One woman's passion for peace and freedom : the life of Mildred Scott Olmsted

by Margaret Hope Bacon

Syracuse Studies on Peace and Conflict Resolution

On This Page

Description

"One Woman's Passion for Peace and Freedom recreates the public and private life of a tireless worker for peace. Mildred Scott Olmsted (1890-1990) traveled the world, drawing women into the struggle for peace with her hopeful vision and great energy. A protege of Jane Addams, she devoted her life to building the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), the first and most influential international peace group for women. She was an active participant in the great peace show more coalitions of both the 1930s and the 1960s, and she also played a major role in the ongoing struggle for civil liberties and civil rights. Her colleagues in this work included such figures as Roger Baldwin, Norman Thomas, Dorothy Day, Clarence Pickett, A. J. Muste, Emily Greene Balch, Martin Luther King, Jr., Coretta Scott King, and Eleanore Smeal." "Bacon is the first to consider every aspect of the life of Mildred Olmsted, from her birth in 1890 to her death almost 100 years later. She draws on extensive and detailed conversations with her subject as well as primary sources from the WILPF archives and Olmsted's personal letters. The result is a sensitive account of a complex woman with all her strengths and weaknesses unflinchingly portrayed." "Through this extraordinarily rich biographical portrayal, Bacon also succeeds in illuminating much that is significant in 20th-century American history: the century-long unfolding of diverse peace movements, with pioneering women of the WILPF at center stage; and the parallel development of feminist thought and women's struggles for equality and justice."--BOOK JACKET. show less

Tags

Recommendations

Member Reviews

3 reviews
A balanced and valuable survey of women and the politics of peace since the beginning of the nineteenth century.
A very helpful book about a woman nearly lost in the annals of Quaker women. In addition to recording her life, Bacon has also chronologised what was happening in the world at large, and the Quaker world.

Worth a re-read!
biography, Olmsted, peace

Members

Recently Added By

Author Information

30+ Works 1,318 Members
Margaret Hope Bacon, author and lecturer is a Swarthmore College Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters. The city of Philadelphia has honored her with both a Human Rights Award in 1976 and a Citation for Contributions to Women's History in 1987.

Series

Belongs to Publisher Series

Classifications

Genres
Nonfiction, Biography & Memoir, Politics and Government
DDC/MDS
327.1Society, government, & culturePolitical scienceInternational Relations: SpiesForeign policy and specific topics in international relations
LCC
JX1962 .O56 .B33Political ScienceInternational law, see JZ and KZ (obsolete)International law, see JZ and KZInternational arbitration, organization, etc.
BISAC

Statistics

Members
25
Popularity
1,071,447
Reviews
3
Rating
(5.00)
Languages
English
Media
Paper
ISBNs
1