Greater Boston PSR's Work on Health Effects of Nuclear Weapons

Our Historical Commitment

Since its founding in the late 1970s, GBPSR members have been committed to a core mission of the organization which has been to prevent nuclear war or any use or proliferation of nuclear weapons, and to work for their abolition around the globe. GBPSR developed and presented around the country the first medical grand rounds on the health effects of nuclear weapons.

Renowned artist Corita Kent donated talent and artwork to many campaigns, including a national billboard campaign based on her artwork "We Can Create Life Without War."

We have joined with many others in developing and conducting activities over the years to educate the public and health professionals on the medical consequences of nuclear war or the use of nuclear weapons. We have hosted noted speakers including Daniel Ellsberg and others to share their expertise with our members and the public. Activities over the past decades have included:

• Public and medical lectures and conferences, including numerous events commemorating Hiroshima and Nagasaki;
• Public forums including such events as "This is Not a Test" on terrorism and nuclear weapons at Boston's Faneuil hall;
• Testimony at national public hearings on such issues as nuclear waste and health effects of exposure to radiation;
• Film showings at theaters combined with presentations;
• An international letter writing campaign in the nuclear states;
• Photo exhibits including noted nuclear chronicler Robert Del Tredici at the Boston Public Library;
• Public art exhibits. In a major project entitled Twilight's Last Gleaming we collaborated with our international affiliate, International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) to bring a 13,000 piece public art installation on nuclear waste to Boston's City Hall Plaza and host it for 10 days.

MA Disarmament Action Network (DAN) coalition

GBPSR actively participates in and hosts monthly meetings of the MA Disarmament Action Network (DAN) coalition that includes MA Peace Action, WILPF, Cambridge Peace Commission, 20/20 Vision, Coalition for a Strong UN, AFSC and others. We support program work of each organization and also develop collaborative projects to educate on our organizations and their priority issues. In 2008 we worked together to create a signature ad campaign on developing peaceful dialogues with Iran, to run in Massachusetts newspapers. DAN developed a temporary web site for followup called peaceoption.org, which is now no longer operational. Priorities for 2009-2010 include a media campaign to educate on the threats from nuclear weapons and call for their abolition worldwide.

• http://www.masspeaceaction.org/template2media/media-index2.html
• http://www.wilpf.org/
• http://www.cambridgema.gov/PEACE/
• http://www.2020vision.org/index.cfm
• http://www.strongun.org/
• http://www.afsc.org/

DAN's 1/2 hour television roundtable, "Getting to a Nuclear Weapons-Free World," (details here) featuring members discussing the past, present, and future of nuclear weapons, and how our groups are working for their global elimination, is now available on the internet by linking to http://scatstaffvlog.blogspot.com/2009_04_01_archive.html.

Please go to National PSR and IPPNW for additional national and international work on nuclear weapons supported by GBPSR.