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Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. For more information, please see the Permissions and Copyright page on the West Virginia and Regional History Center website.

Conditions Governing Access

No special access restriction applies.

Researchers may access digitized materials by requesting to view the materials in person by appointment or remotely by contacting the West Virginia & Regional History Center reference department at https://westvirginia.libanswers.com/wvrhc.

Preferred Citation

[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Morgantown Women Working for Peace and Justice (MWWPJ) Scrapbook, A&M 4669, West Virginia and Regional History Center, West Virginia University Libraries, Morgantown, West Virginia.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Transfer from Stitzel, Judith, 2021

Loan from Goodman, Sharon, 2022

Biographical / Historical

The Morgantown Women Working for Peace and Justice (MWWPJ), occasionally referred to as the Morgantown Women Working for Peace, was formed in 1991 in response to the United States-led Gulf War in Iraq. The coalition of women sought to promote peace and social justice while opposing war through the use of public art, skits, performances, and protests. They also protested coal plants and fracking. Early members included Genevieve Bardwell, Sharon Goodman, Mary Kenney, Robin Kessler, Catherine Pancake, and Ann Payne.

The group was often represented by the West Virginia University (WVU) Center for Women's Studies (CWS) and Judith Stitzel, the former head of the CWS. The group was known for attending local and national protests dressed in black robes, wearing white masks, and carrying dummy dolls to represent children killed in war. They interacted with other local organizations such as the Morgantown National Organization for Women (MNOW), Morgantown Men's Collective, Morgantown-Kingwood Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (N.A.A.C.P.), Morgantown Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, American Friends Service Committee, and Monongalia County Peace Committee. Their most prominent protests were against the United States-led Gulf War (1990-1991) and Iraq War (2003-2011). The group did not formally dissolve, but gradually decreased their activities throughout the 1990s, with their last known recorded protest being in 2003 against former President Bush's policies in Iraq.

Scope and Contents

This collection consists of 62 digital files containing scans of a scrapbook loaned to the WVRHC by former MWWPJ member Sharon Goodman.

Scanned in order of original organization, the scrapbook consists of flyers, newspaper clippings, and photographs. It also includes a note regarding Sharon Goodman's protest activities throughout the 1990s. Topics include protest against the Gulf War (1990-1991), protest against the Iraq War (2003-2011), the International Day of Student and Youth Mobilization Against War in 1991, Hiroshima Day in 1995, and pro-choice rallies in Morgantown and Washington, D.C. in 1991-1992.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Activism
• Morgantown Women Working for Peace and Justice
• Peace movements -- West Virginia
• Performance art
• Stitzel, Judith
• West Virginia Feminist Activist Collection
• Women political activists