The Seneca Women's Encampment for a Future of Peace and Justice was a women-only peace camp formed to protest the scheduled deployment of Cruise and Pershing II missiles before their suspected shipment from the Seneca Army Depot to Europe in the fall of 1983. The camp took place mainly during the summer of 1983, from July 4 through Labor Day, concluding with a Labor Day Action honoring workers and highlighting the inflation and job loss that militarism brings. Thousands of women came to participate and rally against nuclear weapons and the "'patriarchal society' that created and used those weapons." The encampment continued through till 1994 when it "transitioned" into a "Women's Peace Land." Through its entire existence it continued to make the same principled philosophical connections between militarism, patriarchy, racism, high rates of inflation, unemployment and global poverty, sexual & physical violence, addiction, oppression, & abuse in its many forms, and global environmental destruction. As it evolved the first summer, it became a living expression of all women's skills & empowerment, as well as a visible celebration of a joyful lesbian sub-culture. The encampment continued as an active political presence in the Finger Lakes area for at least five more years, supporting anti-nuclear education and the connections between ecofeminism, nonviolence, the need for civil disobedience and ideas of permaculture and sustainability.
Name The encampment has also been referred to as: Seneca, the Encampment, the Women's Encampment, the Women's Peace Camp, the Peace Camp, the Seneca Peace Camp and the Seneca Women's Encampment for a Future of Peace and Justice.
Vision Statement The following statement was taken from the back cover of the encampment handbook:"Women have played an important role throughout our history in opposing violence and oppression. We have been the operators of the Underground Railroad, the spirit of the equal rights movement and the strength among tribes. In 1848 the first Women's Rights Convention met at Seneca Falls giving shape and voice to the 19th century feminist movement. Once again women are gathering at Seneca – this time to challenge the nuclear threat at its doorstep. The Seneca Army Depot, a Native American homeland once (nurtured?) and protected by the Iroquois, is now the storage site for the neutron bomb and most likely the Pershing II missile and is the departure point for weapons to be deployed in Europe. Women from New York State, from the United States and Canada, from Europe, and, indeed, from all over the world are committed to nonviolent action to stop the deployment of these weapons.
The existence of nuclear weapons is killing us. Their production contaminates our environment, destroys out natural resources, and ... our human dignity and creativity. But the most critical danger they represent is to life itself. Sickness, accidents, genetic damage and death. These are the real products of the nuclear arms race. We say no to the threat of global holocaust, no to the arms race, no to death. We say yes to a world where people, animals, plants, and the earth itself are respected and valued."
History Romulus is located within fourteen miles of both Seneca Falls, which is the birthplace of women's rights, and Waterloo, the birthplace of Memorial Day. The area was a station on the Underground Railroad and home to Elizabeth Cady Stanton. The encampment patterned itself on the Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp in England. Other camps were set up in Italy and the Netherlands. In June 1982, many people met in New York for the largest U.S. antinuclear demonstration to date (with half a million people participating) and for the Conference on Global Feminism and Disarmament that preceded it. After 1983, only a few women lived on the campground, but their annual demonstrations were still large gatherings of nearly 800 women. By 1990, however, camp leaders responded to dwindling numbers by holding a "transform or die" discussion about the future of the Women's Encampment for Peace and Justice, which went on to establish the non-profit land trust Women's Peace Land. Chronology: February, 1983 – local officials first alerted to peace camp through Buffalo newspaper April – formal camp name chosen May 23 – camp land purchased – peace camp organizers held first press conference Early June – women invited to local churches June 9 – Local resident offers American flag to the camp (rejected on June 13) July 4 – camp opened (activities include slow walk to depot) July 17 – New York City women's letter to Seneca County sheriff gave notice of plans for a march from Seneca Falls to the encampment by way of Waterloo on July 30 August 1 – central demonstration involving approximately 1500-3000 people September 5 – camp closes for the year
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