Historic Boat To Visit Milwaukee to Promote Peace

The Golden Rule, a storied sailboat that helped bring about an end to atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons 50 years ago, will visit Milwaukee September 1 through 4 as part of a 13-month, 11,000-mile voyage to inform and educate the public about the dangers of nuclear weapons proliferation.

The 35-foot wooden sailboat will be docked at at Discovery World on Friday, Sept. 1 then in a slip at Lakeshore State Park Sept. 2 to 4. Free boat tours and visits with the crew will be offered every afternoon from 1 to 4 p.m. A celebration in the park with folk musicians is planned from 2 to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 2.  On Labor Day Monday, Sept, 4th , the Milwaukee Area Labor Council is encouraging people who attend Labor Fest to visit the nearby boat.

The Golden Rule began its trip on the Great Loop route in September 2022 on the Mississippi River in Minnesota, sailing to the Gulf, and circling the south and east coasts before reaching the Great Lakes this summer, making over 100 stops along the way.

In 1958 a crew of Quakers sailed the Golden Rule from Hawaii towards the Marshall Islands with the intent to protest and interfere with atmospheric nuclear weapons tests, although that voyage was halted by the government and the crew was arrested. As a result of this highly publicized mission and public outcry about the radiation blowing around the world, President Kennedy signed the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in 1963. The Golden Rule action inspired many peace makers and peace ships that followed, including Greenpeace.

Golden Rule was in private hands and sunk, but  was rescued from a watery grave in 2010 and restored to her former beauty by Veterans For Peace and others who support her new mission: to promote a nuclear free future, to educate about the dangers of radiation to humanity and the environment, and to support peaceful alternatives to war. The current voyage is a project of Veterans For Peace, with its local visit sponsored by Milwaukee Veterans For Peace and a dozen other peace and justice organizations.   

More information: Bill Christofferson, Milwaukee Veterans For Peace Chapter 102 Vfpchapter102@gmail.com, 414-587-6577.    Helen Jaccard, national Veterans For Peace Golden Rule Project Manager, (206) 992-6364VFP Golden Rule Project, P. O. Box 87, Samoa, CA 95564. web: www.vfpgoldenruleproject.org