WAMM Celebrates Thirty Years: 1982-2012

On July 22, WAMM Celebrated its 30th Anniversary at a fine event at the Carondelet Center dining room in St. Paul. Guests savored delicious appetizers (catered) and drank wine and visited friends from old times and new!

A highlight of the afternoon was the clever way the 30 years of activism was portrayed—a fashion show of protest signs! Messages of the past three decades reminded us of our work on issues as diverse as spear-fishing rights to supporting the strikers at Hormel to the first Gulf war to No War Toys to the present occupation in Afghanistan.

We also acknowledged the profound work of the Catholic Sisters in our midst. Standing in solidarity with them in the face of scrutiny and criticism from the Vatican was an honor.

 Brief History of WAMM

	Beginnings
	In the fall of 1981, ten women began to meet in Loretta’s Tea Room in Minneapolis to figure out how to most effectively respond to the threat of nuclear war, the huge increases in military spending and the massive slashes in human services budgets. Inspired by polls that showed most women were anti-war, yet as a group were not organized and empowered to challenge the government’s priorities, WAMM founders believed that by confronting our fear, anger and denial together, women could become the leaders of a movement to turn our country from the brink of nuclear holocaust to a peaceful and just society.

On January 16, 1982, the coldest day of the winter, over 100 women came to a founding conference. After the meeting, participants marched with signs along University Avenue in Minneapolis. An international news photographer took pictures and WAMM appeared in newspapers around the country. A tradition was born: Never a meeting without an action.
From the very beginning, WAMM published a monthly newsletter to inform our members and the community about peace and justice issues.

>>http://worldwidewamm.org