"Swords Into Plowshares" Around the World

"They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore." — Isaiah 2:4 & Micah 4:3.

See below for special section on "The Fin Project" of John T. Young (surplus nuclear submarine fins).

Click here for peace monuments made from old weapons.

Right click image to enlarge.

1878 - "Charrue de la Paix" / "Plow of Peace," Salle de l'Alabama / Hall of the Alabama, Hotel de Ville / City Hall, Geneva (Switzerland). Offerte à la Ville et au peuple de Genève après avoir figuré comme symbole de paix à l'exposition de Paris en 1878. Elle fut confectionnée avec les sabres que des officiers américains avaient cédés lors d'un congrès pour la paix tenu en 1872 à Philadelphie par l' "Universal Peace Union". La cloche est une réplique miniature de la "Liberty Bell" de Philadelphie. Elle sonna l'ouverture de la première assemblée de la Société des Nations le 15 novembre 1920."

1930's - "Swords Into Plowshares," Klassen Court, Bluffton College, Bluffton, Ohio (USA). Bronze plaque by Ukranian-American sculptor (and Bluffton College art instructor) John Peter Klassen [1888-1975]. Based on Issiah 2:4: "They shall beat their swords into plowshares." Photo by EWL.

Date? - Peace Sculpture, Gilgal Sculpture Garden, 749 East 500 South, Salt Lake City, Utah (USA). "Designed and created by LDS businessman Thomas Battersby Child, Jr. [1888-1963] in the mid-twentieth century, the Gilgal Sculpture Garden contains 12 original sculptures and over 70 stones engraved with scriptures, poems, and literary texts." "Farther down, you'll notice an odd iron structure. It is meant to represent swords and spears that have been beaten into ploughshares."

Date? - "Haven of Peace," International Peace Gardens, Jordan Park, Salt Lake City, Utah (USA). Depicts anvil for forging swords into plowshares. Where is this monument exactly?

January 3, 1959 - Conscientious Objectors Memorial Plaque, Peace Pledge Union (PPU), 1 Peace Passage, London (England). Names 70 of the 81 British CO's known to have died during World War I. Depicts a man striking a sword on an anvil. Carved by Canadian artist Dorothy Stevens [1888-1966] in 1923. (Click here to see her "Munitions Fuze Factory, 1919.") First erected in Berlin (Germany) at the headquarters of the Bund der Kriegsdienstgegner, the German section of the War Resisters International (WRI),. Taken to south Denmark in 1933. Hidden in Sweden in 1940. Now on permanent loan to the PPU, principal British section of the WRI. One of 21 peace monuments named by the PPU website.

1959 - "Let Us Beat Swords into Plowshares", United Nations, New York City, New York (USA). Bronze statue sculpted by Evgeniy Vuchetich [1908-1974] to represent the human wish to end all wars by converting the weapons of death and destruction into peaceful and productive tools that are more beneficial to mankind. Donated to the UN by the Soviet Union. Entry #752 in the "Peace Movement Directory" by James Richard Bennett (2001).

1975 - Isaiah Wall, Ralph Bunche Park, East 43rd Street & First Avenue, New York City, New York (USA). Quotes Isaiah 2:4: "They shall beat their swords into plowshares." Just across First Avenue from the United Nations. Entry #718 in the "Peace Movement Directory" by James Richard Bennett (2001).

Date? - Peace Memorial, Sylvan Abbey Memorial Park & Funeral Home, Clearwater, Florida (USA). "This monument to peace is Excalibur. Can you disturb this peace by removing it from the stone?" Plaque: "THIS MEMORIAL IS DEDICATED TO PEACE AND TO MAN'S SEARCH FOR IT. And they shall beat their swords into plowshares. Nation shall not lift up sword agains nation. Neither shall they learn war anymore. Isaiah 2:4."

Date? - Peace Memorial Statue, Oakwood Mausoleum, Oakwood Cemetery, 6100 Gratiot Road, Saginaw, Michigan (USA). "This statue of a man beating his swords into plowshares is the biblical representation of peace."

September 9, 1980 - Plowshares Movement. "Daniel Berrigan, his brother Philip Berrigan, and six others (the "Plowshares Eight") began the Plowshares Movement by trespassing onto the General Electric Nuclear Missile facility in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania (USA), where they damaged nuclear warhead nose cones and poured blood onto documents and files."

1985 - Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders, 418 Shuiximen Street, Jiangdongmen, Nanjing (China). Expanded in 1995 and 2005-2007. Now 25,000 square meters. Click here for Wikipedia article. Has "academic cooperation agreement" with Kyoto Museum for World Peace. Whole building resembles a broken sword when seen from the side and a plow when seen from above.

June 13, 1986 - Swords Into Plowshares Peace Center & Gallery, Central United Methodist Church, 33 East Adams Avenue (corner of Woodward Avenue), Detroit, Michigan (USA). "5,000 sq. ft. art gallery, gift shop, children's corner & reference library." "Brings together the arts and the need for world peace." Created by James W. Bristah [1919-2001] & managed by Lois St. Aubin White. Right image shows part an exhibition at the center about Paul Robeson. One of 27 US museums in "Museums for Peace Worldwide" edited by Kazuyo Yamane (2008).

1994 - Peace Mural, Denver International Airport, Denver, Colorado (USA). "Depicts all of the children of the world taking the weapons from each country on earth and giving them to a central figure...who has this iron fist and anvil in his hand that is totally out of proportion to the child's body, beating the swords into plowshares."

1997 - Guns to Plowshares, Judiciary Square Metro Stattion, Washington, DC (USA). Sculpture by Esther & Michael Augsburger: 20-foot plowshare with 3,000 welded handguns donated by the Metropolitan Police. Entry #1111 in the "Peace Movement Directory" by James Richard Bennett (2001).

Date? - Sweetsville Zoo, 4801 East Harmony Road, Timnath, Fort Collins, Colorado (USA). All "animals" in this "zoo" were built by Bill Swets from car parts, farm machinery, and scrap metal.

Date? - Window, Where?, Quad Cities?, Iowa (USA). Stained glass window with sword and "Isaiah 2:4."

April 12, 2002 - Swords Into Plowshares Peace Monument, World Plaza, Independence Temple, Community of Christ, Independence, Missouri (USA). Sculpted by Dave Martin. Dedicated by Ela Ghandi, recipient of the 2002 Community of Christ International Peace Award.

The Fin Project: From Swords Into Plowshares

Two monuments in different cities made from the surplus fins of nuclear attack submarines.
Click here for website of sculptor John T. Young.

May 30, 1998 - Magnuson Park, Sand Point, Seattle, Washington (USA). 22 fins. Entry #1053 in the "Peace Movement Directory" by James Richard Bennett (2001).

September 2002 - Pelican Harbor, North Bay Village, Miami, Florida (USA). 24 fins.

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