27 Peace Monuments
Dedicated in 1999Right click image to enlarge.
February 1999 - America (Love), near the near the Lawengruppe / Lions’ Group, Tiergarten Park, Berlin (Germany). First of five Global Stones, each weighing between 10 and 40 tons and corresponding to a “sister stone” on one of the five continents. The pairs of stones represent the five steps towards peace. Once a year on 21st June the light of the sun connects all ten stones by reflection. Wolfgang von Schwarzenfeld, sculptor and around the world navigator, began the Global Stone Project in 1997 in Venezuela. This stone resembles a whale. From Gran Sabana National Park (Venezuela).
February 17, 1999 - Campana de la Paz Mundial / World Peace Bell, Parque la Carolina, Quito (Ecuador). One of 20 WPB's placed in 16 different countries by the World Peace Bell Association (WPBA) of Toyko (Japan).
March 13, 1999 - Garden for Peace #6, Pastoral Institute, Nairobi (Kenya). One of many Gardens for Peace in different countries.
April 1, 1999 - George Mitchell Bridge, between Cavan (Republic of Ireland) & Enniskillin (Northern Ireland). Aghalane Bridge rebuilt & newly named for US Senator George J. Mitchell. "Forms the border between North & South of Ireland. For 150 years this bridge served as a liaison to businesses and municipalities, which were located in the hinterland, as well as the main transport route between Donegal & Dublin and the shortest connection between the provincial towns of Enniskillen & Cavan."
May 1, 1999 - Tenth International Peace Garden, San Jose (Costa Rica). Rededicated on September 11, 2003, to "honor the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks"? One of many International Peace Gardens in different countries. Presented to San Jose by Maputo (Mozambiue).
May 13, 1999 - Samten Kyil / Tibetan Peace Garden, Tibet Foundation, Geraldine Mary Harmsworth Park, London (England). Next to the Imperial War Museum. Opened & consecrated by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Contains a "Language Pillar" ("replica of a 9th century treaty stone in Lhasa acknowledging the rights of Tibetans and Chinese to co-exist in peace") and sculptures by Hamish Horsley of New Zealand.
June 1999 - Alexander Pushkin Monument (left image), The George Washington University, H & 22nd Steets, NW, Washington, DC (USA). Reciprocal for the statue of Walt Whitman that was placed by US Secretary of State Hilary Rodham Clinton (right image) at Moscow State University, Moscow (Russia) in October 2009.
1999 - World Wall For Peace (WWFP), Fruitvale Elementary School, Oakland, California (USA). 2000 tiles.Entry #98 in the "Peace Movement Directory" by James Richard Bennett (2001).
1999 - Freedman's Memorial Arch, Freedman's Memorial Cemetery, Central Expressway & Lemmon Avenue, Dallas, Texas (USA). "$2 million monument to Freedman's Town, where freed slaves settled after the Civil War. Its cemetery had disappeared beneath white urban expansion in the 1950's. After utility crews rediscovered the site of an estimated 4,500 graves in 1987, the state began a partial re-interment and started building the memorial...The monument is truly multicultural. Artist David Newton created the bronze sculptures outside the entry, marked with granite arches and an iron gate. Poems are etched into a sunken circle at the memorial's center, and essays by Dallas schoolchildren grace the gate's outside pillars." /// This is "Monday's Monument" #124.
1999 - Bell of Peace, International Centre of Culture (The Pyramid), Boulevard Deshmoret e Kombit, Tirana (Albania). "Made as a memorial to peace by the children of Shkodra. Its metal comes from thousands of bullet cartridges, fired off during the lawless 1990's." "Originally the mausoleum for Stalinist dictator Enver Hoxha [1908-1985], the Pyramid has seen the eviction of Hoxha's corporeal remains and the burgeoning of Albania's interest in the culture and arts."
1999 - Christmas Truce Cross, Ploegstreert Wood, near Ypres (Belgium). The text reads, "1914 The Khaki Chum's Christmas Truce." In 1999, the Christmas Truce of 1914 was commemorated by a small group of re-enactors who, after spending a few nights in makeshift trenches in the area near Ploegstreert Wood, left behind a wooden cross. That cross has since been fortified with a cement base by some of the local people and now stands as the only monument to the Christmas Truce of 1914. This is a sad commentary on how governments build many monuments supposedly to honor military veterans, but somehow seem to do so in ways that glorify war."
1999 - Angel of Peace, St. James Cathedral, Chicago Episcopal Diocese & Plaza, 65 East Huron, Chicago, Illinois (USA). Nine-foot bronze angel by artist William H. Kieffer. Entry #265 in the "Peace Movement Directory" by James Richard Bennett (2001).
1999 - Gordon Hirabayashi Campground, Sky Island Scenic Byway, Coronado National Forest (Arizona). "The site was built in 1937 as a Federal prison camp... During WW-II, some prisoners were conscientious objectors; some were Japanese Americans protesting the relocation. Gordon Hirabayashi refused a Relocation order and served his sentence here after the Supreme Court upheld his conviction." "Because the Federal Attorney would not provide transportation, Hirabayashi hitchhiked alone from Spokane, Washingtion, to Tucson to serve his sentence at the honor camp in the Santa Catalina Mountains."
About 1999 - Four Peace Poles, Education Building, East Shore Unitarian Universalist Church, Bellevue, Washington (USA). Four peace poles support the portico of the church's Religious Education (RE) building. Information courtesy of Wenda Collins 06Feb11.
July 4, 1999 - Atheists in Foxholes Monument, Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), Lake Hypatia Freethought Hall, Munford, Alabama (USA). Inscribed: "In memory of ATHEISTS IN FOXHOLES and the countless FREETHINKERS [atheists, agnostics & skeptics of any persuasion] who have served this country with honor and distinction. Presented by the national FFRF with hope that in the future humankind may learn to avoid all war." The FFRF originally proposed an "Atheists in Foxholes" monument to replace a cross on public property in San Diego, California, but the foundation's formal bid was rejected in favor of religious bidders.
August 6, 1999 - No More Hiroshima : No More Nagasaki : Peace Museum, Indian Institute for Peace, Disarmament & Enironmental Protection (IIPDEP), 537 Sakkardara Road, Nagpur, Maharashtra (India). Museum & institute director, Dr. Balkrishna Kurvey, made presentation at 7th International Conference of Mueums for Peace, Kyoto (Japan), October 8, 2008.
September 25, 1999 - Bell of World Peace, Taipei (Taiwan). Conceived by Dr. Hong Tao Tze, President of the Federation of World Peace & Love (FOWPAL). Bell has traveled all over the world and has been photographed with many world leaders.
November 6, 1999 - Historical Marker honoring the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), Friends Center, 1501 Cherry Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (USA). The AFSC and the Friends Service Council (UK) shared a Nobel Peace Prize in 1947. Clarance Pickett accepted the prize on behalf of the AFSC.
December 1999? - Sugihara House-Museum, 30 Vaizganto Street, Kaunas/Kovnos (Lithuania). Two-story residence at which Jewish refugees once lined up in their hundreds to receive visas form Shiune Sugihara [1900-1986], consul of the Empire of Japan in Lithuania. Kaunas is Lithuania's second largest city.
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LDecember 31, 1999 - World Peace Bell, Newport, Kentucky (USA) -- just across Ohio River from Cincinnatti, Ohio. World's largest free-swinging bell. Dedicated on the eve of the new millenium. Project begun by Wayne Carlisle, president of the Millenium Monument Company. Inscribed "The World Peace Bell is a symbol of freedom and peace, honoring our past, celebrating our present, and inspiring our future." Cast in Nantes (France) by Paccard Bell Foundry on December 11, 1998, the 50th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). The Bell has an inscription commemorating that document, as well as engravings marking the most important events of the past 1,000 years." Not associated with World Peace Bell Association (Japan). Entry #355 in the "Peace Movement Directory" by James Richard Bennett (2001). Click here for air view. Click here for other peace bells.
December 31, 1999 - Vandalized About 2005? - Millennium Bell, Grand Circus Park, Detroit, Michigan (USA). On east side of the park. Ten ton bell celebrating the new millennium. Designed by Chris Turner & Matt Blake [1965-2008]. "One day, years ago, Blake discovered the ringer was missing. Different stories circulate about how & where he found the ringer. In any event, according to artist & friend Jerome Ferretti, Blake took the ringer to his garage & sent a 'ransom note' to the city, demanding that officials protect the ringer before he would return it. 'Matt was outrageous,' Ferretti says."
December 31, 1999 - American Freedom Bell, 3500 Shamrock Drive, Charlotte (North Carolina). Seven feet tall, seven feet wide, and weighing seven tons. "World's largest bell at ground level." Dedicated on the eve of the new millenium. "Jewish conceived" (i.e. largely paid for by the Belk department store fortune). Between the new Charlotte Museum of History and the old (1774) Hezekiah Alexander rock house. "Marks Charlotte as the first focus of freedom from Britain with its Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence publicly signed [in 1775] 14 months before the Philadelphia document."
