Peace Monuments Dedicated in 1987

Right click image to enlarge.

June 1987 - Statue, ILO Headquarters, International Labour Organization, Geneva (Switzerland). Gift from the Government of India. The International Labour Organization (ILO) received the 1969 Nobel Peace Prize.

1987 - Monument for the Nagasaki Flame of Commitment, near the Hypocenter, Nagasaki Peace Park, Nagasaki (Japan). "Burns to symbolize the pledge that Nagasaki shall remain the last city on Earth to experience nuclear devastation, that nuclear war shall never again be waged, and that there shall be no more bomb victims." "The small flame was sent from Olympian city [sic] in Greece to Nagasaki in 1983. It is said that in ancient Greece all warring parties stopped fighting while the flame was burning during the Olympic Games. Thus, the Olympian Flame is also a symbol of peace. In the evening on every August 8 Peace Lanterns are lit from this flame."

1987 - Lion & Lamb Peace Arts Center, Bluffton University, Riley Court (Lower Level), Spring Street, Bluffton, Ohio (USA). Several other peace monuments are on the grounds of the center. Right image shows Moon Gate and Peace Wall. Entry #790 in the "Peace Movement Directory" by James Richard Bennett (2001).

1987 - Monument to Disarmament, Work & Peace, University for Peace (UPAZ / UPEACE), Ciudad Colón, 30 kms southwest of San Jose (Costa Rica). By Cuban artist Thelvia Marín. Honors Costa Ricans who have made outstanding efforts in building and maintaining peace. "World's largest peace monument."

1987 - Seaforth Peace Park & Fountain, Burrard Street Bridge (south end), Vancourver, British Columbia (Canada). Click here for air view.

1987 - Fuente de los Delfines / Fountain of the Dolphins, Malecon, Puerto Vallarta (Mexico). Sculpted in sister city Santa Barbara, California (USA).

M U S E U M

1987 - Vredescentrum van de Provincie en de Stad Antwerpen / Peace Centre of the Province & City of Antwerp, Unolaan 1, Deurne-Antwerpen (Belgium). Four permanent exhibitions: Middle Ages, World War I, inter-war period, and World War II. Member of International Network of Museums for Peace (INMP).

1987 - Ro Ho En / Japanese Friendship Garden, Phoenix, Arizona (USA). "Created to express the positive bond between the peoples of the USA & Japan. Phoenix has had a sister city relationship with Himeji (Japan) since 1976. In 1987 the Mayor of Himeji proposed the garden. Representatives from Himeji have been instrumental in the garden's design & development ever since."

1987 - "Grant us peace" (Vietnam Veterans Monument), 375 North Shore Drive (Northshore Trail) Northshore, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (USA). By George Danhires Ron Bennett. "That is the translation of the Vietnamese words inscribed on this monument... Reminds us of the emotional trauma our veterans suffered in this war. Those who returned home did so wounded – inside, outside, or both. This monument seems to call out to them with healing thoughts."

S T A T U E

1987 - Statue of Fritz Jägerstätter, Saint Malachy Church, North Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (USA). "Why, given the awe-inspiring calendar of saints, is St. Malachy so taken with a virtually unknown Austrian peasant from WW-II times? In God’s providence & with the generosity of Fr. Daniel Berrigan, we possess on a side altar a magnificent carved statue of [Franz] Jägerstätter. The artist, Bob McGovern [1933-2011], one of our fellow parishoners, carved the statue to honor Fr. Dan’s fifty years as a Jesuit in 1987. Fr. Berrigan has great devotion to Jägerstätter, but stripping down in his mid-eighties, donated the statue to St. Malachy as a place where the peace of Christ will be celebrated." Info courtesy of Gerard Lössbroek (Pax Christi International). /// Franz Jägerstätter [1907-1943] was an Austrian conscientious objector sentenced to death & executed by Nazi Germany during World War II. He was beatified by the Roman Catholic Church on October 26, 2007, in Linz (Austria).

1987 - Reconciliation Park, Mankato, Minnesota (USA). Relations between the Dakota & non-Dakota people of the area were strained for decades after the US-Dakota War, particularly the hanging of the 38 Dakota. In 1980 the City of Mankato presented the Dakota people with a park. In 1987, the 125th anniversary of the execution, Minnesota's Governor declared a Year of Reconciliation. The City of Mankato commissioned local artist Tom Miller to create the statue 'Winter Warrior' that stands at the site of the execution, next to the Mankato Public Library. In 1992 the City of Mankato purchased the site of the execution and named it Reconciliation Park. People from the Mankato community worked with Dakota people to raise funds for a statue of a white buffalo at the park. People gather there every December 26th, the anniversary of the execution, in prayer and remembrance.

M U S E U M

1987 - Topographie des Terrors / Topography of Terror, Niederkirchnerstrasse (former Prinz Albrecht Strasse), Berlin (Germany). An outdoor museum located on the site of Gestapo and SS headquarters (1933-1945). Largely destroyed by Allied bombing in early 1945. Ruins demolished after the war. The first exhibitions of the site took place in 1987 as part of Berlin's 750th anniversary. Cellar of the Gestapo headquarters, where many political prisoners were tortured & executed, were found & excavated. Site was then turned into a memorial & museum. In 1992, two years after German reunification, a foundation was established to take care of the site." After many delays, a new documentation center was opened in 2010 (qv). [Ian Buruma (1994), "The Wages of Guilt," pp. 206-9.]

1987 - Portrait of Bert Röling, "De Boom van Kennis / The Tree of Knowledge" (muurschildering / mural), Auditorium, Academy Building, University of Groningen, College Square, Groningen (Netherlands). Bert Röling [1906-1985] was a Dutch jurist who helped found the International Peace Research Association (IPRA) in 1964. Huge mural painted by his son Mathijs Röling & by Wout Muller. Lower right corner includes Röling in white hair (similar to his official portrait in the university's senate room) & what appear to be three students.

1987 - Manos / Hands, Madrid (Spain). Mario Irarrázabal’s sculptures of a hand in search of liberty.

1987 - Peace Monument, Attu Island, Aleutian Islands, Alaska (USA). Erected by Japan at site of only battle on US soil during World War II.

July 31, 1987 - "Hymn to Life," Peace Symbols Zone, Nagasaki Peace Park, Nagasaki (Japan). From the City of Pistoia (Italy). "Depicts a mother holding her baby high in the air with both hands, an expresstion of love and peace."

October 17, 1987 - Commemorative Stone, Place des Droits de l'Homme, Palais de Challot, Trocadero, Paris (France). "In response to the call of Joseph Wresinski [1917-1988] - founder of the International Movement ATD Fourth World - 100,000 defenders of human rights gathered in Paris to honour the victims of hunger, violence & ignorance, to express their refusal of extreme poverty & to call on people from all walks of life to unite to ensure respect for human rights. A commemorative stone proclaiming this message was inaugurated on this occasion on the Plaza of Human Rights and Liberties - where the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was signed in 1948. Since then, on the 17th of October each year, people from all walks of life, gather throughout the world to express their solidarity & commitment to ensure that everyone's dignity & freedom are respected. On 22nd of December 1992, the General Assembly of the United Nations declared 17th October the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. There are now over 30 replicas of the original stone now located around the world [where?!]. These sites have become places of honour for people living in poverty in the world, places where people gather to reject the inevitability of poverty & social exclusion & places of friendship & solidarity where people from all backgrounds can gather together.

October 24, 1987 - London Peace Garden, London (England). Dedicated on United Nations Day.

December 9, 1987 - Florence Nightengale Museum, Florence Nightingale Museum Trust, Gassiot House, 2 Lambeth Palace Road, London (England). Click here for all "musuems for peace" in the UK (& elsewhere).