Dorothy Anne Stowe (née Rabinowitz; December 22, 1920 – July 23, 2010) was an American-born Canadian social activist and environmentalist, best known for co-founding Greenpeace.

Life and environmentalism

Stowe was born in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts ...

. While a college student, she organized and served as the first president of a social workers local of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. Despite being called a communist by the governor, she won her workers a 33% wage increase. In 1953, Stowe married Irving Strasmich. The couple became Quakers and changed their surname to Stowe in honor of Harriet Beecher Stowe, a pioneer

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

and noted author. The couple had two children, Robert (born 1955) and Barbara (born 1956). In 1961, the family moved to New Zealand to avoid supporting the American government's policies with their taxes. When France started its own nuclear tests in Polynesia, the Stowes relocated to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. In 1968, with

Jim Jim or JIM may refer to: * Jim (given name), a given name * Jim, a diminutive form of the given name James * Jim, a short form of the given name Jimmy * OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism * ''Jim'' (comics), a series by Jim Woodring * ''Jim ...

and Mary Bohlen, the Stowes founded a group called the Don't Make a Wave Committee to protest announced U.S. nuclear bomb tests on Amchitka Island in Alaska. They chartered a fishing boat named '' Phyllis Cormack'', renamed ''Greenpeace'', to sail to the island. The boat was intercepted by the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mu ...

, but the resulting publicity helped bring about the cancellation of the tests. In 1972, Stowe and the other co-founders changed their group's name to Greenpeace. While not as publicly visible as some other members of Greenpeace, she worked hard as a behind-the-scenes organizer. In 2005, when Irish rock band U2 played a concert in Vancouver, they invited Stowe, and Bono dedicated the song " Original of the Species" to her. Stowe died in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

UBC Hospital UBC Hospital is a health care facility located on the University Endowment Lands in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It opened in 1968, and is now operated by Vancouver Coastal Health. Overview UBC Hospital is made up of three different build ...

on July 23, 2010, at the age of 89. Her death came just weeks after the death of fellow Greenpeace co-founder Jim Bohlen. Stowe was predeceased by her husband Irving, who died of cancer in 1974.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stowe, Dorothy American social activists American environmentalists American women environmentalists American emigrants to Canada People from Providence, Rhode Island 1920 births 2010 deaths People associated with Greenpeace Canadian Quakers American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees people 21st-century American women