William Thomas Hallenback Jr., known as Thomas (March 20, 1947 – January 23, 2009), was an American

anti-nuclear The Anti-nuclear war movement is a social movement that opposes various nuclear technologies. Some direct action groups, environmental movements, and professional organisations have identified themselves with the movement at the local, n ...

activist and simple-living adherent who undertook a 27-year peace vigil – the longest recorded

vigil A vigil, from the Latin meaning 'wakefulness' ( Greek: , or ), is a period of purposeful sleeplessness, an occasion for devotional watching, or an observance. The Italian word has become generalized in this sense and means 'eve' (as in "on t ...

in US history at the time, with the title passing to his co-protester

Concepción Picciotto Concepción Picciotto (born María de la Inmaculada Concepción Martín; 15 January 1936 – 25 January 2016), also known as Conchita or Connie, was a Spanish-American, Spanish-born, United States–based peace activist. She lived in Lafayette S ...

after Thomas' death – in front of the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

. Thomas was born in

Tarrytown, New York Tarrytown is a administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in the administrative divisions of New York#Town, town of Greenburgh, New York, Greenburgh in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County, New York (state), New York, Unit ...

, and became a truck driver, jewelry maker, and carpenter. Inspired by the

Sermon on the Mount The Sermon on the Mount ( anglicized from the Matthean Vulgate Latin section title: ) is a collection of sayings spoken by Jesus of Nazareth found in the Gospel of Matthew (chapters 5, 6, and 7). that emphasizes his moral teachings. It is th ...

, he became a

pilgrim The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often vocalize it as ...

and began traveling the world in the interest of

world peace World peace is the concept of an ideal state of peace within and among all people and nations on Earth. Different cultures, religions, philosophies, and organizations have varying concepts on how such a state would come about. Various relig ...

. In 1978, having tried to swim across the

Suez Canal The Suez Canal (; , ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, Indo-Mediterranean, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia (and by extension, the Sinai Peninsula from the rest ...

on his way to Israel, Thomas spent eight months in an Egyptian prison. Later, in response to United States foreign policy, he destroyed his

passport A passport is an official travel document issued by a government that certifies a person's identity and nationality for international travel. A passport allows its bearer to enter and temporarily reside in a foreign country, access local aid ...

while trying to renounce his

American citizenship Citizenship of the United States is a legal status that entails Americans with specific rights, duties, protections, and benefits in the United States. It serves as a foundation of fundamental rights derived from and protected by the Consti ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. The British authorities

deported Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people by a state from its Sovereignty, sovereign territory. The actual definition changes depending on the place and context, and it also changes over time. A person who has been deported or ...

him to the United States in 1980. In 1981, Thomas traveled to

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, and spent several months at Mitch Snyder's Community for Creative Non-Violence. On June 3, he launched the White House Peace Vigil in Lafayette Square. A couple of months later, in August 1981, he was joined by

and then, in April 1984, by Ellen Benjamin. The following month, on May 6, 1984, Thomas and Ellen were married at a Quaker wedding. During the first three years of the vigil, the Park Police had arrested Thomas sixteen times. The charges ranged from illegal camping to

disorderly conduct Disorderly conduct is a crime in most jurisdictions, such as the United States and China. Typically, "disorderly conduct" is a term used to refer to any behavior that is considered unacceptable in a formal, civilized or controlled environment. ...

. In subsequent years, Thomas and Ellen protested with numerous other activists, including representatives from the Catholic Worker and Plowshares movements. Thomas died on January 23, 2009, aged 61, of pulmonary disease.

Legacy

Thomas and the White House Peace Vigil inspired Delegate

Eleanor Holmes Norton Eleanor Holmes Norton (born June 13, 1937) is an American politician, lawyer, and human rights activist. Norton is a congressional delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives, where she has represented the District of Columbia since 1991 as ...

to introduce the Nuclear Disarmament and Economic Conversion Act to

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

in 1994. It would require the United States to disable and dismantle its nuclear weapons – once all other nations possessing nuclear weapons did likewise – and redirect the funds saved into

renewable energy Renewable energy (also called green energy) is energy made from renewable resource, renewable natural resources that are replenished on a human lifetime, human timescale. The most widely used renewable energy types are solar energy, wind pow ...

and social projects. Since 1994, Norton has continued to introduce revised or renewed versions of the bill. In March 2011, for example, following the

Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster The Fukushima nuclear accident was a major nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Ōkuma, Fukushima, Japan, which began on 11 March 2011. The cause of the accident was the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, which r ...

in Japan, it was reintroduced under the name of the "Nuclear Weapons Abolition and Economic and Energy Conversion Act". ''The Oracles of Pennsylvania Avenue'', a 2012 TV documentary commissioned by the

Al Jazeera Documentary Channel Al Jazeera Media Network (AJMN; , ) is a private-media conglomerate headquartered in Wadi Al Sail, Doha, funded in part by the government of Qatar. The network's flagship channels include Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Jazeera English, which prov ...

, recounts the lives of Thomas, Ellen, Concepcion Picciotto and Norman Mayer.

References

External links

* , September 16, 2007.
Peace Park Website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas 1947 births 2009 deaths American anti–nuclear weapons activists American anti-war activists American tax resisters Christian radicals American nonviolence advocates Simple living advocates People from Tarrytown, New York American Quakers

Legacy

See also

References

External links