Thomas (activist): Difference between revisions

William Thomas
William Thomas
	Thomas with his dog Sophie
Born	William Thomas Hallenback Jr.; March 20, 1947; Tarrytown, New York, US
Died	January 23, 2009 (aged 61)
Occupation	Anti-nuclear activist
Spouse	Ellen Benjamin (m. 1984)

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Latest revision as of 05:31, 8 April 2024

Thomas started the White House Peace Vigil, the longest-running peace vigil in US history, in 1981.

William Thomas Hallenback Jr., known as Thomas (March 20, 1947 – January 23, 2009), was an American anti-nuclear activist and simple-living adherent who undertook a 27-year peace vigil – the longest recorded vigil in US history at the time, with the title passing to his co-protester Concepción Picciotto after Thomas' death – in front of the White House.^[1]

Thomas was born in Tarrytown, New York, and became a truck driver, jewelry maker, and carpenter.^[2] Inspired by the Sermon on the Mount, he became a pilgrim and began traveling the world^[when?] in the interest of world peace.^[3]

In 1978, having tried to swim across the Suez Canal on his way to Israel, Thomas spent eight months in an Egyptian prison. Later, in response to United States foreign policy, he destroyed his passport while trying to renounce his American citizenship in London.^[3] The British authorities deported him to the United States in 1980.^[2]

In 1981, Thomas traveled to Washington, D.C., and spent several months at Mitch Snyder's Community for Creative Non-Violence. On June 3, he launched the White House Peace Vigil in Lafayette Square.^[2] A couple of months later, in August 1981, he was joined by Concepcion Picciotto and then, in April 1984, by Ellen Benjamin.^[4] The following month, on May 6, 1984, Thomas and Ellen were married at a Quaker wedding.^[2]

During the first three years of the vigil, the Park Police had arrested Thomas sixteen times. The charges ranged from illegal camping to disorderly conduct.^[2] In subsequent years, Thomas and Ellen protested with numerous other activists, including representatives from the Catholic Worker and Plowshares movements.^[5]

Thomas died on January 23, 2009, aged 61, of pulmonary disease.^[6]

Legacy[edit]

Thomas and the White House Peace Vigil inspired Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton to introduce the Nuclear Disarmament and Economic Conversion Act to Congress in 1994. It would require the United States to disable and dismantle its nuclear weapons – once all other nations possessing nuclear weapons did likewise – and redirect the funds saved into renewable energy and social projects.^[7] Since 1994, Norton has continued to introduce revised or renewed versions of the bill. In March 2011, for example, following the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in Japan, it was reintroduced under the name of the "Nuclear Weapons Abolition and Economic and Energy Conversion Act".^[8]

The Oracles of Pennsylvania Avenue, a 2012 TV documentary commissioned by the Al Jazeera Documentary Channel, recounts the lives of Thomas, Ellen, Concepcion Picciotto and Norman Mayer.^[3]

References[edit]

^ Colman McCarthy (February 8, 2009). "From Lafayette Square Lookout, He Made His War Protest Permanent". The Washington Post.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Lloyd Grove (December 14, 1984). "Birth of a street person". The Washington Post.
^ ^a ^b ^c Tim Wilkerson (director) (2012). The Oracles of Pennsylvania Avenue. Al Jazeera Documentary Channel.
^ "Thomas, Peace Park Vigiler and Antinuclear Activist". Prop1.org.
^ "Significant Peace Park Vigilers from the Past". Prop1.org.
^ John Kelly (November 6, 2011). "For 30-year peace activist, a new battle". The Washington Post.
^ "Norton Files Nuclear Disarmament Bill to Implement D.C. Ballot Initiative". March 19, 2009.
^ "Norton Reintroduces Nuclear Disarmament Bill in Wake of Japan's Nuclear Catastrophe". April 1, 2011.

External links[edit]

Thomas explaining his protest on YouTube, September 16, 2007.
Peace Park Website
The Oracles of Pennsylvania Avenue

[1] Colman McCarthy (February 8, 2009). "From Lafayette Square Lookout, He Made His War Protest Permanent". The Washington Post.

[grove-2] Lloyd Grove (December 14, 1984). "Birth of a street person". The Washington Post.

[Jazeera-3] Tim Wilkerson (director) (2012). The Oracles of Pennsylvania Avenue. Al Jazeera Documentary Channel.

[4] "Thomas, Peace Park Vigiler and Antinuclear Activist". Prop1.org.

[5] "Significant Peace Park Vigilers from the Past". Prop1.org.

[6] John Kelly (November 6, 2011). "For 30-year peace activist, a new battle". The Washington Post.

[eleanor2009-7] "Norton Files Nuclear Disarmament Bill to Implement D.C. Ballot Initiative". March 19, 2009.

[eleanor2011-8] "Norton Reintroduces Nuclear Disarmament Bill in Wake of Japan's Nuclear Catastrophe". April 1, 2011.

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@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{Short description|American peace activist (1947–2009)}}
 {{Infobox person
 | name = William Thomas
 | image = WilliamThomas.jpg
-| caption = Thomas with his dog Sophie.
+| caption = Thomas with his dog Sophie
-| birth_name = {{nowrap|William Thomas Hallenback, Jr.&nbsp;}}
+| birth_name = William Thomas Hallenback Jr.
 | birth_date = {{birth date|1947|3|20}}
-| birth_place = [[Tarrytown, New York]],<br/>United States
+| birth_place = [[Tarrytown, New York]], US
 | death_date = {{death date and age|2009|1|23|1947|3|20}}
-| death_cause = [[Pulmonary disease]]
 | occupation = Anti-nuclear activist
-| spouse = {{longitem|[[Ellen Thomas|Ellen Benjamin]]<br/>{{smaller|married 1984–2009 (his death)}}}}
+| spouse = {{marriage|[[Ellen Thomas|Ellen Benjamin]]|1984}}
 }}
+[[File:PeacePark.jpg|thumb|Thomas started the [[White House Peace Vigil]], the longest-running peace [[vigil]] in US history, in 1981.]]
+'''William Thomas Hallenback Jr.''', known as '''Thomas''' (March 20, 1947&nbsp;– January 23, 2009), was an American [[Nuclear disarmament|anti-nuclear]] activist and [[Simple living|simple-living]] adherent who undertook [[White House Peace Vigil|a 27-year peace vigil]]&nbsp;– the longest recorded [[vigil]] in US history at the time, with the title passing to his co-protester [[Concepción Picciotto]] after Thomas' death &nbsp;– in front of the [[White House]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/07/AR2009020701843.html |title=From Lafayette Square Lookout, He Made His War Protest Permanent |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=February 8, 2009 |author=Colman McCarthy |author-link=Colman McCarthy }}</ref>
+Thomas was born in [[Tarrytown, New York]], and became a truck driver, jewelry maker, and carpenter.<ref name="grove">{{cite news |url=http://www.prop1.org/history/1984/841214a1.htm |title=Birth of a street person |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=December 14, 1984 |author=Lloyd Grove |author-link=Lloyd Grove }}</ref> Inspired by the [[Sermon on the Mount]], he became a [[pilgrim]] and began traveling the world{{when|date=February 2015}} in the interest of [[world peace]].<ref name="Jazeera">{{cite video |people=Tim Wilkerson (director) | url=http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/aljazeeraworld/2012/04/201241014447274464.html | title=The Oracles of Pennsylvania Avenue |publisher=Al Jazeera Documentary Channel |location= |date=2012}}</ref>
-'''William Thomas Hallenback, Jr.''', known as '''William Thomas''' or simply as '''Thomas''' (March 20, 1947&nbsp;– January 23, 2009), was an American [[Nuclear disarmament|anti-nuclear]] activist and [[Simple living|simple-living]] adherent who undertook [[White House Peace Vigil|a 27-year peace vigil]]&nbsp;– the longest recorded [[vigil]] in US history&nbsp;– in front of the [[White House]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/07/AR2009020701843.html |title=From Lafayette Square Lookout, He Made His War Protest Permanent |publisher=''[[The Washington Post]]'' |date=February 8, 2009 |author=[[Colman McCarthy]]}}</ref>
+In 1978, having tried to swim across the [[Suez Canal]] on his way to Israel, Thomas spent eight months in an Egyptian prison.<!--<ref name="Jazeera"/>--> Later, in response to [[Foreign policy of the United States|United States foreign policy]], he destroyed his [[United States passport|passport]] while trying to renounce his [[Citizenship in the United States|American citizenship]] in [[London]].<ref name="Jazeera"/> The British authorities [[Deportation|deported]] him to the United States in 1980.<ref name="grove"/>
-Thomas was born in [[Tarrytown, New York]] and became a truck driver, jewelry maker and carpenter.<ref name="grove">{{cite news |url=http://www.prop1.org/history/1984/841214a1.htm |title=Birth of a street person |publisher=''The Washington Post'' |date=December 14, 1984 |author=[[Lloyd Grove]]}}</ref> Inspired by the [[Sermon on the Mount]], he became a [[pilgrim]] and began traveling the world{{when?|date=February 2015}} in the interests of [[world peace]].<ref name="Jazeera">{{cite video |people=Tim Wilkerson (director) |title=[http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/aljazeeraworld/2012/04/201241014447274464.html The Oracles of Pennsylvania Avenue] |medium=Documentary |publisher=Al Jazeera Documentary Channel |location= |date=2012}}</ref>
+In 1981, Thomas traveled to [[Washington, D.C.]], and spent several months at [[Mitch Snyder]]'s Community for Creative Non-Violence. On June 3, he launched the [[White House Peace Vigil]] in [[Lafayette Square, Washington, D.C.|Lafayette Square]].<ref name="grove"/> A couple of months later, in August 1981, he was joined by [[Concepcion Picciotto]] and then, in April 1984, by [[Ellen Thomas|Ellen Benjamin]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://prop1.org/thomas.htm |title=Thomas, Peace Park Vigiler and Antinuclear Activist |work=Prop1.org}}</ref> The following month, on May 6, 1984, Thomas and Ellen were married at a [[Quaker wedding]].<ref name="grove"/>
-In 1978, having tried to swim across the [[Suez Canal]] on his way to [[Israel]], Thomas spent eight months in an [[Egypt]]ian prison.<!--<ref name="Jazeera"/>--> Later, in response to [[Foreign policy of the United States|United States foreign policy]], he destroyed his [[United States passport|passport]] while trying to renounce his [[Citizenship in the United States|American citizenship]] in [[London]].<ref name="Jazeera"/> The British authorities [[Deportation|returned him]] to the United States in 1980.<ref name="grove"/>
-In 1981, Thomas traveled to [[Washington, D.C.]] and spent several months at [[Mitch Snyder]]'s Community for Creative Non-Violence. On June 3, he launched the [[White House Peace Vigil]] in [[Lafayette Square, Washington, D.C.|Lafayette Square]].<ref name="grove"/> A couple of months later, in August 1981, he was joined by [[Concepcion Picciotto]] and then, in April 1984, by [[Ellen Thomas|Ellen Benjamin]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://prop1.org/thomas.htm |title=Thomas, Peace Park Vigiler and Antinuclear Activist |work=Prop1.org}}</ref> The following month, on May 6, 1984, Thomas and Ellen were married at a [[Quaker wedding]].<ref name="grove"/>
 During the first three years of the vigil, the [[United States Park Police|Park Police]] had arrested Thomas sixteen times. The charges ranged from illegal camping to [[disorderly conduct]].<ref name="grove"/> In subsequent years, Thomas and Ellen protested with numerous other activists, including representatives from the [[Catholic Worker Movement|Catholic Worker]] and [[Plowshares Movement|Plowshares]] movements.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://prop1.org/friends.htm |title=Significant Peace Park Vigilers from the Past |work=Prop1.org}}</ref>
-Thomas died on January 23, 2009, aged 61, of [[pulmonary disease]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/for-30-year-peace-activist-a-new-battle/2011/11/04/gIQARvvMtM_story.html |title=For 30-year peace activist, a new battle |publisher=''The Washington Post'' |date=November 6, 2011 |author=John Kelly}}</ref> <!--Something about Ellen..?-->
+Thomas died on January 23, 2009, aged 61, of [[pulmonary disease]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/for-30-year-peace-activist-a-new-battle/2011/11/04/gIQARvvMtM_story.html |title=For 30-year peace activist, a new battle |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=November 6, 2011 |author=John Kelly}}</ref> <!--Something about Ellen..?-->
+==Legacy==
 Thomas and the White House Peace Vigil inspired [[Non-voting members of the United States House of Representatives|Delegate]] [[Eleanor Holmes Norton]] to introduce the Nuclear Disarmament and Economic Conversion Act to [[United States Congress|Congress]] in 1994. It would require the United States to disable and dismantle its nuclear weapons&nbsp;– once all other nations possessing nuclear weapons did likewise&nbsp;– and redirect the funds saved into [[renewable energy]] and social projects.<ref name="eleanor2009">{{cite web |url=http://norton.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1091:norton-files-nuclear-disarmament-bill-to-implement-dc-ballot-initiative-31909&catid=2 |title=Norton Files Nuclear Disarmament Bill to Implement D.C. Ballot Initiative |date=March 19, 2009}}</ref> Since 1994, Norton has continued to introduce revised or renewed versions of the bill. In March 2011, for example, following the [[Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster]] in Japan, it was reintroduced under the name of the "Nuclear Weapons Abolition and Economic and Energy Conversion Act".<ref name="eleanor2011">{{cite web |url=http://norton.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2064:norton-reintroduces-nuclear-disarmament-bill-in-wake-of-japanas-nuclear-catastrophe&catid=2 |title=Norton Reintroduces Nuclear Disarmament Bill in Wake of Japan's Nuclear Catastrophe |date=April 1, 2011}}</ref>
 ''The Oracles of Pennsylvania Avenue'', a 2012 TV documentary commissioned by the [[Al Jazeera Documentary Channel]]<!-- and directed by [[Tim Wilkerson (director)|Tim Wilkerson]]-->, recounts the lives of Thomas, Ellen, Concepcion Picciotto and [[Norman Mayer]].<ref name="Jazeera"/>
-[[File:PeacePark.jpg|thumb|260px|Thomas started the [[White House Peace Vigil]], the longest-running peace [[vigil]] in US history, in 1981.]]
 == See also ==
@@ Line 38: / Line 37: @@
 == References ==
-{{Reflist|2}}
+{{Reflist}}
 == External links ==
-{{Commons category|White House Peace Vigil}}
+{{Commons category|William Thomas Hallenback}}
 * {{YouTube|e4R2tRPggRA|Thomas explaining his protest}}, September 16, 2007.
 * [http://prop1.org Peace Park Website]
@@ Line 49: / Line 48: @@
 {{Simple living}}
+{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas}}
-{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, William}}
 [[Category:1947 births]]
 [[Category:2009 deaths]]
@@ Line 57: / Line 55: @@
 [[Category:American tax resisters]]
 [[Category:Christian radicals]]
-[[Category:Nonviolence advocates]]
+[[Category:American nonviolence advocates]]
+[[Category:Simple living advocates]]
 [[Category:People from Tarrytown, New York]]
 [[Category:American Quakers]]

v t e Anti-nuclear movement in the United States
General	Anti-nuclear groups in the US California movement Great Peace March Nuclear history of the United States Nuclear power in the US Canceled nuclear reactors in the US Nuclear weapons and the US Protests in the US Anti-nuclear advocates in the US
Organizations and groups	Abalone Alliance Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility Clamshell Alliance Committee for Nuclear Responsibility Corporate Accountability International Critical Mass Energy Project Friends of the Earth Greenpeace USA Institute for Energy and Environmental Research Mothers for Peace Musicians United for Safe Energy Nevada Desert Experience Nuclear Control Institute Nuclear Information and Resource Service Physicians for Social Responsibility Plowshares movement Ploughshares Fund Public Citizen Shad Alliance Sierra Club Three Mile Island Alert Women Strike for Peace Kings Bay Plowshares
People	Daniel Berrigan William J. Bichsel Bruce G. Blair Larry Bogart Helen Caldicott Barry Commoner Norman Cousins Frances Crowe Carrie Barefoot Dickerson Paul M. Doty Bernard T. Feld Randall Forsberg John Gofman Paul Gunter John Hall Jackie Hudson Sam Lovejoy Amory Lovins Bernard Lown Arjun Makhijani Gregory Minor Hermann Joseph Muller Ralph Nader Graham Nash Linus Pauling Eugene Rabinowitch Phil Radford Bonnie Raitt Carl Sagan Martin Sheen Karen Silkwood Thomas Louis Vitale Harvey Wasserman Victor Weisskopf
Main protest sites	Black Fox Bodega Bay Diablo Canyon Indian Point Lawrence Livermore Montague Naval Base Kitsap Nevada Test Site Rancho Seco Rocky Flats San Onofre Seabrook Shoreham Three Mile Island Trojan Vermont Yankee White House Peace Vigil Y-12 Weapons Plant Yankee Rowe
Books	Carbon-Free and Nuclear-Free Conservation Fallout: Nuclear Protest at Diablo Canyon Contesting the Future of Nuclear Power Critical Masses: Opposition to Nuclear Power in California, 1958–1978 The Cult of the Atom The Doomsday Machine (book) Fallout: An American Nuclear Tragedy Killing Our Own Licensed to Kill? The Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Shoreham Power Plant Making a Real Killing: Rocky Flats and the Nuclear West Nuclear Implosions: The Rise and Fall of the Washington Public Power Supply System Nuclear Politics in America We Almost Lost Detroit
Films	Atomic Ed and the Black Hole The China Syndrome Countdown to Zero Dark Circle Nuclear Tipping Point Silkwood

v t e Simple living
Practices	Barter Cord-cutting DIY ethic Downshifting Dry toilet Fasting Forest gardening Freeganism Frugality Gift economy Intentional community Local currency Low-impact development No frills Off-the-grid Permaculture Regift Sattvic diet Self-sufficiency Subsistence agriculture Sustainable living Sustainable sanitation Veganism Vegetarianism War tax resistance WWOOF
Religious and spiritual	Amish Aparigraha Asceticism Detachment Distributism Jesus movement Mendicant Mindfulness Monasticism New Monasticism Plain dress Plain people Quakers Rastafari Temperance Testimony of simplicity Tolstoyan movement Twelve Tribes communities
Secular movements	Back-to-the-land Car-free Environmental Hippie Open Source Ecology Slow Small house Tiny house Transition town
Notable writers	Wendell Berry Ernest Callenbach G. K. Chesterton Duane Elgin Mahatma Gandhi Richard Gregg Tom Hodgkinson Harlan Hubbard Satish Kumar Helen Nearing Scott Nearing Peace Pilgrim Nick Rosen Dugald Semple E. F. Schumacher George Skene Keith Henry David Thoreau Leo Tolstoy Valluvar
Modern-day adherents	Mark Boyle Robin Greenfield Ted Kaczynski Pentti Linkola Jim Merkel Peace Pilgrim Suelo Thomas
Media	"Anekdote zur Senkung der Arbeitsmoral" Escape from Affluenza The Good Life The Moon and the Sledgehammer Mother Earth News The Power of Half Small Is Beautiful Walden
Related	Affluenza Agrarianism Amateurism Anarcho-primitivism Anti-consumerism Appropriate technology Bohemianism Consumerism Critique of work Deep ecology Degrowth Ecological footprint Food miles Front Porch Republic Green anarchism The good life Global warming Hedonophobia Intentional living commune Rainbow Gathering Itinerant Low-technology Nonviolence Peak oil Sustainability Work–life interface

Latest revision as of 05:31, 8 April 2024

Legacy[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

External links[edit]