Peace Monuments Dedicated in 1960-1964

Right click image to enlarge.

1960

May 3, 1960 - Anne Frank Huis / Anne Frank House, Amsterdam (Netherlands). Hiding place of Anne Frank [1929-1945] and her family during World War II. The house was turned into a museum in 1960, and the museum was expanded in 1999.

Date? - Statue of Anne Frank, near the museum, Amsterdam (Netherlands).

September 5, 1960 - Statue of "Mother & Child in the Storm", in front of Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, Hiroshima (Japan). #31 of 56 "cenotaphs & monuments" on the Virtual E-Tour.

Circa 1960 - Peace Monument, Shin’ei Park, Itoman, Cape Kyan, Okinawa (Japan).

December 1960-November 1975 - "Raíces de la Paz" / "The Roots of Peace," Organization of American States (OAS), 17th Street & Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC (USA). "In the tunnel connecting the OAS Building with its Administration Building two blocks away is a 162-meter [sic] / 200-foot mural depicting various themes of peace & development in the Americas. World's widest mural? Painted by Uruguayan artist Carlos Paez Vilaró [b.1923] who also painted a mural for the UN building in New York City." Restored in 2002 by Roberto Arce. Both photos by EWL.

1961

January 30, 1961 - National Gandhi Museum & Library, Rajghat, New Delhi, (India). Occupied present location in 1961, but origins of the museum go back to 1951. Operted by Gandhi Smarak Sangrahalaya Samiti. Listed in UN directory "Peace Museums Worldwide" (1998).

February 1961 - Peace Commission Plaque, Willard Hotel, Pennsylvania Avenue at 15th Street, NW, Washington, DC (USA). Text: "THE PEACE CONVENTION. The old Willard Hotel was the scene of the last major effort to restore the Union and prevent the Civil War. At Virginia's invitation, delegates from twenty-one of the then thirty-four states met in secret session from February 4 to 27, 1861, in a vain attempt to solve the differences between the North and South. To honor those who worked for peace and unity, this memorial is erected by the Virginia Civil War Commission, February 1961." Sadly, the meeting failed. By the time Lincoln was inaugurated five days later, seven states had resolved to secede from the Union. Less than two months later, the Civil War began.

1961 - Thai Bell, John Wilson District Building, Federal Triangle, Pennsylvania Avenue at 14th Street, Washington, DC (USA). Presented to the people of Washington by the people of sister city Bangkok (Thailand).

1961 - International peace flag. "First used in Italy on a 1961 peace march from Perugia to Assisi organized by the pacifist & social philosopher Aldo Captini [1899–1968]." /// "The most common recent design is a rainbow flag representing peace, first used in Italy at a peace march in 1961. The flag was inspired by similar multi-coloured flags used in demonstrations against nuclear weapons. A previous version had featured a dove drawn by Pablo Picasso. The most common variety has seven colours — purple, blue, azure, green, yellow, orange, and red — and is emblazoned in bold with the Italian word PACE, meaning 'peace.' It became popular with the Pace da tutti i balconi ("peace from every balcony") campaign in 2002, started as a protest against the impending war in Iraq. The flag was flown from balconies in all Italian cities by citizens against the war. Its use spread to other countries too, and the Italian Pace was sometimes, but not everywhere, replaced with the corresponding translation in the local languages. According to Amnesty International, producer Franco Belsito had produced about 1,000 flags per year for 18 years, and suddenly had to cope with a demand in the range of millions. Common variations include moving the purple stripe down below the azure one, and adding a white stripe on top. The seven-color peace flag is not to be confused with the similar six-color gay pride flag, which does not have turquoise and has red at the top instead of the bottom."

1960's - "At college campuses during the 1960s, some people demonstrated for world peace by carrying a Flag of the Races (also called the Flag of the Human Race) with five horizontal stripes (from top to bottom they were red, black, brown, yellow & white, representing respectively the American Indian race, the Negro race, the Malayan race, the Mongolian race & the Caucasian race). Gilbert Baker is said to have gotten the idea for the rainbow flag from this flag.] The early flag of the Republic of China also featured five stripes standing for five ethnicities.

September 29, 1961 - Casa Henri Dunant / Henri Dunant House, Varazze (Italy). "En 1949, la Croix-Rouge suisse acquiert la propriété. Dans la Suisse d’alors naît la Croix-Rouge de la Jeunesse: ce mouvement, qui s’étend aujourd’hui au monde entier, est étroitement lié au milieu scolaire et vise à y transposer les principes de la Croix-Rouge." Henry Dunant [1828-1910] founded the Red Cross. He & Frédéric Passy [1822-1912] received the first (1901) Nobel Peace Prize.

October 10, 1961 - Peace Monument, Melrose House, Pretoria (South Africa). Unveiled by former Prime Minister, DR H.F Verwoerd. "Commemorates of the Peace Negotiations that ultimately ended the Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902. Vereeniging played host to the negotiations from 15-30 May 1902, and peace was signed at Melrose House, Pretoria on 31 May 1902. Coert Steynberg, famed SA artist, was commissioned to design a monument honoring all who fought and all who lost their lives for peace during the Anglo-Boer War. The motto "Gewond maar nie onoorwonne" (wounded but not defeated) enbodies the fighting spirit of the Boer Nation after surrendering to the British. This motto is still significant today as it represents the character, courage and spirit of reconciliation of the New South African Nation."

1961? - Dag Hammarskjöld Memorial, Ndola/Kitwe road, 10 kilometers from Ndola (Zambia). Where Hammarskjöld's plane crashed on September 18, 1961. Dag Hammarskjöld [1905-1961] received the 1961 Nobel Peace Prize.

1961? - Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza, East 47th Street, New York, New York (USA). Dag Hammarskjöld [1905-1961] received the 1961 Nobel Peace Prize.

November 16, 1961 - Dag Hammarskjöld Library, United Nations, New York, New York (USA). Dag Hammarskjöld [1905-1961] received the 1961 Nobel Peace Prize.

December 28, 1961 - Woodrow Wilson House Museum, National Trust for Historic Preservation, 2340 S Street, NW, Kalorama, Washington, DC (USA). Home of Wilson from 1921 until his death in 1924. Woodrow Wilson [1856-1924] received he 1919 Nobel Peace Prize. Wilson died in this house on February 3, 1924, and his widow Edith lived here until her death on December 28, 1961. She bequeathed the property & many of its furnishings to the National Trust. Inset shows celebration on Armistice Day, November 11, 1918. One of 27 US museums in "Museums for Peace Worldwide" edited by Kazuyo Yamane (2008). Visited by EWL.

December 28, 1961 - Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge, Potomac River, between Alexandria, Virginia, & Oxon Hill, Maryland (USA). Woodrow Wilson [1856-1924] was president of Princeton University 1902-1910 & president of the USA 1913-1921. He received the 1919 Nobel Peace Prize. Bridge carries Interstate Highways 95 & 495 and opens for ships. Reconstructed 2006-2008. Wilson's widow died the same day that she was scheduled to dedicate the original bridge.

1962

W I N D O W S

February 1962 - Twelve Tribes of Israel, Hadassah Medical Center, Ein Kerem campus, Jerusalem (Israel). A famous set of 12 stained glass windows created & donated in 1960 by Marc Chagall [1887-1985]. During the dedication ceremony, Chagall called the windows "the modest present which I give to the Jewish people who have always dreamed of love, friendship and peace among peoples."

1962 - "Peace," Timber Cove Inn, near Jenner, Sonoma County, California (USA). 72-foot tall obelisk by the naive/abstract Italian-born San Francisco sculptor Beniamino (Benny) Bufano [1998-1970]. Officially named "The Expanding Universe." Begun in September 1962, just weeks before the Cuban Missile Crisis, the 93-foot-tall [sic] concrete, lead, & mosaic sculpture is adorned with elements of the Madonna, Universal Child & a large, open hand -- themes of peace... From Bufano's perspective, a symbolic 'projectile' recalling the cold war's intercontinental ballistic missiles that in 1962 threatened life on earth... Bufano believed in peace, but he was...eclectic, suspicious, egotistical, occasionally hostile... Yet, Bufano's sculptures still survive &, given their hard material constituents and public ownership, will for years to come. [They] remind us of Bufano's challenge to remain vigilant in our defense of democracy, to cherish world peace, and to honor & protect the planet's children..." Click here for source of this quote.

1962 - Allegory of Peace, Parc Richelieu, Rue Richelieu, Calais (France). "Behind the war memorial. Portrays an allegory of Peace with an olive tree branch pressed to her bosom. The duck pond and the layout of this lovely park attracts adults and chidren alike. 'I Held the Hand of Peace who Held the Olive Branch.'" /// "Gravement endommagé par les bombardements sous l’Occupation, ce monument a été remplacé en 1962 par un nouveau mémorial, oeuvre d’Yves de Coëtlogon qui réunit le souvenir des disparus des deux guerres en un unique hommage. Une allégorie de la Paix presse un rameau d’olivier sur son sein. Aménagé à partir de 1862 sur l’emplacement des fortifications de la vieille ville, le jardin Richelieu a été redessiné en 1956."

July 25, 1962 - Sagamore Hill National Historic Site, National Park Service (NPS), 12 Sagamore Hill Road, Oyster Bay, New York (USA). Home of Thodore Roosevelt from 1885 until his death in 1919. Known as the "Summer White House" during his presidency. Theodore Roosevelt [1858-1919] was US President 1901-1909 and received the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize.

October 19, 1962 - Museum Haus am Checkpoint Charlie (Mauermuseum), Friedrichsstrasse 43-44, Berlin (Germany). "First museum of international nonviolent protest." Operated by Arbeitsgemeinschaft 13 August e.V / 13th August Study Group. Four permanent exhibitions: "The Wall," paintings of "The Wall," Berlin, and "From Gandhi to Walesa." At present location since June 1963. Click here for Wikipedia article.

1963

1963 - "Hands of Peace," Chicago Loop Synagogue, 16 South Clark Street, Chicago, Illinois (USA). Abstract bronze work by Israeli sculptor Henri Azaz [1923-2008]. Welcomes visitors in both English & Hebrew, quoting a blessing from the Bible’s Book of Numbers: "The Lord bless thee and keep thee; the Lord make His face to shine upon thee… and give thee peace."

1963 - Gandhi Smarak Sangrahalaya / Gandhi Memorial Institution, Harijan Asram, Ahmedabad, Gugarat (India). On bank of Sabarmati River. Click here for the Wikipedia article. "Houses personal memorabilia of Mahatma Gandhi. Consequently the exhibits on view depict the vivid and historic events of Gandhiji's life. There are books, manuscripts and photostat copies of his correspondence, photographs of Gandhiji with his wife Kasturba and other ashram associates, life size oil paintings and actual relics like his writing desk and spinning wheel." Operated by Sabarmati Ashar Preservation & Memorial Trust. Listed in UN directory "Peace Museums Worldwide" (1998).

1963 - Jane Addams Hull-House Museum, University of Illinois at Chicago, 800 South Halsted, Chicago, Illinois (USA). Jane Addams [1860-1935] & Nicholas Murray Butler [1862-1947] shared the 1931 Nobel Peace Prize. "Hull House had to be demolished for the establishment of the Chicago campus of the University of Illinois in 1963 and relocated. The Hull residence itself was preserved as a monument to Jane Addams."

1963 - Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche / Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, Kurfürstendamm, centre of Breitscheidplatz, Berlin (Germany). "Mostly just known as Gedächtniskirche. A Protestant church affilliated with the Evangelical Church. Original church on the site was built in the 1890's. Badly damaged in a bombing raid in 1943. The present building consists of a church with an attached foyer & a separate belfry with an attached chapel, was built between 1959 & 1963. The damaged spire of the old church has been retained, & its ground floor has been made into a memorial hall. Today a famous landmark of western Berlin. Nicknamed by Berliners 'der hohle Zahn' / 'the hollow tooth.'" /// According to TravelAdvisor: "What remains of this church is a highly significant reminder of the consequences of war. The interior is beautiful & one can only imagine what it would have looked like when it stood as a whole." /// Info courtesy of Peter van den Dungen.

"Broken Obelisk:" Four identical monuments by Barnett Newman [1905-1970]. Each is 6,000 pounds of Corten steel more than 25 feet high -- a pyramid topped by a reversed obelisk ascending yet torn, or 'broken,' at its top, obviously some kind of symbolic object roughly resembling traditional monuments of combined pyramid and obelisk. Newman himself described the sculpture in terms conventional to his art: 'It is concerned with life, and I hope I have transformed its tragic content into a glimpse of the sublime.'" A new Broken Obelisk has been proposed as a 151-foot Tolerence Monument on Governors Island, NewYork, facting the Statue of Liberty.

1963 - Broken Obelisk, Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden, Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), 11 West 53rd Street, New York City, New York (USA). A sculpture by Barnett Newman. Four versions of it exist.

1963 - Broken Obelisk, Central Plaza (Red Square), near Suzallo Library, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington (USA).

February 27, 1971 - Broken Obelisk, Rothko Chapel, Houston, Texas (USA). First exhibited in front of the Seagram Building in New York City, and then the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. In 1969, Houson city officials said they would reject this as a public memorial to Martin Luther King Jr. [1929-1968]. Dominique & John de Menil proposed that it be placed in front of City Hall with the words "Forgive Them, for They Know Not What They Do" before erecting it permanently at the Rothko Chapel.

2003 - Broken Obelisk, Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin (Germany). A fourth was cast in 2003 by permission of the Barnett Newman Foundation and temporarily installed in front of the Neue Nationalgalerie.

August 28, 1963 - Inscription, Steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Washington, DC (USA). Marks where Martin Luther King, Jr., stood when he delivered his famous "I have a dream" speech.

November 25, 1963 - John F. Kennedy Eternal Flame, Grave of President John F. Kennedy, Arlington Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia (USA). A temporary eternal flame was used during President Kennedy's funeral on November 25, 1963. The permanent flame was consecrated and opened to the public on March 15, 1967.

Christmas Day, December 1963 - Peace Corps Memorial Monument, Old Hilo County Hospital site near Rainbow Falls, Hilo, Big Island (Hawaii). "Upon learning of Kennedy's assassination November 22, 1963, members of the the Peace Corps Training Center donated a dollar apiece from their $10.50 weekly salary to pay for a bronze plaque bearing the words, 'And So, My Fellow Americans, Ask Not What Your Country Can Do For You, Ask What You Can Do For Your Country,' from his inaugural address."

1964

June 11, 1964 - "Single Form (Memorial)," United Nations Headquarters, New York City, New York (USA). "An arresting 21-foot-tall, 5-ton bronze by modernist English sculptor Barbara Hepworth [1903-1975]...in memory of her friend & collector of her works Dag Hammarskjöld [1905-1961]... It was commissioned in 1961 by the Jacob & Hilda Blaustein Foundation following Hammarskjöld's death in a plane crash." Right image shows dedication ceremony. UN 1964

1964 - John F. Kennedy Torch of Friendship, Bayfront Park, Miami, Florida (USA). Contains seals of Latin American countries. "In 1960, the Torch of Friendship monument in Miami was built to signify the passageway for all of Florida’s friends coming from Latin America & the Caribbean. The gas fed flame was meant to act as a welcoming beacon for all new and old immigrants to the nation. [In 1964] it was re-dedicated to the memory of John F. Kennedy Jr. The burning torch sitting 18 feet above Biscayne Boulevard was then said to be an extension of the burning candle then burning at the fallen president’s gravesite in Arlington. Now days, the candle just doesn’t burn at all! Some say its Miami’s way of expressing disgust with the war going on overseas in Iraq and Iran.

1964 - Marshall Museum & Research Library, Virginia Military Institute (VMI), Lexington, Virginia (USA). George C. Marshall [1880-1959] received the 1953 Nobel Peace Prize. Visited by EWL.

1964 - Peace Arising from the Flames of War, Fountain of Eternal Life, Veterans’ Memorial Plaza, Cleveland, Ohio (USA). 46-foot sculpture by Marshall Fredericks [1908-1998] which took 19 years to complete. Surrounded by four carved blocks of granite representing the four corners of the earth. Also known as "War Memorial Fountain" and "Peace Memorial Fountain."

August 20, 1964 - Roosevelt Campobello International Park, Campobello Island, New Brunswick (Canada). Image shows the Roosevelt Cottage in what is now the international park. Entry #1264 in the "Peace Movement Directory" by James Richard Bennett (2001).

September 17, 1964 - "Peace & Human Happiness", Eastern Side of the Public Lobby, United Nations, New York City, New York (USA). Stained glass window by Marc Chagall. Memorial to Dag Hammarskjold [1905-1961] who received the 1961 Nobel Peace Prize. About 15 feet wide and 12 feet high. Contains several symbols of peace and love, such as the young child in the center being kissed by an angelic face which emerges from a mass of flowers. On the left, below and above, motherhood and the people who are struggling for peace are depicted." Entry #755 in the "Peace Movement Directory" by James Richard Bennett (2001).

September 20, 1964 - Hiroshima Peace Bell, Peace Memorial Park, Hiroshima (Japan). Large bell, permanently outdoors. Surface of the bell is a map of the world. Its "sweet spot" is an atomic symbol. Designed by Masahiko Katori [1899-1988]. Cast by Oigo Bell Works, Takaoka, Toyama Prefecture (Japan). #08 of 56 "cenotaphs & monuments" on the Virtual E-Tour. Middle image shows Ram Uppuluri of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, at the bell on July 15, 1993. Middle image by Herman Postma.