— Caroline Bridgman-Rees, WILPF
From 2-4 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 22, 2011, at the New Haven Public Library, 133 Elm St., the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) will honor Anna Aschenbach, New Haven activist, with the Dr. Alice Hamilton Peace and Justice Award. Dr. Hamilton, 1869-1970, a leading pioneer in occupational health and toxicology, was also deeply involved in supporting peace from World War I until her death.
Anna has dedicated her life to peace and justice. Born in Nanking, China, of American teaching missionaries, she early became aware of the suffering and inequity around her in China and later in the US. She studied class and racial issues at college, joined a pacifist group during World War II, and was determined to follow the philosophy of simple living. For two years she lived in an intentional community. In the late 60s she was employed as a writer in the multiracial Model Cities Participation Unit in New Haven. She has been a long-time member of War Tax Resistance and has joined local, national, and international anti-war and justice rallies. Recently, she was a leader in organizing three important events: the Bus Stop Removal Project, the expose of the rapes, murders, and destruction of many thousands of women’s bodies in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the SPEAK OUT on the denial of human rights in the U.S. to immigrant women. Anna has never stopped being a fearless, passionate activist and an opponent of American militarism and imperialism.
As part of the celebration on Jan. 22, Anna will give a talk on “Simple Living” as she herself has experienced it. As Sally Joughin, one of New Haven’s wise and wonderful peace leaders for many years, often quoted: “Live simply so that others may simply live.”
