57 Memorial Monument for Barbara Reynolds
Date of dedication: Unveiled on June 12, 2011
Established by
World Friendship Center (specified non-profit corporation)
Shape
0.8m2 ceramic plate is mounted on the black granite pedestal of approximately 1.3m (height) x 1m (width) x 0.4m (thickness)
Motive for the erection
After more than 60 years since the atomic bombing, amidst the concerns over the fading atomic bombing memory, the monument was erected to commemorate the achievement of Ms. Barbara Reynolds in making the experience of Hiroshima bombing globally known in her conviction that “My heart is always with Hiroshima”, and to pass on her wish for the nuclear abolition to many people, including citizens, students on school trip, and tourists from across the world.
Epigraph
I, too, am a Hibakusha
Hibakusha – they are the inspiration for all my peace effort
My heart is always with Hiroshima
Barbara Reynolds (1915-1990)
Special Honorary Citizen of Hiroshima
Founder of World Friendship Center, Hiroshima
Additional Facts
1. Barbara Reynolds (1915 – 90)
Barbara Reynolds was an American peace activist. In 1951, she made her first visit to Hiroshima with her husband, a researcher working for the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission (now the Radiation Effects Research Foundation), and learned the horrendous damage wrought by the atomic bombing. In 1958, she sailed into the restricted waters surrounding Enewetak Atoll in the Pacific Ocean in protest against the hydrogen-bomb testing by the United States. Since 1962, she had organized Hiroshima Peace Pilgrimage and, in 1964, launched Hiroshima Nagasaki World Peace Pilgrimage. The pilgrimages consisting of A-bomb survivors and scholars toured around the world, advocating peace.
In 1965, she founded the World Friendship Center in Minami-kannon as the "the world’s gateway to Hiroshima".
On October 15, 1975, the City of Hiroshima made her the Special Honorary Citizen for her achievements in her peace activities both in Japan and the world.
