Dagmar Searchinger Wilson (January 25, 1916 – January 6, 2011) was an American anti-

nuclear test Nuclear weapons tests are experiments carried out to determine the performance of nuclear weapons and the effects of their explosion. Nuclear testing is a sensitive political issue. Governments have often performed tests to signal strength. Bec ...

ing activist, artist, and illustrator of children's books for Whitman's Children's Books. Born in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, her parents were Cesar and Marion Searchinger. Wilson founded Women Strike for Peace in 1961 to end the testing of nuclear weapons.

Early motivations and accomplishments

* When the US-Soviet Arms race began, Dagmar Wilson, a concerned mother of 3, learned about the implications of nuclear war. * She started a telephone tree, urging her friends to call their friends to marshal support for her one day demonstration in support of peace and disarmament. * On November 1, 1961, prior to the formation of any cohesive anti-war movement, Dagmar Wilson and

Bella Abzug Bella Abzug (; née Savitzky; July 24, 1920 – March 31, 1998), nicknamed "Battling Bella", was an American lawyer, politician, social activist, and a leader in the women's movement. In 1971, Abzug joined other leading feminists such as Gloria ...

founded a loose network of 50,000 mothers, grandmothers, and other women, and successfully demonstrated in 60 cities across the country against atmospheric nuclear testing. * Calling on president John F. Kennedy to "end the arms race - not the human race," Wilson and her colleagues won wide attention from world leaders and press. Kennedy gave partial credit to Wilson and her fellows to force the Cold War superpowers to eventually sign a nuclear-test ban treaty.

Notes

Activists from Manhattan American anti–nuclear weapons activists American pacifists 1916 births 2011 deaths {{US-activist-stub

Early motivations and accomplishments

See also

Notes