The anti-nuclear sailboat Golden Rule arrived in Brewerton’s Riverfront Park on Sunday, July 16, bringing with it a message of peace and activism. Members of the Syracuse Peace Council, Veterans for Peace and the Onondaga Nation greeted the crew.
The arrival was followed by a gathering with food, speakers and music. The boat has been on a tour of the eastern United States and is now stopping along the Erie Canal.
According to the Syracuse Peace Council, the Golden Rule has “a rich history:”
“From 1946 to 1958, the Marshall Islands served as the Pacific Proving Grounds for the United States and was the site of 67 nuclear tests on various atolls. In 1958 four Quaker peace activists sailed the boat from Los Angeles towards the Marshall Islands, intending to interfere with U.S. nuclear bomb tests. Near Honolulu, the Coast Guard stopped the boat and arrested the crew. Their trial helped ignite a storm of worldwide public outrage and protest against nuclear weapons that resulted in the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty of 1963.
“After many years and many different owners, the Golden Rule sank in northern California in 2010. Over the following five years, Veterans For Peace, Quakers, and boat lovers restored the 39-foot wooden ketch, along with her original mission. Since 2015, the Golden Rule has sailed up and down the coast of California and to Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, Mexico, and Hawai’i, holding hundreds of educational events.”
