Skipton Friends celebrate centenary of peace congress
International Congress of Women in The Hague remembered
A special event took place at the Friends Meeting House in Skipton, North Yorkshire, on 27 January to remember the International Congress of Women that was held in The Hague in 1915 as a response to the carnage of world war one.
The aim of the conference was to urge the governments of the warring nations to reach a peaceful settlement. Six months ago it was decided to commemorate the courage and determination shown by these women by making a Peace Quilt.
Barbara Kipling, of Skipton Meeting, explained: ‘The project was instigated by local Quakers and Grassington Peace Group, in which twenty-six people from two generations collaborated to create the quilt. Most of the individual squares were made locally but several came from New Zealand and America.’
The film These Dangerous Women, produced by the Women’s International League of Peace and Freedom, was shown at the event. Barbara said: ‘It was moving and insightful to hear what motivated the women who went to that conference a century ago. They had to travel through war-torn Europe and overcome many bureaucratic obstacles in their endeavours.’
An important legacy of the conference was the creation of an influential women’s peace group. Barbara explained that the United Nations was founded largely on the precepts and ordinances of the 1915 conference, which marked the blueprint for inter-state collaboration.
Barbara said: ‘The audience was then treated to some wonderful, uplifting singing of peace songs from around the world by Sheeptown Songsters – a local community choir.’ Afterwards people enjoyed homemde cakes and refreshments and viewed the quilt.
She added: ‘It was also appropriate to take a moment to remember a female peace campaigner, Concepcion Picciotto, who maintained a vigil outside the White House for more than three decades. She died this week at the age of eighty. It was widely considered to be the longest act of political protest in the history of the US.
‘The quilt was created with love in the hope that it will act as an inspiration and is available to borrow for display and educational and historical purposes: barbara@kiplings.plus.com for more information.’
