Macy Morse (January 25, 1921 – July 18, 2019) was an American activist in the

non-violent Nonviolence is the personal practice of not causing harm to others under any condition. It may come from the belief that hurting people, animals and/or the environment is unnecessary to achieve an outcome and it may refer to a general philosoph ...

peace and

anti-nuclear The anti-nuclear movement is a social movement that opposes various nuclear technologies. Some direct action groups, environmental movements, and professional organisations have identified themselves with the movement at the local, natio ...

movements. She died in July 2019 at the age of 98.

History and background

Macy Elkins was born in

Molalla, Oregon Molalla is a city in Clackamas County, Oregon. The population was 8,108 at the time of the 2010 census. History Molalla was named after the Molalla River, which in turn was named for the Molala, a Native American tribe that inhabited the area. ...

, a

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...

logging town. She was the great-great-granddaughter of

Oregon Trail The Oregon Trail was a east–west, large-wheeled wagon route and Westward Expansion Trails, emigrant trail in the United States that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon. The eastern part of the Oregon Trail spanned part of what ...

pioneer

Luther Elkins Luther Elkins (May 26, 1809 – December 13, 1887) was an American politician and pioneer in the state of Oregon. Born in Cornville, Maine and married to Philotheta Williams, he immigrated to the Oregon Territory in 1852, overland via the Or ...

. Morse, along with others, formed the

Nashua, New Hampshire Nashua is a city in southern New Hampshire, United States. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 91,322, the second-largest in northern New England after nearby Manchester, New Hampshire, Manchester. Along with Manc ...

People Concerned About the War in Vietnam to help end United States involvement in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

. Morse was a participant of Avco Plowshares, an action group of the Plowshares Movement. The group was set up to target

Avco Corporation Avco Corporation is a subsidiary of Textron which operates Textron Systems Corporation and Lycoming. History The Aviation Corporation was formed on March 2, 1929, to prevent a takeover of CAM-24 airmail service operator Embry-Riddle Compa ...

, a military contractor and subsidiary of

Textron Textron Inc. is an American industrial conglomerate based in Providence, Rhode Island. Textron's subsidiaries include Arctic Cat, Bell Textron, Textron Aviation (which itself includes the Beechcraft, and Cessna brands), and Lycoming Engines. ...

. The group entered the Avco Systems Division in

Wilmington, Massachusetts Wilmington is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. Its population was 23,349 at the 2020 United States census. History Wilmington was first settled in 1665 and was officially incorporated in 1730, from parts of Woburn, Readi ...

and hammered on manufacturing equipment and poured blood on documents entitled " MX-Peacekeeper". She served eight days in jail. In 1981, to protest the

Reagan Administration Ronald Reagan's tenure as the 40th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1981, and ended on January 20, 1989. Reagan, a Republican from California, took office following a landslide victory over D ...

nuclear first strike In nuclear strategy, a first strike or preemptive strike is a preemptive surprise attack employing overwhelming force. First strike capability is a country's ability to defeat another nuclear power by destroying its arsenal to the point where th ...

policies, Morse made her way into the offices of Reagan's press secretary

Alexander Haig Alexander Meigs Haig Jr. (; December 2, 1924February 20, 2010) was United States Secretary of State under President Ronald Reagan and White House Chief of Staff under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. Prior to and in between these c ...

, where she splashed human blood onto the carpet and furniture. Morse was arrested and sentenced to 18 days in jail.

References

1921 births 2019 deaths People from Molalla, Oregon American anti–nuclear weapons activists American anti-war activists Western Oregon University alumni People from Portsmouth, New Hampshire Activists from New Hampshire Activists from Oregon 21st-century American women {{US-activist-stub

History and background

See also

References