Peace Pilgrim
Template:Use mdy dates Template:Use American English Template:Infobox person Peace Pilgrim (July 18, 1908 – July 7, 1981), born Mildred Lisette Norman, was an American spiritual teacher, mystic, pacifist, vegetarian activist and peace activist.Template:Sfn<ref name="NWHA 2018">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 1952, she became the first woman to walk the entire length of the Appalachian Trail in one season.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Starting on January 1, 1953, in Pasadena, California, she adopted the name "Peace Pilgrim" and walked across the United States for 28 years, speaking with others about peace. She was on her seventh cross-country journey when she died.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
A transcript of a 1964 conversation with Peace Pilgrim from a broadcast on KPFK radio in Los Angeles was published as "Steps Toward Inner Peace". She stopped counting miles in that year, having walked more than Template:Convert for peace.
Early lifeEdit
Mildred Lisette Norman was born on a poultry farm in Egg Harbor City, New Jersey, in 1908, the oldest of three children. Her mother, Josephine Marie Ranch, was a tailor, and her father, Ernest Norman, a carpenter. Although poor, the Norman family was admired in a community of German immigrants, whose relatives originally settled the area after escaping Germany in 1855.Template:Sfn
In 1933 she eloped with Stanley Ryder and moved to Philadelphia in 1939. They divorced in 1946.Template:Sfn She became a vegetarian for ethical reasons, stating that she could not kill any living creature. She believed that meat eating was poisonous to the body and lived on a diet of fruits, nuts, vegetables, wholegrains and dairy products.Template:Sfn
In 1952, she became the first woman to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail.<ref name="ATmuseum 2017 Class">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
PilgrimageEdit
Template:Rquote In the book, "Peace Pilgrim: Her Life and Work in Her Own Words," she related that her physical journey began after having experienced a "spiritual awakening," following a long period of meditation practice. She said that this awakening was a direct, mystical experience of the "creator's" love. She claimed that this spurred her to then start her decades-long walking journey for peace.Template:Sfn
Her pilgrimage spanned almost three decades beginning January 1, 1953, in Pasadena, California. The Korean War was in progress. She continued walking for 28 years, spanning the American involvement in the Vietnam War and beyond. Peace Pilgrim was a frequent speaker at churches, universities, and local and national radio and television.Template:Citation needed
Expressing her ideas about peace, she referred to herself only as "Peace Pilgrim." Peace Pilgrim's only possessions were the clothes on her back and the few items she carried in the pockets of her blue tunic which read "Peace Pilgrim" on the front and "25,000 miles on foot for peace" on the back. She had no organizational backing, carried no money, and would not even ask for food or shelter. When she began her pilgrimage she had taken a vow to "remain a wanderer until mankind has learned the way of peace, walking until given shelter and fasting until given food."Template:Citation needed
On July 7, 1981, while being driven to a speaking engagement near Knox, Indiana, Peace Pilgrim was killed in an automobile accident. The accident occurred on Indiana State Road 23, around Template:Convert south of the bridge crossing Eagle Creek about Template:Convert north of Indiana State Road 23's intersection with Indiana State Road 8. A marker is in the front lawn on the west side of the highway.Template:Citation needed At the time of her death, she was crossing the United States for the seventh time. After her death, her body was cremated, and her ashes were interred in a family plot near Egg Harbor City, New Jersey.Template:Citation needed
LegacyEdit
Friends of Peace Pilgrim is an all-volunteer non-profit organization dedicated to making information about the life and message of Peace Pilgrim available freely to all who ask. Since 1983 they have published and distributed over 400,000 copies of the book, Peace Pilgrim: Her Life and Work in Her Own Words, and over 1.5 million copies of the booklet, Steps Toward Inner Peace. Books and booklets have been sent to over 100 countries. The book has been translated into 12 languages and the booklet into over 20 languages.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In 2005 Peace Pilgrim Park was created in her hometown of Egg Harbor City, New Jersey on part of the site of the former Neutral Water Health Resort Sanitarium. Since 2007 an annual Peace Pilgrim Celebration has been observed in the park and at sites throughout Egg Harbor City on September 20–22.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In 2017 she was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The same year, she was inducted into the Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame.<ref name=athof>2017 Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame Inductees Announced (accessed 6 June 2019)</ref>
AwardsEdit
- Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Award<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
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- Inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame (2016)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
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- Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame (2017)<ref name="ATmuseum 2017 Class"/>
PublicationsEdit
DocumentariesEdit
See alsoEdit
- Granny D
- List of peace activists
- List of people who have walked across the United States
- Ronald Podrow
NotesEdit
ReferencesEdit
Further readingEdit
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- Template:Cite book (Ages 3-7 Grades K-1)
External linksEdit
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