Monument to Barbara Reynolds unveiled near Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park
Jun. 17, 2011
by Masaki Watanabe, Staff Writer
On June 12, to coincide with the birthday of the late Barbara Reynolds (1915-1990), an American peace activist and honorary citizen of Hiroshima, a new monument to her was unveiled in a ceremony held in a grassy area just south of Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in downtown Hiroshima.
About 100 people, including Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui and Tadatoshi Akiba, the previous mayor, attended the ceremony. Hiromu Morishita, 80, chairman of the World Friendship Center, a facility in Nishi Ward that was founded by Ms. Reynolds, unveiled the monument alongside others.
Jessica Renshaw, 67, Ms. Reynolds' oldest daughter and a resident of the U.S. state of California, also took part in the ceremony. She said that her mother made efforts to spread the message of the A-bomb survivors to the world, and she vowed that, from this point forward, too, they would continue to convey this message to future generations.
The monument is made of black granite, about 130 centimeters tall, 100 centimeters wide, and 40 centimeters thick. It is inscribed, in both Japanese and English, with the words of Ms. Reynolds, who devoted herself to providing support to A-bomb survivors and tried to share their sufferings with them: “I, too, am a hibakusha.”
(Originally published on June 14, 2011)
On June 12, to coincide with the birthday of the late Barbara Reynolds (1915-1990), an American peace activist and honorary citizen of Hiroshima, a new monument to her was unveiled in a ceremony held in a grassy area just south of Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in downtown Hiroshima.
About 100 people, including Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui and Tadatoshi Akiba, the previous mayor, attended the ceremony. Hiromu Morishita, 80, chairman of the World Friendship Center, a facility in Nishi Ward that was founded by Ms. Reynolds, unveiled the monument alongside others.
Jessica Renshaw, 67, Ms. Reynolds' oldest daughter and a resident of the U.S. state of California, also took part in the ceremony. She said that her mother made efforts to spread the message of the A-bomb survivors to the world, and she vowed that, from this point forward, too, they would continue to convey this message to future generations.
The monument is made of black granite, about 130 centimeters tall, 100 centimeters wide, and 40 centimeters thick. It is inscribed, in both Japanese and English, with the words of Ms. Reynolds, who devoted herself to providing support to A-bomb survivors and tried to share their sufferings with them: “I, too, am a hibakusha.”
(Originally published on June 14, 2011)
