The History

The Golden Rule was a 30-foot ketch whose captain and crew attempted to sail to the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean in 1958, where the U.S. was conducting atmospheric tests of nuclear weapons. This dangerous voyage was designed to challenge and confront the myth that nuclear weapons make us safer.

This was a Quaker-organized and financed project, and the skipper and 2 of the 3 crew members were Quakers. The voyage of the Golden Rule got an amazing amount of publicity at the time, and arguably was quite important in the elimination of atmospheric testing.

The Journey Continues

Recently, the original Golden Rule washed up on a beach in Northern California and was subsequently refurbished by Veterans For Peace. Now it is on a new journey, which began at the northernmost part of the Mississippi River; it is currently sailing around the U.S. southern coast and will then go up the east coast. The Golden Rule is stopping at various ports along the way, including Baltimore and Annapolis, with the crew giving talks and tours of the boat, focused on the ongoing threat of nuclear war and what we can all do about it. Homewood Friends will host one of these talks.

The Book! And The Homewood Discussion Series

The skipper of the original Golden Rule, Albert Bigelow, wrote a book entitled The Voyage of the Golden Rule: An Experiment with Truth. The Peace and Social Justice Committee (PSJ) of Homewood Friends encourages everyone to read this book. (See below for book purchase options).

PSJ will offer Friends throughout BYM and beyond an opportunity to participate in a book club.

There will be three Zoom meetings to discuss the book:

February 20th @ 7:30
March 20th @ 7:30
April 17th @ 7:30 pm.

If you would like to attend, contact Malachy Kilbride (malachykilbride@gmail.com). Please feel free to invite any other Quaker Friends to participate in the book club. Whether or not you can participate in the book club, be sure to read this book; Jean says that it is one of the best books she has ever read!

Book Purchasing Options

Amazon: Kindle ($2.99), paperback ($33.95), or hardback ($48.95)]

Google Play: E-book (about $3-4)

Barnes & Noble: Nook/E-book (about $3-4)

Homewood has purchased a copy of the book for our library. For help obtaining a copy or questions about how to purchase and use e-books, contact Malachy Kilbride malachykilbride@gmail.com.

Baltimore Landing Events at Homewood

The boat will arrive in Baltimore in Late April (~4/27) and will be here for events that span several days. Homewood will host 2 in-person events: April 30th and May 1st. 4/30 (3-5:30 PM) will be an arts and culture event celebrating the boats history and amplifying historic and current resistance work against nuclear weapons and war. 5/1 (6 PM) will feature Professor Vincent Intondi, author of African Americans Against the Bomb, plus the ship crew will talk about their current journey from city to city, dock to dock, and to important sites of the military industrial complex.