Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists interviews Frances Crowe, 95-year-old antinuclear activist

Frances Crowe, 95-year-old antinuclear activist, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists 8 Oct 14, AbstractIn this interview, legendary activist Frances Crowe looks back on 70 years of protesting against the use of nuclear weapons and nuclear energy. She describes the impact that the news of the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima had on the American public in 1945—and how she and her husband, a radiologist and physician who had educated her on the effects of radiation poisoning, then decided to take a stand against its use. Among other acts of civil disobedience, she went on to spend a month in federal prison after spray-painting “Thou Shalt Not Kill” on the casings of missile tubes at a nuclear submarine base in Rhode Island. This grandmother of five has been arrested nine times for trespassing at the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station and was arrested again on January 14, two months shy of her 95th birthday. On the eve of the publication of her book, Finding My Radical Soul, Crowe tells about growing up in the Midwest during an era of Progressive politics, her evolution as a protestor, the limits of civil disobedience, what drove her and her husband—and what continues to drive her today.

When asked how many times she’s been arrested, the mild-looking, Ivy League-educated, 4-foot 11-inch, 95-year-old Quaker said, “Not enough”—before conceding that she stopped counting after the number topped 50……….

Always at the core, however, was her fierce stance against nuclear weapons and nuclear power. She’s been described as an activist’s activist, extremely energetic, determined, and creative when it comes to new ways of getting her anti-nuclear weapons and anti-nuclear power message across: running a draft counseling center, disrupting the christenings of submarine launches, and helping to come up with the “BB demonstration” to illustrate the killing power of nuclear weapons. She’s been expressing her views for some 70 years—so long that the police are perplexed when arresting her for civil disobedience: “One gets a lot of mileage out of white hair,” she once observed.

Despite her strong opinions, Crowe is unfailingly polite and considerate, as even her opponents admit; she has been arrested so often at Vermont Yankee that she is on first-name terms with the chief of police—with whom she exchanges mystery novels…………..http://bos.sagepub.com/content/early/2014/10/08/0096340214555076.full

October 27, 2014 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | opposition to nuclear, USA

1 Comment »

Reblogged this on Vernon Radiation Safety and commented:
Our local hero, Frances Crowe.

Comment by andrewblarkin | December 2, 2014 | Reply

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