Promoting Enduring Peace
Encyclopedia
Promoting Enduring Peace is a pacifist organization and United Nations
non-governmental organization (NGO) based in Connecticut USA. "PEP" was founded in 1952 by Dr. Jerome Davis to resist the ideology of endless aggression that characterized the Cold War, and was incorporated as a tax-exempt educational organization in 1958 and reincorporated under current tax exemption regulations in 2008. Its principal programs have been peace education, citizen diplomacy, and the awarding of the Gandhi Peace Award
to recipients such as Eleanor Roosevelt
, Cesar Chavez
, and Daniel Ellsberg
. http://pepeace.org
Though "PEP" is a secular organization, its roots are in the Christian Left
and it continues to cooperate with members of the progressive religious community. In its early years PEP was led by Davis and Dr. Roland Bainton
, both Yale Divinity School professors, and its executive directors were retired Christian ministers. Howard Frazier, the first president of the Consumer Federation of America
, served as PEP's longest-serving Executive Director. He developed and conducted the programs and activities from 1978 until his death in 1997, with the assistance of his wife and co-director Alice Zeigler Frazier.
PEP is a membership organization, with "activist" and "supporting" members. Because an endowment has accumulated from member donations over the decades sufficient to cover modest administrative costs, all contributions to PEP are allocated entirely to programming.
, the first national conference exposing the dangers posed by unregulated CIA activities in 1976, from which a book of the same name was developed and published in 1978 (Ed. Howard Frazier). A principal conference organizer was Dr. Martin Cherniack, then a student at the Yale School of Medicine, who later served as president of the organization for 18 years. Currently PEP provides articles and other peace resources online at http://pepeace.org. A conference is in planning for Fall 2009 at Quinnipiac University on the expanding influence of the military-industrial complex in governing the U.S. and maintaining nearly a thousand permanent military bases located on every continent.
is always accepted in person by the recipient during a ceremony held for that purpose in Connecticut or New York City. Nominations are accepted from PEP members throughout the U.S. Brief bios of every Award recipient:
PEP's activities, carried on continuously since the 1950s, were interrupted by events occurring in 2005 through 2007; more at http://pepeace.org/tmpl/history.html. In 2007 the Peace and Social Justice Fund was established using a significant portion of PEP's endowment, and administered by the Community Foundation of Greater New Haven, to award grants to organizations proposing projects substantially similar to PEP's traditional activities of peace education, citizen diplomacy, and work toward a sustainable world peace.
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
non-governmental organization (NGO) based in Connecticut USA. "PEP" was founded in 1952 by Dr. Jerome Davis to resist the ideology of endless aggression that characterized the Cold War, and was incorporated as a tax-exempt educational organization in 1958 and reincorporated under current tax exemption regulations in 2008. Its principal programs have been peace education, citizen diplomacy, and the awarding of the Gandhi Peace Award
Gandhi Peace Award
The Gandhi Peace Award is an annual award bestowed by the peace education organization Promoting Enduring Peace for "contributions made in the promotion of international peace and good will." It is named in honour of Mahatma Gandhi.- History :...
to recipients such as Eleanor Roosevelt
Eleanor Roosevelt
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was the First Lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945. She supported the New Deal policies of her husband, distant cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and became an advocate for civil rights. After her husband's death in 1945, Roosevelt continued to be an international...
, Cesar Chavez
César Chávez
César Estrada Chávez was an American farm worker, labor leader, and civil rights activist who, with Dolores Huerta, co-founded the National Farm Workers Association, which later became the United Farm Workers ....
, and Daniel Ellsberg
Daniel Ellsberg
Daniel Ellsberg, PhD, is a former United States military analyst who, while employed by the RAND Corporation, precipitated a national political controversy in 1971 when he released the Pentagon Papers, a top-secret Pentagon study of U.S. government decision-making in relation to the Vietnam War,...
. http://pepeace.org
Though "PEP" is a secular organization, its roots are in the Christian Left
Christian left
The Christian left is a term originating in the United States, used to describe a spectrum of left-wing Christian political and social movements which largely embraces social justice....
and it continues to cooperate with members of the progressive religious community. In its early years PEP was led by Davis and Dr. Roland Bainton
Roland Bainton
Roland Herbert Bainton was a British born American Protestant church historian.-Life:He was born in Ilkeston, Derbyshire, England and came to the United States in 1902. He received an A.B. degree from Whitman College, and B.D. and Ph.D.. degrees from Yale University. He also received a number of...
, both Yale Divinity School professors, and its executive directors were retired Christian ministers. Howard Frazier, the first president of the Consumer Federation of America
Consumer Federation of America
The Consumer Federation of America is a non-profit organization founded in 1968 to advance consumer interests through research, education and advocacy....
, served as PEP's longest-serving Executive Director. He developed and conducted the programs and activities from 1978 until his death in 1997, with the assistance of his wife and co-director Alice Zeigler Frazier.
PEP is a membership organization, with "activist" and "supporting" members. Because an endowment has accumulated from member donations over the decades sufficient to cover modest administrative costs, all contributions to PEP are allocated entirely to programming.
Mission
PEP's mission, reformulated in 2007, is to contribute to transforming the reigning social paradigm from one of competition to one of cooperation, from a culture of violence and war to a global commonwealth devoted to the well-being of all who share it. The updated mission statement anticipates a convergence of dangers previously considered as separate and discrete, in which each danger compounds the others, paralleling the convergence of systems that characterizes globalization. It states that a rapid and peaceful transition is required from an unsustainable civilization steeped in institutionalized violence, exploitation, and profligate consumption to a commonwealth based on universal harmony, mutual respect, and a love of the Earth and all beings who call it home. The mission statement also states that PEP intends to devote significant effort and resources to achieving a fusion of peace, environmental, and social movements, in the belief that these causes are interdependent and none can succeed unless all succeed.Peace education activities
During the Vietnam War period, PEP mailed over 10 million articles encouraging peace to educators and organizers in numerous countries; now such resources are distributed via the Internet. In 1975 PEP presented "Uncloaking the CIA" at Yale UniversityYale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, the first national conference exposing the dangers posed by unregulated CIA activities in 1976, from which a book of the same name was developed and published in 1978 (Ed. Howard Frazier). A principal conference organizer was Dr. Martin Cherniack, then a student at the Yale School of Medicine, who later served as president of the organization for 18 years. Currently PEP provides articles and other peace resources online at http://pepeace.org. A conference is in planning for Fall 2009 at Quinnipiac University on the expanding influence of the military-industrial complex in governing the U.S. and maintaining nearly a thousand permanent military bases located on every continent.
Citizen diplomacy activities
By organizing groups of Americans to visit the USSR, Cuba, Costa Rica, China, and Mongolia during and after the Cold War, PEP has given ordinary citizens a chance to get to know "the Other," leaving them with positive, life-long memories, new friendships and hope for a peaceful world. As an example, in 2002 a PEP citizen diplomacy delegation journeyed to Vietnam to contribute to healing the deep scars left by the 1960-74 U.S. invasion. Its largest and most well-publicized event was the reciprocal tours of the Volga River in Russia and the Mississippi River in 1978 by citizen delegations from the Soviet Union, the United States, and other nations.Gandhi Peace Award
The Gandhi Peace AwardGandhi Peace Award
The Gandhi Peace Award is an annual award bestowed by the peace education organization Promoting Enduring Peace for "contributions made in the promotion of international peace and good will." It is named in honour of Mahatma Gandhi.- History :...
is always accepted in person by the recipient during a ceremony held for that purpose in Connecticut or New York City. Nominations are accepted from PEP members throughout the U.S. Brief bios of every Award recipient:
Fusion of progressive movements
PEP co-sponsors and helps fund numerous events conducted by other peace, environmental, and social justice organizations, such as the conference on human rights held at Quinnipiac University in 2008. The stated strategy is to take the "long view" rather than only respond to each new crisis as it occurs, as when Dr. Jerome Davis anticipated the dangers Cold War in the late 1940s and founded PEP in response. In 2003 PEP coordinated with other Connecticut peace groups to provide trains conveying thousands of people to the demonstrations in New York City opposing the Bush Administration plan to invade Iraq. PEP is developing a long-term "think tank" activity intended to create cogent source documents encouraging the productive interaction and mutual support of the peace, environmental, and social action movements.PEP's activities, carried on continuously since the 1950s, were interrupted by events occurring in 2005 through 2007; more at http://pepeace.org/tmpl/history.html. In 2007 the Peace and Social Justice Fund was established using a significant portion of PEP's endowment, and administered by the Community Foundation of Greater New Haven, to award grants to organizations proposing projects substantially similar to PEP's traditional activities of peace education, citizen diplomacy, and work toward a sustainable world peace.