Skip to main content
Header image

Great Peace March for Global Nuclear Disarmament Records

 Collection
Identifier: SCPC-DG-147

Scope and Contents

The records of the Great Peace March for Global Nuclear Disarmament (GPM) include administrative minutes, departmental working papers, correspondence to and from the marchers, accounts, poetry, art, and songs by marchers, GPM literature including releases, periodicals, a marcher directory, and manuals, as well as memorabilia, photographs, video cassettes, and newsclippings.

Of special significance are the original, chronologically arranged collections of documents found in the City Council Notebooks (SERIES I) where there are C.C. minutes, memos, policies, etc., and the Peace City News Notebooks (SERIES IV) where there are, in addition to the daily newspaper, releases, flyers, correspondence, etc. These original collections show a correct sequence of events as well as which documents were important to the marchers themselves.

Administrative documents include minutes from the Board of Directors (19 March 1986 - 4 May 1987) and the City Council (13 April 1986 - 6 November 1986), as well as judicial case documents, some of which are restricted for fifty years. Working papers of the departments and task forces include minutes, reports, memos, correspondence, and releases. There is a geographical file with material pertaining to different cities and states through which the GPM marched and marcher applications from the Entrance/Exit Department. There is additional correspondence to and from both the march as a unit and individuals in it.

A literature file contains the flyers, mailings, and other releases distributed by the GPM as well as its periodicals, including the daily Peace City News and a marcher directory, The Silver Thread. Journals, diaries, books, poetry, and songs as well as interviews and surveys give first-hand descriptions of the March. There are newsclippings, photographs, a documentary video cassette titled Just One Step: The Great Peace March (1988), and memorabilia presented to the March by city officials and the blue ribbon signed by marchers and wrapped around the Washington monument at the conclusion of the March.

Miscellaneous papers of Franklin Folsom and a separate series of documents pertaining to events after the March are also among the GPM records.

Correspondents include Allan Affeldt, Coleen Ashly, Daniel Chavez, Diane Clark, Evan Conroy, Ed Fallon, Franklin Folsom, Tom Johnson, Richard Polese, John Records, Mordecai Roth, and Dan Weinshenker.

Dates

  • Creation: 1986 - Date
  • Creation: Majority of material found within 1986

Creator

Language of Material

Materials are in English.

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research use.

Physical Access Note

All or part of this collection is stored off-site. Contact Swarthmore College Peace Collection staff at peacecollection@swarthmore.edu at least two weeks in advance of visit to request boxes.

Conditions Governing Use

None.

Historical Note

The Great Peace March for Global Nuclear Disarmament evolved from another peace effort, PRO-Peace (DG 152 in SCPC). Formally organized on April 2, 1985, by David Mixner of Los Angeles, California, PRO-Peace envisioned raising $20,000,000 to send 5000 marchers 3000 miles eastward to Washington D.C. The march departed from Los Angeles on March 1, 1986, with only 1200 participants and a fraction of the needed monies in hand. The marchers soon began to realize that the collapse of PRO-Peace was imminent and some began to organize a new structure to take its place. On March 14, while camped near Barstow, California, they received word from David Mixner that PRO-Peace no longer existed. Many marchers departed but those who remained incorporated on March 19 into the Great Peace March for Global Nuclear Disarmament. A home office was established in Santa Monica, California, and financial aid was received from individuals and organizations, including the Peace Development Fund and Physicians for Social Responsibility. The GPM, also known as Peace City and now numbering approximately 600, resumed its eastward walk on March 28. Its governance and organizational structure adapted to meet its evolving needs. Marchers assumed volunteer jobs, replacing the highly structured and paid PRO- Peace network, and a Policy Board began the task of governing. A City Council soon replaced the Policy Board with decisions made preferably by concensus. The Board of Directors was enlarged from three to seven members and a Judicial Board oversaw resolution of disputes and disciplinary problems among marchers. Three City Managers, one for each of the tent cities, plus department heads, formed an Operations Council. Mayor Diane Clark represented Peace City at ceremonial occasions as the GPM made its way across the United States.

Many departments and task forces were created to carry on the work of the March. These included the Community Interaction Agency which planned outreach events with communities the March passed through, the Field Department which later merged with the C.I.A., Education (Peace Academy) which worried about school for the children on the March as well as issue-oriented speeches for marchers, and Entrance/Exit which handled marcher applications.

A Statement of Purpose was approved with the following preamble "The Great Peace March for Global Nuclear Disarmament is an abolitionist movement. We believe that great social change comes about when the will of the people becomes focused on a moral imperative. By marching for nine months across the United States, we will create a non-violent focus for positive change; the imperative being that nuclear weapons ar politically, socially, economically and morally unjustifiable, and that, in any number, they are unacceptable. It is the responsibility of a democratic government to implement the will of its people, and it is the will of the people of the United States and many other nations to end the nuclear arms race."

The marchers crossed the United States through California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland, and arrived in Washington, D.C. on November 14. Concluding ceremonies were held the following day in Meridian Park,followed by speeches in front of the White House, and closing ceremonies at the Lincoln Memorial.

Extent

39 linear ft. (39 linear ft.)

Additional Description

Abstract

In 1986 six hundred people marched across the United States to demonstrate their opposition to the world-wide nuclear arms race. The march took nine months from California to Washington, D.C. The marchers wrote: "we will create a non-violent focus for positive change; the imperative being that nuclear weapons are politically, socially, economically and morally unjustifiable, and that, in any number, they are unacceptable." The GPM was also a traveling intentional and communal society.

Arrangement

The Great Peace March derived from PRO-Peace (DG 152) so some documents from each group were moved to the other. Chronological order was used except in the Field Department geographical file and among such records as marcher applications where, in both instances, alphabetical order was used.

As discussed in the Scope and Content section, both the City Council Notebooks in SERIES I and the Peace City News Notebooks in SERIES IV are in original order. Much of the other GPM material received by SCPC was neither in notebooks nor in any kind of order. Much of it was subsequently arranged by placing together similar kinds of material, i.e., correspondence, periodicals, art, etc. The departmental origin of many of the working files was unknown.

The correspondence found in SERIES III was found unfiled within the collection. A significant quantity is also found scattered through the working files where it was found.

Franklin Folsom's scrapbooks of newsclippings were not photocopied as was done with the other newsclippings. Some of his papers are not in SERIES VIII but were placed with related material.

Some memorabilia was discarded, particularly souvenirs received along the route which were not peace-related, such as high school yearbooks and frisbees. Most memorabilia is housed in the Oversize section of SCPC.

Photographs and A-V materials are housed separately for conservation purposes. Locations are listed in SERIES IX.

Later accessions to the collection remain in the order in which they were donated.

Ownership and Custodial History

The Swarthmore College Peace Collection is the official repository for these records.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Great Peace March for Global Nuclear Disarmament; and others

Accessions incorporated into the processed series include:

  1. [Acc. 86A-133]: Great Peace March
  2. [Acc. 86A-141]: Franklin Folsom
  3. [Acc. 86A-142]: Claire Colfax
  4. [Acc. 86A-145]: Franklin Folsom
  5. [Acc. 86A-146]: Sarah Willner
  6. [Acc. 86A-147]: Roger Voelker
  7. [Acc. 86A-149]: Roberta Wilson
  8. [Acc. 86A-152]: Saafalya (Sara) Banks
  9. [Acc. 86A-155]: Dan Weinshenker
  10. [Acc. 86A-157]: Franklin Folsom
  11. [Acc. 86A-159]: Great Peace March
  12. [Acc. 86A-160]: Billy Lieb
  13. [Acc. 86A-161]: Richard Polese
  14. [Acc. 87A-004]: Ed Fallon
  15. [Acc. 87A-009]: Franklin Folsom
  16. [Acc. 87A-014]: Dan Weinshenker
  17. [Acc. 87A-019]: Franklin Folsom
  18. [Acc. 87A-025]: Sarah Willner
  19. [Acc. 87A-027 [?]]: Diane Clark
  20. [Acc. 87A-046]: Great Peace March
  21. [Acc. 87A-048]: M.L. Nocross
  22. [Acc. 87A-051]: Dan Weinshenker
  23. [Acc. 87A-054]: Dan Weinshenker
  24. [Acc. 87A-060]: Great Peace March
  25. [Acc. 87A-065]: Great Peace March
  26. [Acc. 87A-076]: Sallie E. Gratch
  27. [Acc. 87A-094]: Dan Coogan
  28. [Acc. 87A-106]: Dan Weinshenker
  29. [Acc. 87A-118]: Wendy Innis
  30. [Acc. 87A-119]: Chris Ball
  31. [Acc. 87A-133]: June Thompson
  32. [Acc. 88A-007]: Lisa ?
  33. [Acc. 88A-011]: Great Peace March
  34. [Acc. 88A-013]: Great Peace March
  35. [Acc. 88A-035]: Franklin Folsom
  36. [Acc. 88A-068]: Sarah Willner
  37. [Acc. 88A-082]: Dan Weinshenker
  38. [Acc. 89A-144]: Madonna E. Newburg
  39. [Acc. 90A-006]: Stephanie Wolf
  40. [Acc. 90A-047]: Cathy Zheutlin
  41. [Acc. 90A-105]: Franklin Folsom
  42. [Acc. 91A-009]: Ocean Tree Books: Peace Like a River
  43. [Acc. 91A-017]: Jane Smiley: Journals written by donor on Great Peace March
  44. [Acc. 97A-039]: Diane Clark: Photographs, audio cassette, other miscellaneous Great Peace March material created or collected by donor
  45. [Acc. 01A-052]: Updates on Great Peace March
  46. [Acc. 01A-064]: Ben Atherton Feron: articles about the Great Peace March, 1986
  47. [Acc. 01A-065]: Email list of Great Peace March participants, 2001
  48. [Acc. 02A-019]: S. Michele McGadde
  49. [Acc. 04A-029]: Jacqueline Smith: 360 color slides of the Great Peace March, taken by Khan Mahanm
  50. [Acc. 04A-075]: Judy Jones: newspaper clippings on the Great Peace March, 1986

Related Materials

For the catalog record for this collection and to find materials on similar topics, search the library's online catalog.

Archived Great Peace March Web Site

These web sites were created by the "alumnae" of the 1986 Great Peace March. The sites cover GPM activities since the march. The World Wide Web did not exisit in 1986 when the GPM took place. Beginning in 2002 the Wayback Machine of the Internet Archives (IA) cached theGPM's web site. Please check both URLs listed as there are some each may list different dates on which web sites were saved.

The links are provided here for the convenience of researchers interested in the history of the GPM's web presence. The Swarthmore College Peace Collection has no control over the web sites or how they are saved by IA.

Dates of web sites marked with an * indicate a change in that site from the last saved web site.

http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.greatpeacemarch.org/
  1. Pro Peace Records (DG 152)

Related Materials

Pro-Peace Records

Separated Materials

Items removed:

  1. Oversize documents
  2. Memorabilia: Blue ribbons used in Washington, D.C.; 1 banner; other memorabilia collected by the Great Peace March is listed separately
  3. Buttons
  4. Bumper stickers
  5. Photographs: photographs; 39 slides; 360 slides by Khan Mahanm
  6. Audiovisual items
  7. Audiocassettes
  8. Videorecordings (Including movie and out takes, by Cathy Zheutlin)
  9. Phono disk
  10. Computer diskettes

Complete list of removed memorabilia: Wooden Key , plywood, 20” long, “Earlham, Iowa Your hope gives us hope” Wooden Key, painted gold, with red and gold rosette ribbon, 21 1/2” long. Wooden Key, painted gold, “City of Brooklyn, Iowa,” 16” long. Wooden Key, with red peace symbol, one side “10/30/86,” other side “Princeton, NJ, 14” long. Wooden Key, plywood, painted black, with round sticker on each side, “Overton the heart of corn country,” 20 1/4” long. Wooden Key, solid wood, sanded, “To The Great Peace March West Branch, Iowa, 1986,” 16” long. Wooden Key, “Lewis, Iowa,” 17 1/2” long. Polished Metal Key, “Town of Keenesburg June 3, 1986,” 13” long. Cardboard Key, covered with tin foil, blue ribbon and label “Merino, California,” 12” long. Metal Key with pretzel head, “Reading, PA, The Pretzel Capital of the World,” “Mayor Karen A. Miller,” 9” long. Metal Key “City of Columbus, NE.” 7” long. Metal Key “Shabbona” 8” long. Metal Key “Avon Lake, Ohio,” 7” long. Metal Keys and bottle openers (2 Metal Key “Town of Phillipsburg New Jersey,” 5 1/2” long, in box. Metal Key “City of Des Moines, Iowa,” 9 1/4” long. Pewter Metal Key “City of Iowa City, Iowa,” 7 1/2” long. Black Cardboard Key, “Sedgwick Bill Sander Mayor” with striped ribbon, 14” long. Metal Key “City of Chicago, Incorporated 4th March 1837,” “Harold Washington, Mayor,” 8 1/2” long, in box. Plastic Key (chain Metal Key pin “City of Grand Island,” 1 3/4” long, in case. Metal Key pin, “City of Newark, Delaware,” 1 3/4” long, in case. Metal Key “City of Kent, Ohio 9-16-86,” 6” long. Metal Key ”City of Papillionm Nebr.” 8 1/4” long. Metal Key [maybe CO.] 7” long. Metal Key “Miles Michigan, City of Four Flags,” 7 1/2” long. Metal Key “MIshawaka, Indiana,” 6” long. Metal Key “Town of Avon, Colorado,” “State of colorado 1876,” “Key to the City,” 6” long. Metal Key “Perrysburg, Ohio,” “Key to the City,” 5 1/2” long. Gold Seal of Aurora, IL., paper. Plastic button, “Porter Pride... Yes! Merger... NO!!” [Indiana]. Metal button, “Welcome to adel, Adel Chamber of Commerce,” Metal button, “We heart [love] Shippensburg.” Metal buttons (2), “I Love Mitchellville.” Metal button, “Ragrbrai Xii Adel July 24, 1984.” Metal button, “Adel, Iowa Homecoming July 2-6, 1986” Metal button, “Forget the Rest Brady’s Best Brady, Ne.” Metal button,Davenport Celebrate 150 years 1836-1886,” on yellow card. Metal button, red smiley face [Adair Iowa]. Metal button, “Heartland * Peace * Pilgrimage” “Journey to the Center,” [Columbus, NE.] Plastic key chain “Livingston College” Rutgers New Jersey. Fabric patch on yellow card from City of Davenport, Iowa. Fabric patch “Freedom Police” Fabric patch “Harrisburg Police” Envelope (cover Leather luggage tag “Seal of the State of Illinois” Chocolate box from Hershey, PA. Owl made from nuts and other metal pieces Brass belt buckle “Frisco Summit County Colorado.” Metal label pin “City of Newark Delaware.” Metal label pin “City of Bettendorf, Iowa.” Metal label pins (2 Metal label pin “Ohio the heart of it all.” Metal pin “Frisco.” Metal pin “Silverthorne Colorado” Wooden tokens, (4 Metal medallion “100th anniversary Julesburg, Colorado,” “Wickedest City in the West, 1886-1986.” Metal medallion “Swanton Ohio” “Village of Swanton State of Ohio.” Metal medallion “Glenwood Springs Centennial” “Garfield County Centennial” Metal medallion “Wauseon, Ohio 125th Anniversary,” “Chief Ottokee 1979” Metal medallion “Seal of Everett Bourough Bloody Run 1795” in box. Metal and paper plaque, West Unity, Ohio Chamber of Commerce, 1986.” Metal medallion on marble base “Garfield County Centennial l883 to 1983.” Metal medallion on wooden base “City of Portage Michigan.” Three balloons from Soviet Delegates on Mississippi Peace Cruise. Wooden item from Girard, Ohio. Rubber stamp on wooden block, “The Great Peace March 1986.” Wooden gavel from mayor of Economy, PA. Paper banner from school children. Proclamation with envelope from the Mayor of Harrisburg, PA declaring Great Peace March Day. Round fabric collar (? Metal key on wooden plaque, with brass plate “The Great Peace March Sturgis, Mich. aug. 27, 1986.” Signed base ball “In honor of the Great Peace March.” Nylon banner, “We can create life without war,” “The Great Peace March 1986”. Envelope from the office of the Mayor of Ligonier (PA). Brass plate on wooden plaque “The Great Peace Marchers We beseech you; emissaries of Peace with Justice. Go out now with our universal love dwelling in your hearts. With friendship and pity for all beings, and hate for none. With a well of forgiveness; and a firm, unshakeable resolution to do the work at hand.” Wooden key, painted gold, “Anita, Iowa,” 16 3/4” long. Green “pinny” “Green-keepers” “The Great Peace March.” Book “The Promise of World Peace.” T-Shirt, Yellow, (2, one child, one adult), “It’s Up to Us to Stop Bailly.” T-Shirt, White, “Walking for Our Lives, The Great Peace March.” T-Shirt, White, “The Great Peace March for Global Nuclear Disarmament.” T-Shirt, Blue, “The Great Peace March for Nuclear Disarmament. LA Wash. DC.” Apron, Green, with white polka dots. Fabric flyer, “The Great Peace March Across America,” with map. Red Cross banner from medic van. Fabric sign “Our taxes must be used for life not death.” Proclamation, framed, from Mahor of the Borough of Leonia. Fabric piece with red heart. Ribbon banner, yellow, in Russian(?) Arm band, blue “Peace Day Roosevelt Island GPM identification card of Virginia Mangus. Proclamation, paper on wooden plaque from the Mayor of Santa Fe, New Mexico

Legal Status

Copyright to the records created by the Great Peace March have been transferred to the Swarthmore College Peace Collection. Copyright to all other materials is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Processing Information

Processed and checklist prepared by Martha P. Shane (January 1989); updated by Wendy E. Chmielewski 1990; finding aid created by Wendy E. Chmielewski, October 2009; finding aid updated September 2018.

Related Names

Subjects

Administrative Information

Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Revision Statements

  • 2018: The file list was standardized in Summer 2017 by Mary Olesnavich in preparation for importing into ArchivesSpace. Tessa Chambers added the notes in Fall 2017. Wendy E. Chmielewski updated this finding aid February 2019.

Find It at the Library

Find It at the Library

Most of the materials in this catalog are not digitized and can only be accessed in person. Please see our website for more information about visiting or requesting repoductions from Swarthmore College Peace Collection Library

http://www.swarthmore.edu/library/peace/
Contact:
500 College Avenue
Swarthmore 19081-1399 USA US
610-328-8557
610-328-8544 (Fax)

trico lib
Bryn Mawr College Special Collections
Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections