"Building a new society within the shell of the old” starts --
in our garden and our community,
in our actions and our rest,
in our work and our relationships.
Trusting the power that arises when people gather to share their lives and labors, the Voluntown Peace Trust invites into collaboration those who long for a just and peaceful world.
At the Voluntown Peace Trust (Peace Trust, VPT), we are committed to those who benefit least from the current structure of society—especially people struggling against racial, sexual, gender, environmental, and economic injustice. These struggles guide all Peace Trust activities, which include retreats, workshops, summer camps, agricultural projects, community organizing, and campaign building. Our work emerges from three aspects of social transformation: personal change to find healthier ways of being and relating; political action to challenge oppressive structures; and constructive programs to foster alternatives to those structures.
The Peace Trust rests on 54.75 acres in Voluntown, Connecticut, centrally located between New York, Hartford, Boston, and Providence. For over 50 years, this land has been the site of nonviolence training and action, cooperative living, and equity-based economics. With this history, along with wooded trails and streams, gardens, and retreat and conference facilities, VPT is poised to strengthen movements and build coalitions across issues. Our experiments in sustainable living, organic agriculture, and community building invite people to explore practical responses to global and bio-regional concerns, both on site at the Peace Trust and in their own lives. Our aim is to work alongside people in movements that can persist apart from VPT.
The Peace Trust rests on 54.75 acres in Voluntown, Connecticut, centrally located between New York, Hartford, Boston, and Providence. For over 50 years, this land has been the site of nonviolence training and action, cooperative living, and equity-based economics. With this history, along with wooded trails and streams, gardens, and retreat and conference facilities, VPT is poised to strengthen movements and build coalitions across issues. Our experiments in sustainable living, organic agriculture, and community building invite people to explore practical responses to global and bio-regional concerns, both on site at the Peace Trust and in their own lives. Our aim is to work alongside people in movements that can persist apart from VPT.
A Space for Programs, Workshops, & Retreats
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Individuals pursuing a just society frequently face isolation and exhaustion. They often lack space for reflection. Groups seeking social change also tend to lack facilities in which to gather to exchange ideas and experience. In addition to these needs for place, people need the tools and preparation essential to sustain them as they engage in personal change, political action, and constructive programs.
The Voluntown Peace Trust is a context for conversation, a staging ground for action, and a network of resources to equip people working for social transformation. To learn more about our rental spaces, visit our Rentals page here. To learn more about our programs and events, visit out Programs page here. |
Our Libraries and Resources for Researchers
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In addition to our rental spaces, we also have libraries with unique collections. Our Gandhi Library contains works about Gandhian philosophy contemporary to Gandhi himself, and includes books rare outside of India. Our Eugene V. Debs Memorial Library includes the seminal texts of the mid-20th century peace movement, as well as a large collection of resources about the Vietnam War and nonviolent opposition to U.S. involvement in it.
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Cal Robertson Peace Garden
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On September 10, 2011, we dedicated the Peace Garden at the front of the VPT property to local peace activist, Cal Robertson. A Vietnam War veteran and longtime member of Veterans for Peace, Cal is one of the most visible activists in New London, standing on Bank Street most days with thought-provoking signs, urging passersby to imagine and work towards a more just world.
To see more photos of the dedication ceremony, please visit the gallery at The Westerly Sun here. |
Rev. Emmet Jarrett Memorial Labyrinth
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Emmett's commitment to the Voluntown Peace Trust was expressed in his willingness to undertake being the chair of the VPT board at a time of major transition in the management of this venerable movement-based property. His last public act as a priest was to bless the peace pilgrims as they set out in the fall of 2010 just before he died.
On October 5, 2013, we dedicated a stone-lined circular labyrinth to Emmett to honor his message: "Sing alleluia and keep on walking." |