. military steadfastly refused to either “confirm or deny” the presence of nuclear weapons at the Seneca Depot, the base was uniformly regarded as a storage site and departure point for both the Cruise and Pershing II weapons bound for Europe.
In the summer of 1983, 12,000 women from around the world participated in nonviolence trainings, direct actions and civil disobedience at Seneca resulting in 950 arrests.
In 1994 the encampment transitioned into Women’s PeaceLand, an intentional community whose purpose was to promote and implement the principles of peace, nonviolence and anti-oppression.
Due to limited resources and waning outside interest, the peace camp farm and land was reclaimed by Seneca County for back taxes in March 2006.
The Seneca Army Depot was approved for base realignment and closure in 1995 and closed in 2000. By 2008, however, a portion of the base was reopened to serve as a training ground for soldiers from Ft. Drum.
CoNTRiBuTe To THe PeHP BLoG
Were you at Seneca or Greenham, even for just an afternoon? Share your story with the rest of us by commenting on the blog. Click on comments below the post, write what you have to say in the box, click on other, write in your name, skip your web page (unless you have one...), type in the letters of the word verification (so advertising machines don't bombard us) and then click on publish your comments. YOU DID IT! If that doesn't work for you, you can always email us at peacecampherstory@yahoo.com
PHoToGRaPHS
- Seneca Slide Show, 1983
- Cristina Biaggi, 1983
- Karen Edelstein, 1983
- Hazel Brampton, 1983
- Renee-Nicole Felice, 1984
- Jojo Whilden, 1987
- Alice O'Malley, 1983-2007
- Jesse Doe, 2008
- GatherSing, 2008
NeWSPaPeR aRTiCLeS
- 1982
- May 1982
- June 14, 1984
- mid-July 1983
- July 31, 1983
- 1983
- 1983
- 1983
- October 11, 1983
- 1985
- July 7, 1986
- August 30, 2007
- February 13, 2008
- 2008
- 2008
SoNGS
- 001 Neutron Ron
- 002 Down at Greenham on a Spree
- 003 Shameless Hussies
- 004 Seneca Rebel Wimmin
- 005 Every Womon Here
- 006 Peace Camp Lullaby
- 007 Beth's Song (v)
- 008 Listen to My Heartsong
- 009 Revolution Talk(v)
- 010 My Old Mum's a Lesbo
- 011 Rise with the Fires of Freedom
- 012 Women are Gonna Rise Up
- 013 Circle for Survival
- 014 You've got to Stand Up
- 015 Look to the Women
- 016 Peace Camp
- 017 We Come from the Goddess
- 018 Can't Kill the Spirit
- 019 We Are the Flow
- 020 A Plea for One World
- 021 Deep Peace
- 022 Woman Am I
- 023 Wearing our Long Wing Feathers
- 024 The Earth, The Drum...
- 025 Scheming
- 026 Leaping Out into the Darkness (v)
- 027 Verity
- 028 Fuck Off Sexist Pigs
- 029 Traveling Woman
- 030 Were you there on the bridge at Waterloo
- 031 Smash the System (v)
- 032 PCC to the Rev (v)
- 033 All One Planet (v)
- 034 Here is My Hand (v)
- 035 Down By Seneca (v)
- 036 Waterloo Talking Blues (v)
WiND WaLKeRS
- Gail Walker
- Luna Moon aka Sophia West
- Barbara Deming
- Anne Herman
- Kady Ax Maker to the Queen aka Kady Van Deurs
HeRSToRieS
- 001 Carrie Stearns (t)
- 002 Carolyn Mow (t)
- 003 Karen Beetle (t)
- 004 Michelle Crone (vt)
- 006 Shad Reinstein (v)
- 009 Bird aka Johna Cochran (vt)
- 011 Claire Beach (v)
- 012 Judi Kelemen (t)
- 018 Elliott BatTzedek (vt)
- 026 Lucinda Sangree (v)
- 033 Cristina Biaggi (vt)
005 Becky Condon
007 Doreen Cornwall
008 Suzanne Sowinska
010 Jody Bear aka Jody Laine
014 Linda Field
015 Z aka Deborah Zubow
016 Susan Shachter
017 Barbara Reale
019 Brenda Miller
020 Otter aka Karen Escovitz
021 Sarra Lev
022 Laura Boswell Thornton
023 Maria Herlihy
024 Wolfgrrl aka Billijo Wolf
025 Andrea Doremus
027 Samoa aka Kim Blacklock
028 Helen Freedwomon aka Helen Friedman
029 Amy Bat Tzipora
030 Ruby Hohawk
031 Linci Comy
032 Janette Sperber
034 Dorothy Emerson
035 Nancy Clover
036 Michelle Murray
037 Grace Ross
038 Laura Flanders
039 Quinn Dilkes
040 Rosalie Regal
041 Charlotte Koons
042 Jennifer Miller
043 Helene Aylon
044 Alessandra Nichols
045 Martha Mollison
046 Mary Loehr
047 Clare Grady
048 Marilyn Rivchin
049 Susie Kossack
050 Ellie Rosenburg
051 Louise Cummings
052 Chris Huston
053 Tracy Sabo
054 Bryna Fireside
055 Lars Friend
056 Karen Edelstein
057 Cathy Sherwood
058 Cat Tague
059 Arora Crone
060 Judy Besemer
061 Sorrrel Hays
062 Marilyn Ries
063 Carol Baum
064 Barbara Gerber
065 Nancy Osborne
066 Carman Sivill Bradshaw
067 Karen Kerney
068 Julie Hammer
069 Diana Cramer
070 Mary Ann Zeppetello
071 Karen Mihalyi
072 Walter Putter
073 Claudia Gebhardt
074 Ruth Putter
075 Kathleen Rumpf
076 Andy Mager
077 Arlene Ahl
078 Linda DeStefano
079 Jane Begley
080 Beth Howe Miller
081 Renee-Noelle Felice
082 Sally Roesch Wagner
083 Sera Brown
084 Eugene Korvos
085 Mima Cataldo
086 Lucille Povero
087 Twilight
088 Sita Lang
089 Lynn Varricchio
090 Evelyn Bailey
091 Claire Parker
092 Estelle Coleman
093 Alice O'Malley
094 Hershe Michele Kramer
095 Louise Krasniewicz
096 Wanda Metcalf
097 Phenix Hearn
098 Pam Anndagah aka Flanigan
099 Leeann Irwin
100 Catherine Allport
101 Bobbie Falls
102 Jeanne Michele Charbonnet
103 Terri Fredlund
104 robin earth
105 Rachel Flanigan
106 Woody Blue
107 Miriasiem Barnes
108 Jasmine Laine Kramer
109 Penny Batelli
110 Terri Shay
111 Laura Briggs
PReViouS PoSTS
- GaLLeRy August 26, 1984 - Ruth Putter
- GaLLeRy August 1, 1983 - Ruth Putter
- GaLLeRy August 20 and 28, 1983 - Ruth Putter
- GaLLeRy The Water Tower, August 1983
- Seneca Women's Encampment for a Future of Peace an...
- GaLLeRy July 16, 1983 - Ruth Putter
- GaLLeRy August 5, 1983 - Ruth Putter
- GaLLeRy Aug. 20, 1983 - Ruth Putter
- GaLLeRy July 4, 1983 - Ruth Putter
- aRTiCLe May 30, 1983
aRCHiVeS
- October 2005
- November 2005
- January 2006
- March 2006
- April 2006
- July 2006
- August 2006
- September 2006
- October 2006
- December 2006
- January 2007
- May 2007
- June 2007
- October 2007
- November 2007
- December 2007
- January 2008
- February 2008
- March 2008
- April 2008
- May 2008
- June 2008
- July 2008
- August 2008
- September 2008
- October 2008
LiNKS
- Seneca WEFPJ Archives at Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe College
- Seneca WEFPJ Archives at Swarthmore College
- Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp
- Greenham Common Peace Camp Songbook
- Code Pink Women for Peace
We aRe THe WeB
- Andrea Doremus
- Carolyn Mow
- Catherine Allport
- Dorothy Emerson
- Eli aka Elizabeth Clare
- Elliott batTzedek
- Grace Ross
- Helen Freidman
- Helene Aylon
- Jody Laine, Shad Reinstein
- Karen Escovitz aka Otter
- Kate Donnelly
- Kim Blacklock aka Samoa
- Laura Briggs
- Laura Flanders
- Leeann Irwin
- Luna Moon aka Sophia West
- Margot Adler
- Miriasiem Barnes
- Mykel aka Myke Johnson
- Sarra Lev aka Levine
- Su Fredrich
ReSouRCeS
BooKS
MuSiC
ViDeo
aRTiCLeS
PaPeRS
Common Women, Uncommon Practices: The Queer Feminisms of Greenham by Sasha Roseneil, Casssell, London, 2000.
Greenham Women Everywhere: Dreams, Ideas and Actions from the Women's Peace Movement by Alice Cook and Gwyn Kirk - South End Press, 1983.
Nuclear Summer: The Clash of Communities at the Seneca Women's Peace Encampment by Louise Krasniewicz - Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1992.
Panhandling Papers by Kady - Common Wealth Printing, 1989.
Prisons That Could Not Hold by Barbara Deming - Athens: The University of Georgia Press, 1995.
Rocking the Ship of State: Toward a Feminist Peace Politics edited by Adrienne Harris and Ynestra King - Boulder: Westview Press, 1989.
Walking to Greenham: How the Peace-camp began and the Cold War ended by Ann Pettitt - Honno: South Glamorgan, Wales, 2006.
We are Ordinary Women: A Chronicle of the Puget Sound Women's Peace Camp by Participants of the Puget Sound Women's Peace Camp - The Seal Press, Seattle, 1985.
We Are the Web: The Women's Encampment for a Future of Peace and Justice by Catherine Allport - Artemis Project, NYC, 1984.
The Women's Encampment for a Future of Peace and Justice: Images and Writings edited by Mima Cataldo, Ruth Putter, Byrna Fireside and Elaine Lytel - Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1987.
Peace Camp Sings, 1987. Tallapoosa Music, New York, NY.
The Great Peace March: Wild Wimmin for Peace, 1986. To order, call: 412-361-3022
The Average Dyke Band: Songs from Seneca, December 1985.
Every Woman Here: Remnants of Seneca 1982-2006. Peace Encampment Herstory Project, 2007. 33 min.
C.D.: the Ritual of Civil Disobedience. Sorrel Hays, Marilyn Ries and Sara Halprin, 1987. 23 min.
Stronger Than Before: The Women's Encampment for a Future of Peace and Justice. Women's Video Collective, 1983. 26 min.
Deming, Barbara. Dec. 1984. "Building the 'Beloved Community.'" The Nonviolent Activist.
Doremus, Andrea, compiler. Fall 1999. "Seneca Stories: Responses to a call for Memories." Iris. pp. 36-47.
Finkelstein, S. Naomi. Winter 1994/95. "McRunes and Mazdas." Sinister Wisdom, #54, pp. 72-79.
Joy, Margaretta. April-August 2003. "We are the Web": Letter Writing and the 1980s Women's Peace Movement," Prose Studies, Vol. 26, #1-2, pp. 196-218. Routledge.
McDaniel, Judith. "One Summer at Seneca: A Lesbian Feminist Looks Back in Anger." Heresies, #20, pp. 6-11.
Chmielewski, Wendy E.: "Resisting Nuclear Madness: The Utopian Vision of the Women's Encampment for a Future of Peace and Justice," presented at the Rutgers Center for Historical Analysis, New Brunswick, New Jersey, February 6, 2001.
3 comments:
Thinking Aloud recorded a show on Women's rights. You seem to have an opinion on the freedoms of women. We would love for you to listen to our show and share some of your thoughts about it on our post.
The faces of many of these women are etched in my memory from a time in my life that is so far away but fondly remembered. It was good to see them again. Thanks for sharing the pictures. lisa
Thx so much for sharing the photos. Such an important time in my life. I lived in Geneva at the time. purple shorts 3 photos from bottom. I carry this in my soul and everyday life. deb zeleznik...in hawaii now
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