Dreams of world peace are as old as wars. But as the women of Wales were recovering from World War I, they demanded peace in droves.
Still sorrowing the husbands, sons, and loved ones who fought in the war, in 1923 the Welsh League of Nations United (WLNU) drafted a petition (请愿书) at Aberystwyth University calling for a warless world.
The petition was signed by roughly three quarters of all the women in Wales and was said to be seven miles long. The document was then packed in a large oak chest and sent across the Atlantic.
It was the WLNU’s hope that America would join in their mission for peace, and so they toured with the petition across the country before President Calvin Coolidge gave it to the Smithsonian for preservation.
As the centennial anniversary of World War I approached, a plaque was found in the archives at the Temple of Peace in Cardiff mentioning the petition, but nobody knew what it was, says Mererid Hopwood, chair of the Women’s Peace Petition Partnership.
So in 2017, an email was sent to the Smithsonian inquiring about the status and location of the chest and its petition.
Having arrived at the National Library of Wales on March 29 this year, Hopwood received it along with other members of the Peace Petition Partnership and described opening the chest and finally getting to see its contents (内容) as an emotional moment.
Hopwood is hoping more Welsh citizens will have similar experiences now that the petition has returned to its original home. The petition will be digitized, along with all signatures and addresses, so the public can view it online and see if their grandmothers or previous tenants of their homes signed 100 years ago.
Clearly the world has not yet achieved the petition’s great goals, but Hopwood said the signatures gave her hope.
【小题1】What was the petition meant for?| A．A thirst for peace. | B．An end to WWI. |
| C．A fight for Wales. | D．A call for apology. |
| A．Most Welsh signed on the petition. | B．Welsh asked for Americans’ help. |
| C．Welsh women wished for peace. | D．Welsh women honored the war. |
| A．She could lead the petition. | B．It would cause a big storm. |
| C．Welsh could be free of wars. | D．Her hope for peace is on fire. |
