It was good to be home for Mother’s Day. I got to see my son Dan, Amanda and my grandsons, Nik, Jeremy and Brandon. They brought an exquisite bouquet for my dining table center piece. And my neighbor Kevin Fairfax, who I have known since before he was born, leveled, fertilized and seeded my front lawn today. I have the best neighbors.

Today WOMEN SPEAK OUT FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE, the Cleveland branch of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, held a picnic up in University Circle near the museum. Did you know that in 1870 Julia Ward Howe’s Mother’s Day proclamation was a peace affirmation? Look it up, it is long but here is one excerpt

“Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means whereby the great human family can live in peace.

….In the name of womanhood and humanity, I earnestly ask

That a general congress of women without limit of nationality,

May be appointed and held at someplace deemed most convenient

And the earliest period consistent with its objects,

To promote the alliance of the different nationalities,

The amicable settlement of international questions,

The great and general interest of peace.”

Did you know that there was a Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom? Do you think the many Americans knew the Underground Railroad existed at the time it was operating? Do you think most Americans know the details of the UGRR history today?