“When we built the No Nukes movement we succeeded in large part because we studied what other successful social movements had done before us. The No Nukes Oral History Project is making it possible for the next generations of change makers to learn from our triumphs and errors, to borrow our strategies and tactics, and continue changing our communities and the world. I’ve donated to the work of the No Nukes Oral History Project and ask you to please consider doing the same.”
Renny Cushing

co-founder of the Clamshell Alliance

Support The No Nukes Oral History Project

From 1973 to 1982 American public opinion changed from having supported nuclear power and weapons to oppose them. This stopped a new generation of 1,000 plus atomic power plants and contributed greatly to the end of the nuclear arms race. It happened because citizens organized at the most local level, starting in New England and the “No Nukes” cause soon spread nationally and internationally.This is the story of that movement, the nine years that it changed history and the world, the everyday people who organized its first steps, the strategies, tactics and method with which we trained each other for nonviolent civil disobedience actions that shook the region, the country and the world, as told in the words of hundreds who were there.

This website is the online library for a yet unfinished book.
While we’ve interviewed more than 100 participants, journalists and eyewitnesses to these events, there are many more voices that still must be included.
Here you will find:

 

  • Library: News clippings, leaflets, posters, buttons, training manuals, minutes of movement meetings and much, much more.
  • Stories: Excerpts from the book as told by those who have so far agreed to be interviewed for it, telling the history in their own words. Not everybody remembers the same moments the exact same way. By including many voices (and even conflicting memories) we shine light on a larger truth.
  • Audio: Recordings of movement songs from the era, audio excerpts from the interviews, and more.
  • Video: Original footage that documented key moments of the struggle as well as vintage TV news reports from those years.
  • Photo Gallery: Inspiring images from the movement and new photos of its participants still around today with updates on what they’ve done since.
  • No Nukes News: Regular updates on the progress of the project. For example, this autumn we’re heading to Vermont for the next round of interviews with movement participants. Follow our steps through this website and its mailing list. Subscribe for free to receive an email each time we upload new materials to the library and related pages.
  • An Invitation: If you participated or were witness to these events from 1973 to 1982, we’d like to record your memories. Likewise if you still have the kinds of archives and materials on display here, we invite you to let us copy or photograph them to be shared with a wider public. Contact us.

The No Nukes Oral History Project is supported by The Fund for Authentic Journalism, a 501c3 nonprofit organization based in Western Massachusetts. Donations are tax deductible. Help the project continue the work of interviewing movement veterans, transcribing their words, and making these archives accessible free of charge to the public.  DONATE

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