Peace Monuments Dedicated in 1945-1949

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1945

August 6, 1945 - Genbaku Dome, Hiroshima (Japan). Also called A-Bomb Dome. Trade building which became icnoic "unintentional monument" when the world's first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. Designated a World Heritage Site in 1996. Click here for other structures which remain from before the bomb. #38 of 56 "cenotaphs & monuments" on the Virtual E-Tour.

August 9, 1945 - Ruin of Urakami Branch of Nagasaki Prison, Nagasaki Peace Park, Matsuyama-machi, Nagasaki (Japan). The closest public facility to the hypocenter.When the atomic bomb exploded at 11:02 a.m., August 9, 1945, all of the 134 people present in the building were killed instantly. Note peace bell & peace fountain in background of image. #6 of the 20 monuments on map of Nagasaki Peace Park.

1945 - Flag of the United Nations. A white UN emblem (world map surrounded by two olive branches) on a light blue background. "The organizers of the 1945 United Nations Conference on International Organization in San Francisco, California (USA), wanted an insignia that could be made into a pin to identify delegates. US Secretary of State Edward Stettinius, Jr., was chairperson of the US delegation & realized that a temporary design might become the permanent symbol of the United Nations. He formed a committee headed by Oliver Lundquist that developed a design consisting of a world map surrounded by leaves from a design created by Donal McLaughlin. The blue colour that appears in the background of the insignia was chosen to be 'the opposite of red, the war colour,' generally taken to be Pantone 279, although the exact shade has never been officially specified by the United Nations. The globe is bisected in the centre by the Prime Meridian & the International Date Line. The olive branches are a symbol for peace, & the world map represents all the people of the world. In 1946, a UNO committee got the task of making a definite design, which adopted by the plenary session of the UNO on December 7, 1946."

September 8, 1945 - Peace Stone, Nether Kellet, Lancashire (England). Inscription: "This tribute to a lasting peace was planted by T.C. Butler-Cole, Esq of Tunstall House and Mrs S.T. Whalan of this village at the Nether Kellet peace celebrations on the 8th Sept 1945 to commemorate the cessation of hostilities in the 2nd World War 3rd Sept 1939 - 15 Aug 1945."

October 26, 1945 - Housmans Bookshop, Peace House, 5 Caledonian Road, Kings Cross, London (England). "London's premier radical bookshop." "Founded by the Peace Pledge Union (PPU) in the optimistic aftermath of WW-II to promote peace literature along with related issues of human rights, justice & the environment. Named in honour of pacifist writer & dramatist Laurence Housman [1865-1959] who formally opened its first premises in Shaftesbury Avenue." Has published Housmans Peace Diary (& World Peace Directory) since it was started by general manager Harry Mister [1914-2006] in 1953.

October 28, 1945 - May 14, 1994 - June 15, 2007 - Freedom Court," Franklin D. Roosevelt Library & Museum, Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site (Springwood Estate), Hyde Park, New York (USA). This is a complicated monument because it consists of three parts erected over a span of 62 years (not to mention the adjacent library & museum). "Freedom Court" includes (1) 1945 bust of FDR by Walter Russell [1871-1963], (2) 1994 "BreakFree" by artist Edwina Sandys (grand-daughter of Churchill) & (3) 2007 bust of Winston Churchill by Oscar Nemon [1906-1985]. /// Made from four segments of the Berlin Wall [1961-1989], "'BreakFree' shows the figures of a man & a woman emerging from symbolic, giant barbed wire, expressing Man's irresistible quest for freedom. Appropriately, this sculpture stands on a podium inscribed around the base with Roosevelt's 'Four Freedoms':" Freedom of speech, Freedom of worship, Freedom from want & Freedom from fear. /// Right image shows Sandys & Nemon's daughter Aurelia at 2007 dedication of the Churchill bust during a conference whose theme was "Roosevelt & Churchill: The Legacy of Two Statesmen." In foreground is the 1945 bust of FDR by Walter Russell. (Sandys' "Breakthrough" [qv] was also made from the Berlin Wall & placed at Fulton, Missouri, in 1990.) Visited by EWL on April 19, 2017.

1946

1946 - League of Nations Museum, Palais des Nations, B.328, Geneva (Switerland). Operated by the Library of the UN Office at Geneva (UNOG), the League of Nations Archives (LON) & Historical Collections Unit. Illustrates the history & work of the League of Nations [1919-1946].

1946 - Nicholas Murray Butler Library, Columbia Uniersity, 535 West 114th Street, New York, New York (USA). Completed in 1934 and renamed for Butler in 1946. Nicholas Murray Butler [1862-1947] was president of Columbia University 1902-1945. He & Jane Addams [1860-1935] shared the 1931 Nobel Peace Prize.

April 25, 1947 - Theodore Roosevelt National Park, National Park Service (NPS), Medora, North Dakota (USA). Includes Roosevelt's two ranches: Maltese Cross (restored) & Elkhorn (remote). Established as Theodore Roosevelt National Memorial Park in 1947 and became a National Park in 1978. Roosevelt first went to ND in 1883 and spent about 300 days there over a 10 year period. Theodore Roosevelt [1858-1919] was US President 1901-1909 and received the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize.

1947 - Peace Statue, Castle Hill, Budapest (Hungary). Overlooks the city. 14 meter tall bronze statue atop a 26 meter pedestal. Female figure holds a palm branch overhead. Designed by Zsigmond Kisfaludi to commemorate the liberation of Hungary during WW-II by the Soviets and originally called Szabadság-szobor / Liberty Statue. Today a symbol of peace.

B O A T

1947 - Exodus 1947 - Carried Holocaust surviross & other Jewish emigrants from France to Palestine, but the British Royal Navy seized the ship and deported all its passengers to the British Zone of Germany. Sign in image reads "HAGANAH Ship / EXODUS 1947." Burned to the waterline in 1952.

July 1, 1947 - "Peace on Earth" Statue, American Garden, International Peace Gardens, Jordan Park, Salt Lake City, Utah (USA). "This statue in the Peace Garden is symbolic of the hope that we can leave a more peaceful future to our children." Garden (qv) was initiated in 1940 by by Mrs. O. A. Wiesley of the Salt Lake Council of Women and developed by local ethnic & national groups 1948-1989. Front inscription says, "Our hope for the children." Side inscriptons say, "Peace on Earth" & "The dawn of a new era."

After 1947 - Historical Marker honoring the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (USA). The AFSC & Friends Service Council (United Kingdom) shared the 1947 Nobel Peace Prize for relief in Europe during World War II.

1948

January 31, 1948 - Raj Ghat, New Delhi (India). Where Gandhi's body was cremated, and a shrine ever since. A commemorative ceremony takes place every Friday. Prayers are held in remembrance of the Mahatma on the Birth (2nd October) and Death (30th January) Anniversaries. 30th January is remembered as Martyr's Day.

1948 - Woodrow Wilson School of Public & International Affairs (WWS), Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey (USA). Woodrow Wilson [1856-1924] was president of Princeton 1902-1910 & president of the USA 1913-1921. He received the 1919 Nobel Peace Prize. "Robertson Hall (first occupied in 1966) & adjacent Scudder Plaza (with abstract fountain) were designed by architect Minoru Yamasaki [1912-1986], who was also the architect of the World Trade Center."

1948 - Peace Monument, Potter's Field, Hart Island, East River, Bronx, New York City, New York (USA). "The inmates on the island who spent long hours digging graves petitioned for permission to build a monument for those interred on the island. With permission granted, both prisoners and staff cooperated to create a thirty-foot memorial. The word "peace" is inscribed on one side and a simple cross on the other."

August 6, 1948 - "Memorial Monument to the Victims of the Atomic Bomb [at] Hiroshima Municipal Girls High School", Peace Boulevard, Hiroshima (Japan). Built by parents at the high school in 1948, dedicated on 3rd anniersary of the bomb, and moved to present location in 1957. Depicts "E=MC squared" because the words "Atomic Bomb" would have been denied by the occupying authorities. #35 of 56 "cenotaphs & monuments" on the Virtual E-Tour. Photo by EWL. Man in photo is Gerard Lössbroek of Bergeijk, The Netherlands.

1949

January 1949 - Colombe à l'olivier" (aka Carré Picasso), Paris (France). "En janvier 1949, un gigantesque Congrès de la Paix se tient à Paris organisé par le Parti Communiste qui demande à Pablo Picasso [1881-1973] de dessiner une affiche symbolisant le Mouvement de la Paix (MVP). Picasso trace le profil d’une colombe, comme les pigeons blancs qu’il garde en cage dans son atelier et ceux des arbres de son enfance en Espagne. Au printemps de la même année, la colombe de Picasso est apposée sur les murs des villes d’Europe. Le 19 avril 1949, une autre colombe apparaît dans la vie de Picasso -- sa fille Paloma ("colombe" en espagnol)."

April 20-23, 1949 - Congres Mondial de la Paix / World Congress of Peace, poster by Pablo Picasso [1881-1973], Paris (France). Picasso drew many doves of peace during this period.

Circa 1949 - "Blue Dove with Yellow Sun" by Pablo Picasso [1881-1973]. Lithograph 30 x 22 inches. Where is the original?

May 10, 1949 - Monumento a la Madre / Monument to the Mother, Parque Sullivan, Mexico City (Mexico). "A campaign by the Excelsior newspaper in the 1920's led to the creation of [the] widely celebrated Mexican holiday Dia de las madres / Mothers’ Day (May 10). The newspaper raised the money for the monumento. This is a very Mexican mamí -- she is wearing a rebozo, and her features are decidedly indigenous.

1949 - Bell of Peace, Tamon-in Temple, near Hijiyama Park (just east of Kyobashi-gawa River), Hiroshima (Japan). Original bell was taken by military during World War II. Empty bell tower was among very few wooden structures to survive A-bomb on August 6, 1945. Replacement "Bell of Peace" installed in 1949 is first Japanese peace bell? Image is from "A-bombed Structures Speak -- The First Special Exhibition of Fy 2008," Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. It shows the 1949 bell hanging under a beam cracked by the A-bomb blast.

1949 - George Fox University, 414 North Meridian Street, Newberg, Oregon (USA). Founded in 1891 by Quaker pioneers. Named George Fox College in 1949. Merged with Western Evangelical Seminary & renamed George Fox University in 1996.

G A T E

1949-1967 - Mandelbaum Gate, Jerusalem (Israel). "A former checkpoint between Israeli and Jordanian sectors of Jerusalem, just north of the western edge of the Old City along the Green Line. The first checkpoint for the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan/Israel Mixed Armistice Commission at the Mandelbaum Gate, from the close of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War in 1949 until August 1952, was moved from the Israeli side of the Gate to the Demilitarised Zone after the 'Barrel Incident.' The second checkpoint existed until the 1967 Six-Day War." Image shows dismantling the gate circa July 1967.