Papers of Jayne and Juliet Nelson

The archive consists of correspondence, campaigning material, photographs, posters, postcards and badges. It mainly relates to the Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp, but also covers international peace campaigns. It includes the manuscript of a book on the menopause.

Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp (1982-2000) was formed in response to NATO's decision in 1979 to base ground cruise missiles at Greenham Common. RAF Greenham Common had first became home to the US Army Air Force in Nov 1943, when the 354th Fighter Group moved in as part of the Allies efforts to meet the Nazi Government's aerial operations. Greenham Common, near Newbury in Berkshire, became a bomber operational training unit. Following the invasion of France, the Americans transferred their resources to France and Greenham Common reverted to RAF control until it was closed in 1946. However, as the Cold War began, it was reopened in 1951 as a US Strategic Air Command, coming into American Air Force operational control in Jun 1953. It was closed once more in 1961 only to be reopened in 1964, when it also became a NATO standby base. NATO's decision in 1979 to base ground cruise missiles at Greenham Common was a response to the proliferation of nuclear forces, which occurred throughout that decade. It was in the wake of this announcement that the Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp opened at this site. In Sep 1981 a Welsh group of 36 individuals opposed to nuclear power, called Women for Life on Earth, walked 120 miles from their headquarters to raise awareness of this issue and to protest against NATO's decision to site cruise missiles at Greenham Common. On reaching their destination they chained themselves to the perimeter fence and subsequently established a 'peace camp' there which was to remain for another two decades. The 'camp' itself consisted of nine smaller camps: the first was Yellow Gate, established the month after Women for Peace on Earth reached the airbase; others established in 1983 were Green Gate, the nearest to the silos, and the only entirely exclusive women-only camp at all times, the others accepting male visitors during the day; Turquoise Gate; Blue Gate with its new age focus; Pedestrian Gate; Indigo Gate; Violet Gate identified as being religiously focussed; Red Gate known as the artists gate; and Orange Gate. A central core of women lived either full-time or for stretches of time at any one of the gate camps with others staying for various lengths of time. From the beginning, links were formed with local feminist and anti-nuclear groups across the country while early support was received from the Women's Peace Alliance in order to facilitate these links and give publicity through its newsletter. In Mar 1982 the first blockade of the base occurred, staged by 250 women and during which 34 arrests were made. In May the first attempt to evict the peace camp was made as bailiffs and police attempted to clear the women and their possessions from the site. However, the camp was simply re-located to a nearby site. That same year, in Feb 1982 the camp went onto a women only footing and in Dec 1982, in response to chain letter sent out by organisers 30,000 women assembled to surround the site and 'embrace the base'. In Jan 1983 Newbury District Council revoked the common land bylaws for Greenham Common, becoming the private landlord for the site and instituting Court proceedings to reclaim eviction costs, actions that were ruled as illegal by the House of Lords in 1990. In Apr 1991, CND supporters staged action which involved 70,000 people forming a 14-mile human chain linking Burghfield, Aldermaston and Greenham. However, the first transfer of cruise missiles to the airbase occurred in Nov 1983. Another major event occurred in Dec 1983 when 50,000 women encircled the base, holding up mirrors and taking down sections of the fence, resulting in hundreds of arrests. In 1987, the Intermediate Nuclear Forces treaty was signed by the USA and the Soviet Union, and two years later in Aug 1989 the first step in the removal of cruise missiles from the Greenham Common airbase occurred, a process that was completed in Mar 1991. The American Air Force handed control of the base to the Royal Air Force in Sep 1992, who handed the base over to the Defence Land Agent three weeks later. On 1 Jan 2000 the last of the Greenham Common Women protestors left the camp. A memorial garden was erected after this - the only individual name included in the memorial was that of Helen Wynn Thomas who had died in an accident at Greenham on 5 Aug 1989.

In Dec 2006 the archive was sorted and arranged according to its original order. Press cuttings were removed and added to the main series of Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp press cuttings held at The Women's Library, reference number: 5GCW/E.

The following items were removed as duplicates and are held within The Women's Library Museum and Printed Collections:

Postcards

8 reproductions of paintings by Tabitha Salmon. Object numbers: TWL.2003.421; TWL.2003.422; TWL.2003.423; TWL.2003.424; TWL.2003.425; TWL.2003.426; TWL.2003.427; TWL.2003.428

Posters

TWL.2000.16; TWL.2003.10; TWL.2003.16b; TWL.2003.8; TWL.2000.13; TWL.2003.11

Badge

'Whores against wars'. Object Number: TWL.2004.640

Publications

Raging womyn : in reply to Breaching the Peace : a comment on the Women's Liberation Movement and the Common Women's Peace Camp at Greenham 327.1720942291 RAG

Over our dead bodies : women against the bomb / edited by Dorothy Thompson 355.0217 OVE

On the perimeter / Caroline Blackwood 327.1720922 BLA

Keeping the peace / Lynne Jones editor 327.172088042 KEE

Greenham women everywhere : dreams, ideas and actions from the women's peace movement / Alice Cook and Gwyn Kirk 355.0217 COO

Women in the world : annotated history resources for the secondary student / compiled and edited by Lyn Reese and Jean Wilkinson 016.305409 WOM

The Greenham factor : it is impossible to ignore the emergence of a new factor in recent opinion polls on the nuclear issue: the women of Greenham Common

327.1720942291 GRE

WEA women's studies newsletter No. 21

305.40715

Spare Rib Issues 132, 133, 136, 139, 142, 143, 147

Feminism serials 305.4205

Trouble and strife : a radical feminist magazine No.1

Feminism serials 305.4205

The Leveller Issues 82, 83, 86, 91

Socialism serials 335.005

Bulletin on the GLC Women's Committee Issue 8

Greater London Council Women's Committee serials 353.53509421

Peace News, 4 Feb 1983, No.2188

Womens Media Action, C/o Woman's Place, Jan / Feb 1984 No. 25 & Mar / Apr 1984 No. 26

The Nation, Jan 1984 Issue 138

This collection is available for research. Readers are advised to contact The Women's Library in advance of their first visit.

The collection was deposited as an outright gift in 1997.

The Women's Library Catalogue.

The Women's Library also holds 5GCC Greenham Common Collection archive, 5GCW the Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp (Yellow Gate) archive, 7JTR Papers of Jill Truman, 7PBB Papers of Pam Baum Barker and 7RTH Rebecca Thackray & Catherine Thackray Letters.

See 5GCW and 5GCC for a fuller listing of material related to Greenham Common.

The Women's Library Museum Collection contains a number of objects, such as postcards and posters, related to Greenham. This includes a number of items created by the Women for Life on Earth, Greenham Common group.

The Women's Library Printed Collections holds a number of publications about Greenham including contemporary Greenham Common newsletters (see also women's liberation periodicals from the period for references to Greenham). It also holds the following publications by Jayne and Juliet Nelson:

A woman's story : [Greenham Common Peace Camp] / [Juliet Nelson] (As at Mar 2007, classmark: 327.1720942291 NEL)

Menopause / Judi Fairlie, Jayne Nelson and Ruth Popplestone (As at Mar 2007, classmark: 612.665 FAI)