How Tashkent Perceived the Peace Letters/ People to People Video
What is this peace letter about and who wrote it?
This peace letter was written by four women activists: Kathleen Braden, Lucy Dougall, Ann Stadler, and co-leader of peace activist group Virginia McDermott. They advocated for peace and unity with Tashkent. This letter does not criticize the USSR or its government. Instead, this letter just focuses on one main task: to acheive unity. Through collecting 42,000 signatures, the group demonstrated their commitment to this cause.
How did Tashkent individuals react to letters?
As they distributed the letters, the travelers were surprised by how all the Tashkent individuals reacted. Many were so appreciative of the travelers' efforts to attain peace among both countries. Even children appreciated the letters by trying to trade their candy for more letters to show their friends and family.
The travelers were able to display another side of Americans from what the Tashkent individuals perceived from newspapers, radio, and other sources and it wouldn’t have been possible without the traveler’s determination and effort to prevent a nuclear attack.
People to People video
Marlow Boyer captures the interactions of the Tashkent indviduals accepting the peace letters in common places such as the market place. Boyer then puts all of the photos and videos he took on the trip into a film and presents this film days before he passed away from cancer.
