The Golden Rule peace boat is a 39-foot wooden ketch which four peace activists sailed toward the Marshall Islands in 1958 to protest U.S. nuclear weapons testing there. However, the crew was arrested on May 1 off Hawaii by the U.S. Coast Guard and never got to the test zone, but global outcry over the arrests and jailings joined with rising public awareness of radiation dangers of nuclear weapons tests, eventually prompted President Kennedy’s signing of the Limited Test Ban Treaty with USSR and UK in October 1963.
Unfortunately, the boat sank in a storm off California in 2010, and Veterans For Peace and others salvaged and restored her. Since 2015, her crew has appeared at hundreds of educational events up and down the West Coast.
Use this link to learn more about the Golden Rule Peace Boat.
Now the Golden Rule is sailing the “Great Loop”: down the Mississippi, around Florida, up the East Coast through the Great Lakes to Chicago, a voyage of over 15 months, 11,000 miles and 100 ports-of-call, including Annapolis, Baltimore and Havre de Grace.
You are invited to participate in the events below while the Golden Rule peace boat is in Baltimore, April 27 to May 3. Supporting the Golden Rule reflects Baltimore’s consistent opposition to nuclear weapons and the excessive and wasteful federal defense budget. (Nuclear disarmament one of the values of Pax Christi USA and Pax Christi Baltimore).
- Saturday, April 29: 10:00 am-3:00 pm, Open Boat Day, Pier 5, Concord Street, alongside the USS Torsk and 7 Foot Knoll Lighthouse. Come and visit the Golden Rule Sailboat
- Saturday, April 29: 6:00pm, Interfaith service, blessing of the sailors at St. John’s United Methodist Church, 2640 St Paul Street (entrance on 27th Street). Refreshments to follow. This is a Pax Christi Baltimore-sponsored event.
- Sunday April 30: 10:30 am – 11:40 am, Sunday service, St. John’s United Methodist Church, 2640 St. Paul Street (entrance on 27th Street). Sailors present and will give remarks at the service.
- Sunday, April 30: 3:00-5:30 pm, Homewood Friends Meeting, 3107 North Charles Street. Cultural Event: music by Rhonda R, Orch Kids, Charm City Labor Chorus, Rick Jarmann, Buzz Merrick and Dick Ochs.
- Monday, May 1: 5:00 pm, City Council hearing – Golden Rule Project Director Helen Jaccard and crew member(s) will accept Welcoming Resolution, sponsored by Councilman Zeke Cohen.
- Monday, May 1: 6:00-9:00 pm, Homewood Friends Meeting, 3107 North Charles St. Dr. Vincent Intondi, author of “African Americans Against The Bomb” and “Saving The World From Nuclear War” book event. 65th anniversary of the arrest of the original Golden Rule crew in Hawaii will be commemorated with Golden Rule video, protest history and current tour anecdotes, light refreshments and a grand cake.
- Tuesday, May 2: 10:00 am-3:00 pm, Open Boat Day, Pier 5, Concord Street, alongside the USS Torsk and 7 Foot Knoll Lighthouse.
- Tuesday, May 2: 12:00-2:00 pm, Send-off lunch, Ambassador Dining Room (Indian restaurant), 3811 Canterbury; $65 per person; call/text 410-499-8899 to attend.
- Tuesday, May 2: 6:00-8:00 pm, Ivy Book Shop, 5928 Falls Road, Presentations by Golden Rule crew and former Greenpeace General Counsel Carol Booker, author of “Cove Point on the Chesapeake”, evaluating the wisdom of nuclear power plant and Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) terminal located only three miles apart.
- Wednesday, May 3: 9:00 am, Golden Rule departs Baltimore.