In response to the growing community interest in acquiring skills for conflict resolution, and access to educational resources in peace, conflict, and nonviolence studies, the new Center for Nonviolent Solutions will launch on Saturday, October 17, 2009 during a celebration at the Worcester Public Library, Saxe Room, from 9:30-11 a.m. The free and open event includes appearances by Congressman James McGovern, and by Colman McCarthy, nationally known journalist and lecturer, and the announcement of a community survey on the subject of nonviolence.
“We are excited to launch the Center at our upcoming event, when we will celebrate the work of the many existing groups in the Worcester region that encourage nonviolent solutions to conflict every day,” according to Michael True, Chair of the Board, CNVS. “At our public event we look forward to informing local civic, religious, and public school system leaders about the purpose and proposed action plan for the Center, as well as to announce the provocative results of our recently completed community survey”
For more information, visit www.centerfornonviolentsolution.org
The Center for Nonviolent Solutions, located at the Worcester Friends Meeting House, 901 Pleasant Street in Worcester, was founded in 2008 by concerned citizens of Central MA. The Center seeks to promote alternatives to violence in transforming conflict at the local, national, and international levels. The Center will: provide resources and take action to assist in peacemaking and conflict resolution; increase awareness of the consequences of violence and the effectiveness of nonviolent solutions; offer resources—film, books, speakers, syllabi—on peace, conflict, and nonviolence studies at the elementary, secondary, college, and adult community levels; and facilitate collaboration among Worcester area peace groups, religious groups, and local groups working for sustainable and just communities. Board members of the Center are Carol Balderelli (Southbridge), Joseph de Rivera (Webster), William Densmore (Worcester), Michael Langa (Worcester), John Paul Marosy, Treasurer (Worcester), Paul Ropp (Worcester), Claire Schaeffer-Duffy (Worcester), Michael True, Chair (Worcester), and Martha Yager (Seekonk). The Center’s comprehensive website provides a wealth of information and teaching tools for groups and individuals. Volunteers and financial contributions are welcome.
Visit www.centerfornonviolentsolutions.org
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Worcester and the History of Nonviolence
by: Michael True
Board members who initiated the Center for Nonviolent Solutions, to be announced October 17 at the Saxe Room, Worcester Public Library, were well aware of the rich tradition of nonviolent activists and organizations in the Worcester area.
Since incorporation as a town 250 years ago, Worcester--as well as its neighboring communities---has been the birthplace and residence of a number of remarkable justice-seekers and peacemakers. Abigail Kelley Foster, for whom Abby’s House is named, and her husband, Stephen Symonds Foster, for example,were ardent abolitionists and nonviolent activists in the mid-19th century.
Other prominent figures in that period include the great feminist, Lucy Stone, the first woman to address a Protestant congregation in Massachusetts, and Elihu Burritt, “the village blacksmith.” Burritt, with Adin Ballou, who wrote the first extended discourse on nonviolence, Christian Non-resistance, 1846, co-founded the first international peace society in the world. A member of their League of International Brotherhood took the following pledge: “Believing all war to be inconsistent with the spirit of Christianity, and destructive to the best interests of mankind, I do hereby pledge myself never… to yield any voluntary support or sanction to the preparation for or prosecution of any war.”
Throughout the 20th century as well, Worcester residents maintained their commitment to resisting injustice, resolving conflict, and bringing about social change without harming people. Since the 1930s, the Catholic Worker movement, dedicated to feeding the hungry, housing the homeless, and building a peace culture, has been active in the region, with Houses of Hospitality in Worcester, Hubbardston, and Upton.
During the Civil Rights movement, members of the local NAACP participated in the March on Selma, and others initiated a forum for social justice at 65 Main Street, which became the SNCC shop, where Abbie Hoffman sold items produced by civil rights activists in the South. In the spirit of the civil rights legislation passed during President Johnson’s administration, the city eventually established a Human Rights Commission, involving Shirley Wright, among others.
During the 1960s, Clark University served as the nerve center for the movement against the war in Southeast Asia, with several students and faculty going to jail for civil disobedience against the draft. This commitment to peacemaking continues at Clark, in its academic program in peace, conflict, and nonviolence studies. Its peace library, as well as the New England Peace Studies Association, were later initiated there.
In 1968, local citizens Daniel Dick, Dale Fair, and several Episcopal clergy co-founded Clergy and Laity Against the War in Vietnam. In order to assist young men in making decisions about selective service. Thurston Taylor, former head of the Worcester Public Library, established the Draft Information Center, and in 1969, Annabel Wolfson and the Reverend Paul Henniges, Unitarian Universalist minister, directed the Interfaith Center for Draft Information,. The latter organization was housed at the offices of the Worcester County Ecumenical Council, which regularly brought peace and justice issues, including nuclear disarmament, to the attention of the wider community.
Today, initiatives for peace, justice, and nonviolent social change continue through the efforts of various organizations and individuals. The Mustard Seed Catholic Worker at 91 Piedmont Street feeds about 200 street people every day, while the House of St. Francis and Therese, 52 Mason Street, provides hospitality for homeless people and maintains an active programs of nonviolent direct action and education. Its members have been arrested for resisting weapons of mass destruction at war manufacturers in Massachusetts and risked their lives, as peacemakers, in attempting to transform conflicts in Iraq, Israel/Palestine, and Yugoslavia.
Worcester Peaceworks maintains a program of education and action to end the war in Iraq. Other local peacemaking initiatives involving students and teachers in conflict resolution at Burncoat High School. Annually, the YWCA sponsors a Week Without Violence, with walks, panel discussions, and other programs focusing on women’s issues and cooperation among local agencies on issues of violence.
The Center for Nonviolent Solutions intends to build on this rich tradition of nonviolence in Central Massachusetts, as well as 400 programs in peace and conflict studies and research centers, regionally, nationally, and internationally. Its goals include providing support for area teachers interested in peace education, with syllabi, books, films speakers, and staff development workshops, and encouraging the revival of the student mediation program in the Worcester public schools.
Center for Nonviolent Solutions
901 Pleasant St.
Worcester, MA 01609
www.centerfornonviolentsolution.org
Tel. 774-641-1566 or 508-747-82228
