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H ouse G uest of the AEC: D orothy H utchinson, the 1958 F ast at the A tomic E nergy C ommission, and the D omestication of P rotest
Author(s) -
Hostetter David
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
peace and change
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1468-0130
pISSN - 0149-0508
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-0130.2009.00546.x
Subject(s) - crew , politics , political science , engineering , law , aeronautics
Quaker peace activist Dorothy Hutchinson joined a fast against nuclear weapons testing at the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) headquarters during Mother's Day weekend in 1958. Supporting the crew of the Golden Rule , then in jail in Honolulu for sailing into a nuclear testing zone, the fasters demanded a meeting with AEC chairman Lewis Strauss. The protest helped the Golden Rule 's message resonate with the political culture of the day. Hutchinson's activism combined successfully the pragmatic peace activism of the years between the world wars with the direct action protest born from the existential angst of the nuclear age.