Washington Peace Center
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| Founded | 1963 |
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| Founder | Larry Scott |
| Focus | Social Justice, Activism, Community Building |
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| Website | WashingtonPeaceCenter.org |
The Washington Peace Center is a justice-oriented grassroots organization founded and currently located in Washington, D.C. The organization provides education, support, and resources to activist groups. The Peace Center aims to strategically link organizations to establish “structures and relationships that are nonviolent, non-hierarchical, humane and just.”
The Washington Peace Center grew from The Vigil to Stop Biological Weapons at Fort Detrick, which was maintained in Frederick, Maryland from 1959 through 1961. In 1961 vigil coordinator Larry Scott and other vigilers moved to the nation’s capital to start the Washington Peace Action Center. Activists from the Peace Action Center vigiled at the White House calling for a ban on all testing of nuclear weapons, a major Cold War issue at that time. The PAC also contributed to local mobilizing for the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Justice.
The ratification of the Partial Test Ban Treaty between the US, USSR and Great Britain led to the dissolution of The Peace Action Center in 1963. Left in its place was the Washington Peace Center, a non-profit organization housed (until 1997) in the Friends Meeting of Washington and initially directed by Gelston MacNeil, a Quaker pacifist and activist. The Center sought to educate the public on peace issues through film screenings, discussions, and the publication of a local newsletter.
The Peace Center quickly became a hub for organizing against the Vietnam War and helped to coordinate draft counseling in the Washington area. During the 1970s the Center continued its work by supporting the movements against nuclear power and for nuclear disarmament. In the 1980s the Peace Center served as the local nexus for national and international opposition to the arms race and played a vital role in organizing resistance to the Reagan administration's interventions in Central America. The 1990s saw the Center contributing to social justice movements in opposition to racism and for justice for gay, lesbian, and transgender people. In the 2000s, the Center was involved with opposing the invasion and occupation of Iraq, countering military recruiters and attempting to institute a peace curriculum in area public schools, as well as working to close the Guantanamo Bay prison camp, ending torture and restoring civil liberties at home. Currently, the Peace Center fiscally sponsors several activist organizations in Washington D.C. including Witness Against Torture, the Fort Reno Summer Concert Series, the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Peace Committee, Positive Force, and the Civilian-Soldier Alliance, allowing these groups to raise funds without 501(c)(3) status. The Center organizes and hosts monthly skillshares as part of the DC Trainers Network in order to strengthen progressive social movements in Washington D.C. As the Center's current website states, the summation of all of these efforts is that, "We envision a world based on respect for people and the planet that is achieved through nonviolence, peace and social justice."
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