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Great Milwaukee Foundation. Used with permission.
When Joan Robertson walks into a room, you know someone important has arrived. She is tall and carries herself with a certain knowledgeable grace and seriousness. And this presence continues today, even while she walks with a cane.
Joan’s mother, Annette J. Roberts, was the matriarch of four generations of WILPF women. She was a charter member of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom. Annette was the inspiration for the continuing indomitable force of women in advocacy and action, exemplifying the imperative of education for women today.
Her daughter, Joan Robertson, was born just before the 19th amendment was ratified. She inherited the call for women to speak out and stand up for world peace and the importance of diplomacy.
Joan’s daughter, Annette Robertson, an educator herself, writes of her mother’s dedication to education. “Education is really the first big and primary answer,” She adds Joan’s solution to most of the world’s problems, “The more education people get, the more they are going to realize their civic responsibility, women especially.”
The Robertson family is continuing the legacy of educating and empowering women, to be advocates and leaders that champion the tenets of WILPF. WILPF US is fortunate that this family, through the Greater Milwaukee Foundation, have supported our intergenerational initiative for peace advocacy. The Foundation has generously funded the WILPF US programs at the, annual UN Commission on the Status of Women: the Practicum for Advocacy, focusing on young women, and Local2Global, with seasoned WILPF members.
The WILPF program emphasis on intergenerational relationships and sharing of WILPF’s history and inheritance offers the unique opportunity for women of all ages to come together to learn about the functioning of the United Nations and to bring back to their communities a prospect of a better future. Annette Robertson, the third WILPF generation, and Joan’s granddaughter, Carol Alexander, are members of WILPF US. The familyvcontinues to financially support the Practicum and Local2Global – seeking global peace through educating and practicing the lessons learned from their foremothers.
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