Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action visual materials collection, 1977-2003

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action (Poulsbo, Wash.)
Title
Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action visual materials collection
Dates
1977-2003 (inclusive)
Quantity
1046 prints, 910 negatives, 12 slides, 11 VHS cassettes (3 boxes)
Collection Number
PH2004-054
Summary
Visual materials that document some of the actions of the organization related to civil disobedience in relation to nuclear armament.
Repository
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections
University of Washington Libraries
Box 352900
Seattle, WA
98195-2900
Telephone: 2065431929
Fax: 2065431931
speccoll@uw.edu
Access Restrictions

Collection is open to the public.

Languages
English

Historical NoteReturn to Top

The Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action was created in 1977 as part of an ongoing campaign of nonviolent resistance against the nuclear Trident submarines at the Bangor Naval Submarine Base in Kitsap County, Washington.

The nine founding members of Ground Zero were also members of the Pacific Life Community. The Pacific Life Community was a nonviolent group concerned about the nuclear arms race. It was formed in January 1975 during a conference of Washington State and Canadian pacifists, including members of the Seattle War Resisters League and Pacem in Terris House. The conference was held in response to questions raised by Robert Aldridge while visiting friends in the Washington State-British Columbia area. Aldridge became a vocal member of the peace movement after he resigned in 1973 from his position as a missile designer at Lockheed Martin. He had worked on the design of Trident missiles, and he had a crisis of conscience due to the missiles' devastating first-strike capability.

Pacific Life Community engaged in multiple forms of nonviolent action and civil disobedience against the Trident threat. In its first action, nine members walked through the Bangor Naval Submarine Base's main gate and planted a cross with an image of the globe nailed to it. Later actions at the Bangor base included cutting portions of the surrounding fence, digging a grave for a mock-up of the Trident submarine, planting a vegetable garden, and holding memorials on the anniversaries of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings. They also sent a delegation to Fiji for the Conference for a Nuclear Free Pacific held in April 1975. In November 1975 the Vancouver, British Columbia, mayor declared Trident Concern Week as a time of city-wide education on nuclear issues. During the week, Pacific Life Community members introduced the 550-foot "Trident Monster," a long train of people carrying poles connected by black flags meant to symbolize the Trident submarine's 408 nuclear warheads. In August 1976, 72 people walked the "Trident Monster" onto the Bangor base through three openings cut into the fence.

In the summer of 1977, a Pacific Life Community group that was particularly interested in Kitsap County activity organized the Bangor Summer of 1977, during which workshops and civil disobedience actions were held on borrowed land in South Kitsap County. During the summer, the group developed plans to distribute leaflets to Bangor base workers and to establish a permanent presence in Kitsap County. In the fall of 1977, nine Pacific Life Community members purchased 3.8 acres of land adjoining the Bangor base and incorporated it as a nonprofit land trust. This became the future site of the Ground Zero Center, at 16159 Clear Creek Road NW in Poulsbo, Washington.

Following the Pacific Life Community, members of the Ground Zero Center, even when arrested, strove to infuse their protests with the spirit of nonviolence as a way of celebrating life and humanity while working against violence. Ground Zero's first major action occurred on May 22, 1978. Working with other Washington anti-war organizations, they organized a large-scale anti-nuclear protest. Protestors were invited to camp the night before on land owned by Dorothy and Gerry Petersen, a local couple who were fighting the state's attempt to take part of their farmland for use as a Bangor-area freeway. The next day, 3,000 people gathered for a rally, and 300 climbed the Bangor base's fence. They were arrested and bused to Tacoma, where they were released without being charged. The May 22 action was followed by another event on October 28, 1979.

Ground Zero members persisted in distributing leaflets weekly, usually on Thursday mornings, at the Bangor base. They held workshops on various topics relating to social justice, and provided training and education in nonviolence. Ground Zero also held annual memorials of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Martin Luther King Day and Mother's Day were also often celebrated with nonviolent actions and education surrounding the Bangor base. In 1982 the first Trident submarine, the USS Ohio, arrived at Bangor and was subsequently deployed. Ground Zero attempted to stop the submarine's arrival by attempting to blockade the Hood Canal. The Pacific Peacemaker, an Australian vessel dedicated to anti-nuclear protest, served as the mother ship for the blockade.

In 1982 the White Train arrived at the Bangor Naval Submarine Base. Also referred to as the Nuclear Train, the White Train was an armored railroad train, first painted white and later various colors, that carried nuclear missile shipments from across the nation. One of its routes was from the Pantex Corporation in Amarillo, Texas, to the Bangor base. The train shipments had gone unnoticed throughout the 1960s and 1970s. In 1983, however, the Agape Community was formed by members of Ground Zero to track the White Train's movements, as well as the transportation of non-nuclear missile parts, across the nation. Members watched for and logged the movement of the White Train. Protesters held vigils along the tracks, which often included sitting on the tracks and physically stopping the White Train until they were removed and arrested. The Agape Community encouraged cooperation with police officials to ensure the safety of protestors, especially after anti-war protestor S. Brian Willson was run down and almost killed by a train carrying weapons to Central America in 1987. The last White Train shipment to enter Bangor was in 1985. In February 1986 the last nuclear shipment was completed by railway. By April nuclear shipments had recommenced by truck. The Agape Community continued to protest truck shipments of nuclear missles and train shipments of missile parts into the late 1980s.

In the 1980s Ground Zero established close ties with Nipponzan Myohoji, a pacifist Buddhist order from Japan, who worked with the Ground Zero community to build a peace pagoda. Unfortunately, the peace pagoda was never completed due to repeated denials for a land-use permit from the Kitsap County Board of Commissioners. Members of the greater Kitsap community also voiced their rejection of the proposed building in local newspapers. In May 1982 a temporary geodesic dome, which had been used for the monks' religious ceremonies, was destroyed in an act of arson. A stupa was later erected on the grounds as a memorial.

By 1992 the core community of Ground Zero had dispersed. Jim and Shelley Douglass, core members for fourteen years, moved to Birmingham, Alabama, in 1989 to track trains transporting Trident missiles to Kings Bay, Georgia. The Douglasses, who had moved to Kitsap County, Washington, in the fall of 1978 from British Columbia, had a long history of social activism within the peace movement. Jim Douglass taught classes on theology and wrote four books on the theology of nonviolence, including his first, The Nonviolent Cross: A Theology of Revolution and Peace. Shelley Douglass studied theology at the Vancouver School of Theology and was active in the civil rights and anti-Vietnam War movements. However, other important early members of Ground Zero, Glen Milner and Karol Schulkin, remained active. Glen Milner was an active participant in many civil disobedience actions and a proponent for anti-war education in Washington's public schools. He also pursued the disclosure of government information related to Ground Zero through requests granted by the Freedom of Information Act. Schulkin was a Protestant member of the Immaculate Heart of Mary community beginning in 1970, served as editor of Ground Zero's newsletter for many years, and protested for peace in the Middle East after her visit to Iraq in 1990. Nevertheless, after the Douglasses left, Ground Zero was in need of new full-time energy and leadership. Brian Watson and Elizabeth Roberts moved to Kitsap County in 1992 and became active members of Ground Zero. Another new member was Sister Jackie Hudson, a Dominican nun who exposed and symbolically disarmed a Minuteman III nuclear missile silo in northeastern Colorado and was sentenced in 2003 to 2 1/2 years in prison.

Ground Zero celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2002, having continued to engage in nonviolent anti-war action, including regular distribution of leaflets at the Bangor base.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

Images of various actions, vigils, and meetings, many directed by the Ground Zero Center For Nonviolent Action, in opposition to the shipment of missile motors via trains across the country to arm submarines stationed at the Naval Submarine Base in Bangor, Washington. Also includes videocassettes with footage of Ground Zero actions, as well as lectures and other presentations with themes related to civil disobedience in relation to nuclear armament.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Restrictions on Use

In many cases, the individual photographer has retained the rights to their images. Consult the repository to determine whether rights have been transferred to the University of Washington Libraries or remain with the photographer.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Custodial History

The current photograph collection, Photo Acc. 2004-054, was received together, on June 24 and June 27, 2003, with materials that form Accession No. 5336-001 and on February 12, 2004 with materials that form Accession No. 5336-002 in the Manuscripts Collection. Please refer to the appropriate manuscripts finding aids to use those collections. The photographs were transferred to the Visual Materials Collection on January 29, 2003 and March 10, 2004.

Acquisition Information

Gift of Jackie Hudson, Sue Ablao, and Brian Watson on June 24, 2003, June 27, 2003, and February 12, 2004.

Processing Note

Unprocessed.

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

 

Prints and NegativesReturn to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
1/1
Missile Motor Train Arrival
Seventeen color prints of protest activities related to the arrival of trident missile motors shipped to the naval submarine base in Bangor, Washington via train taken on August 8, 1986 by Friedrich Gronau.
1986
1/2
Train Derails
Twelve color prints of workers setting a derailed train back on the tracks.
undated
1/3
Protesters
Twenty-two color prints and twenty-one negatives of road side protesters around 1991.
circa 1991
1/4
Nuclear Train
Twenty b/w prints of aerial views of trains delivering trident missile motors and the loading of the nuclear missiles onto submarines at the naval base in Bangor, Washington.
undated
1/5
Derailed Train
Six color prints and eighteen negatives of workers setting a derailed train back on the tracks.
undated
1/6
Ground Zero Community
Sixteen b/w prints of various members of Ground Zero community taken by Petrina Walker.
undated
1/7
Trucks
Thirteen b/w prints of trucks delivering payloads to the Naval Undersea Warfare Engineering Station in Keyport, Washington.
undated
1/8
62 House
Fourteen color prints and four negatives of a residential home and copies of the Ground Zero Community newsletter.
circa 1984
1/9
Bangor
Ten color and nine b/w prints of protest activities related to the White train arrival and arrests on July 27, 1984.
1984
1/10
Train Protests
Sixteen negative images of protest activities related to the shipment of trident missile motors via trains to nearby naval bases.
undated
1/11
Missile Motor Action - Bangor
Three b/w prints and twenty negatives of protest activities taken on November 7, 1983 by Larry Swingle.
1983
1/12
Nuclear Train
Two negatives of trains carrying nuclear missile motors going through West Plains, Missouri on October 13, 1983.
1983
1/13
Ground Zero community
Three b/w prints of Ground Zero community members.
undated
1/14
Train Protests
Nine b/w prints, one color print, and thirty-six negatives of protest activities taken on May 21, 1986.
1986
1/15
Holy Innocents
Five b/w prints and twenty-five negatives of train protests taken on December 27, 1987.
1987
1/16
Train Protests
Nine b/w prints of train protests taken by Petrina Walker and two color prints of a court case taken by Rebecca Johnson.
undated
1/17
Protests
Three color prints of train protest near Bangor taken by Mary Lee Becker and one b/w print of Ground Zero members protesting outside Kirtland Air Force Base near Albuquerque, New Mexico.
undated
1/18
Train Protests
Twenty-one color prints of train protest in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
undated
1/19
Train Protests
Fifteen b/w prints of protests against nuclear submarines at Bangor, Washington.
undated
1/20
Peace Pentecost
Twenty-six color prints and thirty-seven negatives of the Peace Pentecost action taken by Mary Lee Becker.
undated
1/21
Train Protests
Three b/w and nine color prints of the protest actions and arrests on the train tracks near Bangor in April 1986.
1986
1/22
Stupa
Three b/w and three color prints of the monument taken by Linda Greenwald and Petrina Walker.
undated
1/23
Send-Off Party
Eleven color prints and nine negatives of a send-off party on September 15th, 1989.
1989
1/24
Train Protests
Forty-two color prints and sixty-one negatives of protest actions near Bangor in 1983.
1983
1/25
Unidentified Building
Two color prints and one b/w print of individuals at an unidentified building.
undated
2/1
Agape Missile Motor Action
Three color prints and two negatives of the action at Elma, Washington on June 6, 1983 taken by Becky and Mike Johnson.
1983
2/2
Nuclear Train
Six color prints of actions in Elma and Centralia, Washington on March 22, 1983 taken by Mike Poindexter.
1983
2/3
Agape Vigil
Six color prints of the action held in Castle Rock, Washington.
undated
2/4
Vigil of Hope
Seven b/w prints and twelve negatives of the action held near Bangor, Washington taken by Gordon Oliver.
undated
2/5
Holy Week Vigil
Ten b/w prints and twenty-two negatives of the action at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in 1983.
1983
2/6
Nuclear Train
Six b/w prints and four negatives of trains at Nampa, Idaho taken on November 8, 1983 by Michael Stamich.
1983
2/7
Submarine
One b/w print of a surfacing submarine taken by Peter Fromm.
undated
2/8
Bangor Trains
Three b/w prints of aerial views of the Naval Submarine Base in Bangor, Washington and three color prints of trains enroute to Bangor.
1983
2/9
MLK Day Action
Four color prints of the action on January 20, 2003 at the Bangor facility gates.
2003
2/10
Pantex
Two b/w prints of the Pantex facility in Texas taken by James Nachtwey.
circa 1984
2/11
Douglass Family
Thirteen b/w prints of the Douglass family.
undated
2/12
White Train Trip - West
Ten b/w prints of the vigil held on February 22, 1984 and one color print of the vigil line held at Bangor on February 24, 1984.
1984
2/13
Train Protests
Six b/w prints of train protests taken on February 22, 1985 by Dick Doughty.
1985
2/14
Gates Completely Closed
Three color prints and five negatives of an action in August 1998 that closed one of the gates to a military base.
1998
2/15
From Swords Into Plowshares
Sixteen color prints and twenty-four negatives of the From Swords Into Plowshares artwork at Magnuson Park in Seattle, Washington taken by Alisa Milner.
undated
2/16
Armed Forces Day Parade
Eight color prints of Ground Zero marchers at the Armed Forces Day Parade.
circa 1999
2/17
MLK Day
Forty-one color prints of a Martin Luther King Jr. Day action outside a military base gate on January 17, 2000.
2000
2/18
Ground Zero Action
Twenty-six color prints and twenty-seven negatives of a Ground Zero action outside a military base gate.
undated
2/19
Action Planning
One hundred and three color prints and thirty-five negatives of Ground Zero members gathering to prepare banners for an upcoming actions in August 1999.
1999
2/20
August Action
Sixteen color prints and twenty-six negatives of an action outside the Bangor base in August 1999.
1999
2/21
Ground Zero Turns Twenty-One
Forty-nine color prints and eighty-one negatives of Ground Zero members celebrating the twenty-first year of the organization's existence in August 1998.
1998
2/22
Water Ceremony
Thirty color prints and twenty-two negatives of the Water Ceremony held in the Hood Canal on August 8, 1999 and increased security at the Bangor main gates on September 2, 2002.
1999-2002
2/23
Eighteenth Trident
One color print of a vigil held at the main gate of the Bangor base as the 18th trident missile arrives at Kings Bay, Georgia in May 1998.
1998
2/24
Post Seabeck
Three color prints of an action held at the main gate of the Bangor base in July 1999
1999
2/25
Earth Day
Two color prints of an Earth Day action at the Ferry Terminal on April 22, 1998
1998
2/26
Ammo Trucks
Four color prints and twenty-six negatives of trucks carry ammunitions and the Naval Ordnance Center, Port Hadlock Detachment in the spring of 1998.
1998
2/27
PSNS
Eight b/w and two color prints of spent nuclear fuel rods leaving the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard by train and Norm Buske measuring radiation at the shipyard in the fall of 1996.
1996
3/1
August Action
Five color prints and eighteen negatives of an action outside the main gate at Bangor in August 1999.
1999
3/2
Canadian Weapons Inspection
Twenty-seven color prints and forty-five negatives of a visit by weapons inspectors in February 1998 to the Bangor Naval Submarine Base, including aerial views of the facilities.
1998
3/3
Action Planning
Nineteen color prints of performances and members preparing banners for an action in August 1995.
1995
3/4
Action
Seven color prints of an action outside the main gates of the Bangor facility in October 1997.
1997
3/5
Ammo Trains
Nine color prints and twenty-five negatives of trains traveling from California with ammunitions in March 1998.
1998
3/6
Actions and Events
Fifteen color prints and one b/w print of various actions and social events held between 1996 and 2002.
1996-2002
3/7
Action Planning
Four sheets with thirteen color prints attached depicting Ground Zero members planning for an upcoming action in August 1998
1998
3/8
White Train
Two b/w prints of the White Train in the Strategic Weapons Storage Facility Pacific Trident Base taken by Bruce Hoeft.
undated
3/9
Negatives
Two hundred fifty-three negative images taken by a number of photographers. Few are identified; however many of the prints are present in the collection.
undated
3/10
Actions
Seven b/w prints and nine color prints of submarines and several actions in 1996. Also includes eleven sheets with images of the Seafair protest and Action at Bangor on Hirosima Day in August 2000.
1996-2000
3/11
Protests and Vigils
Three b/w and two color prints of various protests and vigils.
circa 1978-1984
3/12
White Train
Three b/w prints of protest activities at unidentifed train depots and an aerial view of the nuclear weapons storage bunkers at the Sierra Weapons Depot in Herlong, California.
1984
3/13
White Train
Forty-eight b/w prints, twenty-five color prints, one b/w contact sheet (36 images) and thirty-six negatives of vigils and action directed towards trains carrying nuclear missile motors through various towns across the country between 1983 and 1985.
1983-1985
3/14
St. John's School
One color print and letter from the Kindergarten class at St. John's School in Seattle, Washington.
undated
3/15
Ground Zero Property
Fifteen b/w prints of an unidentified military base gate and the Ground Zero property.
undated
3/16
On The Line
Two b/w and two color prints of members of On The Line in Mississippi, Georgia, and South Carolina
undated
3/17
Pantex Plant
Five b/w prints of the U.S. Department of Energy's Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas.
undated
3/18
Naval Submarine Base
Twenty-six b/w prints of the Half Mile stop sign and old main gate (Bangor base) used for Jim Douglass's leaflet trial.
undated
3/19
Naval Submarine Base
Twenty b/w prints of the main gate of the Naval Submarine Base in Bangor, Washington. Also includes a diagram of the main gate, fences, and suggested vigil area and flyer describing the Ground Zero organization.
undated
3/20
Portland White Train Arrival
Thirteen b/w prints of protesters on the train tracks in Portland, Oregon on February 23, 1983 taken by Edward L. Bishop.
1984
3/21
Protests
Fourteen b/w prints and three b/w contact sheets (48 images) of train tracks, vigils, and supporters.
undated
3/22
Sierra Weapons Depot
Eight b/w prints and one b/w contact sheet (23 images) of aerial views of bunkers at the Sierra Weapons Depot.
circa 1984
3/23
Protest
One b/w print of an protest at an unidentified building.
undated
3/24
Train Protests
Eleven b/w prints of actions held in Memphis, Tennessee (undated) and Vancouver, Washington (July 1984) and the Hughes family leading a procession from the Our Lady of Guadalupe Church to the railroad site. Also includes several clippings and correspondence related to civil disobedience directed at the White Train route to Bangor, Washington.
1984
3/25
Protests
Thirty-seven b/w prints and one color print of various Ground Zero protest activities, many of which were taken by photographers during newspaper assignments. Many of the prints are oversize.
1977-1987

35mm SlidesReturn to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
3/26
Slides 79 and 80
Five color 35mm slides of unidentified protest actions.
undated
3/26
Concord
Seven color 35mm slides of railroad tracks.
undated

VideocassettesReturn to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
item
1
Citizen's Weapons Inspection Team
One VHS cassette featuring a Canadian delegation led by MP Libby Davies in Bangor, Washington on February 26th, 1998.
1998
2
Civil Disobedience
One VHS cassette featuring Joe and Jean Gump and Brian Wilson on the Phil Donohue Show.
1988
3
Trident Blockade
One VHS cassette featuring Ruth and John Nelson and raw footage of the arrival of the USS Ohio in 1982, as well as Paul Newman narrating "A Step Away from War" in 1988.
1982-1988
4
Ground Zero Action
One VHS cassette featuring Ground Zero actions in August 2002 and a party for 65ers in September 2002.
2002
5
MLK / Mother's Day / Bangor / Vigil
One VHS cassette featuring footage from Martin Luther King Day in January 2001 and 2002, Mother's Day in May 2001 and 2002, an event on August 9, 2001, Bangor by boat with French TV in 2002, and a vigil at the main gate on August 9th, 2002.
2001-2002
6
Water Ceremony
One VHS cassette featuring lecture, concert, and protest footage from the Water Ceremony held between August 3rd and 6th, 2000.
2000
7
PSNS
One VHS cassette featuring the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard action held on May 16th and 17th, 2000.
2000
8
Alaska Arrival and Cleanup
One VHS cassette featuring footage of the arrival and cleanup of the Alaska.
undated
9
Talking Stick
One VHS cassette featuring a declassified U.S. nuclear test film, the Mother's Day Bangor Action, the U.S. Nukes/Bangor MLK Action, and Subs at Seafair.
undated
10
Ground Zero
One VSH cassette featuring footage of training and actions led by Ground Zero bewteen 1977 and 1979.
1977-1979
11
The WTO and the Global War System
One VHS cassette documenting lectures by Susan George, Mark Ritchie, Alice Slater, and Steven Staples given in Seattle, Washington on November 28, 1999.
1999

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Corporate Names

  • Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action (Poulsbo, Wash.)--Photographs

Form or Genre Terms

  • Photographs

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Visual Materials Collections (University of Washington)