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FOR Annual Peace Awards

About

Each year, the Fellowship of Reconciliation awards three peace awards to individuals or organizations whose commitment to peace, justice, and reconciliation is recognized as extraordinary.

The International Pfeffer Peace Award was established in 1989 by Leo and Freda Pfeffer to particularly honor those around the world working for peace and justice. Leo Pfeffer was the United States’ leading theoretician on religious liberty and the separation of church and state, and he argued these constitutional issues before the Supreme Court. A long-time FOR member, Leo was a founding member of the Jewish Peace Fellowship. He died in 1993, but his legacy continues to contribute to a more peaceful society.

The Martin Luther King Jr. Award was established by FOR in 1979 to recognize persons or groups working in the United States in the tradition of Martin Luther King, Jr. The Rev. Dr. King was a member of FOR and worked closely with the organization; he was serving as a member of FOR’s Advisory Council at the time of his death. The award honors those who make a significant contribution to the furtherance of Dr. King’s nonviolent approach to transforming racial, economic, and social injustice.

The Nyack-Area Peace Award was established in 2006 by FOR to recognize unheralded local groups and individuals who work tirelessly for justice and reconciliation in the human family. Nyack, New York, has been the home of the Fellowship of Reconciliation headquarters since the organization moved to its “Shadowcliff” headquarters in the mid-1950s.

Nominate an Individual or Organization for an Award

Each year, FOR solicits nominations for each of these three awards from peace groups and individuals. You need not have any affiliation with the Fellowship of Reconciliation in order to make a nomination; we welcome anyone to suggest a worthy recipient!

Nominations for 2013 have closed. We will begin accepting nominations for 2014 early in the year.

Previous Award Winners

International Pfeffer Peace Award

Martin Luther King Jr. Award

  • 2012: Jim Murphy, Ithaca, NY — read profile
  • 2011: Save Our Streets (S.O.S.) Crown Heights, Brooklyn, NY — read profile
  • 2010: Medea Benjamin, San Francisco, CA — read interview
  • 2009: Cynthia Brown, Durham, NC
  • 2008: George Lakey, Philadelphia, PA — read interview
  • 2007: Samina Faheem Sundas and American Muslim Voice, Palo Alto, CA — read profile
  • 2006: Walter and June Keener Wink, Sandisfield, MA — read interview
  • 2005: Margaret Morgan Lawrence, Pomona, CA — read profile
  • 2002: Dustin Washington, Seattle, WA
  • 2000: Kay Camp, Haverford, PA
  • 1999: Edith Bush, West Palm Beach, FL
  • 1998: Ken Brown, North Manchester, IN
  • 1997: Anne Brooks
  • 1996: Louis Coleman, Louisville, KY
  • 1995: Margaret Moseley, Cape Cod, MA
  • 1994: Daniel Alejandrez, Santa Cruz, CA
  • 1993: One Day at a Time, founded by Henry T. Wells, Philadelphia, PA
  • 1992: Charles Alphin, Atlanta, GA and Sam Day, Madison, WI
  • 1991: Glenn Smiley, Glendale, CA — read essay
  • 1990: Randall Kehler, Colrain, MA
  • 1989: Carl Upchurch, Bexley, OH
  • 1988: Maurice McCrackin, Cincinnati, OH
  • 1987: Archbishop Raymond G. Hunthausen, Seattle, WA
  • 1986: Miles Horton, New Market, TN
  • 1985: Shelley Douglass and Jim Douglass, Birmingham, AL
  • 1984: Pete Seeger and Toshi Seeger, Beacon, NY
  • 1983: Septima Poinsette Clark, Charleston, SC
  • 1982: Katherine Garry
  • 1981: Robert C. Aldridge, Santa Clara, CA
  • 1980: Fay Honey Knopp, Shoreham, VT
  • 1979: Frederick Douglass Kirkpatrick, LA and NY

Nyack-Area Peace Award

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