Arkansas activist Jean Gordon, a 97-year-old peace and equality advocate, passes away

Little Rock, Arkansas – Jean Gordon, an activist from Arkansas who devoted her life to advancing equality and peace, passed away on Thursday. She was ninety-seven.

Gordon initially made her mark in the late 1950s as a member of the Women’s Emergency Committee, which brought together women to oppose integration by calling for the reopening of Little Rock’s public schools, which had been shuttered by Governor Orval Faubus.

Afterward, she held positions as head of the Arkansas Peace Center, member of the Little Rock School Board, and president of the Little Rock Parent Teacher Association. In addition, Gordon established the state chapter of Women’s Action for Nuclear Disarmament, or WAND.

Jean lived to improve her world and by example led many others to action for reducing the threat of maintaining the arsenal of nuclear weapons,” Arkansas WAND wrote to members Friday. “Her sword was her pen, and in her published writings she never stopped working to convince the people of the United States that nuclear weapons do not make them free or secure.”