Frances Crowe, lifelong peace activist and draft counselor
"Once people believed in human sacrifice—not anymore. Once people believed in slavery—not anymore. Once people believed that women should not vote—not anymore. In your lifetime I hope your children can say: Once people believed in war as the answer—not anymore."
August 1945: Unplugging the Iron
Frances Crowe was ironing placemats when she heard about the US atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, at the end of World War II on the radio. She was 26 years old.
"And I knew, with the description of what it was, that it was really bad…So then I literally unplugged the iron and went out looking for a peace center in New Orleans. And I didn't find one. But I ended up in a used bookstore trying to find something to read on nonviolence, and the man who owned the store suggested I start with Tolstoy, so I started reading a collection of Tolstoy's essays on war and violence."
Tolstoy's pacifism resonated with the young housewife who, as a teenager in conservative small-town Missouri, had told her father she disagreed with the death penalty and was opposed to war.
The Northampton Draft Information Center
As US involvement in the Vietnam War intensified, Frances was actively providing draft counseling. Trained by the Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors in 1968, she opened the Northampton (MA) Draft Information Center in the basement of her house.
One of the thousands she counseled was Captain Donald Dawson, an Air Force pilot. After observing Frances and other members of a group called Women Against the War—all dressed as Vietnamese women—block the main gate of Westover Air Force Base in Chicopee, MA, his beliefs were so deeply shaken that he refused to fly combat missions and was court-martialed.
Frances heard about him and reached out, and he became the first US pilot to receive a conscientious objector discharge.
A Life of Direct Action
Later, Frances became the local coordinator for the Quaker peace organization American Friends Service Committee, once again working from her basement office. Her causes included many peace and disarmament movements, safe energy and opposing nuclear and fossil fuels, issues affecting marginalized people, and eco-friendly lifestyle choices.
Frances was arrested at about 100 peace and justice protests, including at least one at age 98.
A judge once asked her how many arrests she'd had, and she replied, "Obviously, not enough."
Beyond Protest: Living Her Values
Frances was also a war tax resister. She was directly responsible—by illegally broadcasting the program from her own transmitter—for securing WMUA, Amherst, MA (the radio station of the University of Massachusetts), the first college radio station to broadcast the daily news program Democracy Now.
She gave up driving and became a vegetarian, among many other steps toward a carbon-free lifestyle. Her commitment to peace extended to every aspect of how she lived.
The 100th Birthday March
For her 100th birthday, she told her friends, "I want a march through the streets of Northampton with 100 people holding signs for 100+ causes." More than 300 people participated.
True to form, she was too impatient to wait for the police escort, so she gave the signal to start. The city's Mayor and State Senator ran out onto Main Street to stop traffic for the protesters.
Active Until the End
Author Shel Horowitz, who first met Frances at the Manchester (NH) National Guard Armory where they were both held after being arrested in the occupation of the 1977 Seabrook nuclear plant construction site, remained friends with her for the rest of her life. Four years after that first meeting, he moved to Western Massachusetts and began attending American Friends Service Committee meetings at her house.
His last interaction with her was about six weeks before she died. She came to an immigration justice event where he was one of the presenters, and they chatted briefly before the speakers got started.
At the time of her death, she was co-authoring a personal climate impact assessment with another local activist. She stopped taking food about two weeks before her passing.
Born 1919 • Died August 27, 2019, Northampton, MA
Frances Crowe died in Northampton, Massachusetts, at the age of 100. She had spent more than 70 years working for peace, justice, and a sustainable planet.
From the moment she unplugged her iron in 1945 to her final days working on climate justice, Frances never stopped believing that a better world was possible. And she never stopped working to create it.
Her legacy lives on in the thousands she counseled, the hundreds who marched with her, and everyone who continues the work of building a more peaceful, just, and sustainable world.
Her Impact
Frances Crowe's influence extended far beyond the visible protests and arrests. She created safe spaces for conscientious objectors during the Vietnam War. She brought Democracy Now to college radio. She inspired generations of activists through her unwavering commitment to nonviolence.
When a judge suggested she had been arrested too many times, her response captured her philosophy perfectly: "Obviously, not enough." For Frances, there was always more work to do, more injustice to confront, more lives to save.
She lived 100 years, and she spent 70+ of them in active resistance to war, violence, and environmental destruction. She proved that one person, committed to peace and willing to act on that commitment, can change countless lives.
