Sitting together in the living room of their Aquinnah home, Cora and Peter Weiss work in tandem to tell the stories of their lives. The couple could fill countless books with tales of their colorful careers, political and social activism and raising three children. But on this particular August afternoon, Mrs. Weiss began with the story of a love affair.
“It all started in June of 1956,” Mrs. Weiss said. “We were in love, got married and went to Mexico for our honeymoon. But then friends of ours invited us for a second honeymoon on the Vineyard.”
The trip introduced the newlyweds to Menemsha. They slept on army cots in a small cottage with no running water. And by the end of their stay they had found a new love.
“It started with a love affair between us, and then it turned into a love affair with the Vineyard,” Mr. Weiss said, the view of the Aquinnah cliffs and the Atlantic ocean stretching just outside their windows.
![In the 1960s the couple dedicated much of their time to protesting the Vietnam War.](https://vineyardgazette.com/sites/default/files/article-assets/main-photos/2018/aof_peter_and_cora_weiss_3.jpg)
Over the years, their summer months on the Island merged with their careers in New York city.
“We were always so busy both professionally and pro bono we were never quite separated from what we would be doing if we were living in New York,” Mr. Weiss explained.
At ages 92 and 84 respectively, Mr. and Mrs. Weiss have had long careers in social justice and peace activism, bearing witness to what Mrs. Weiss described as a “cascade of movements, one flowing into the next.” Both continue their work with many organizations and foundations to this day.
Among other affiliations, Mr. Weiss is president emeritus of the Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy and the International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms (IALANA). He also serves on the advisory counsel for the Center for Constitutional Rights and is a member of the board for Americans for Peace Now, a non-profit organization whose goal is to assist in finding a peaceful settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Mrs. Weiss has her own, equally impressive resume.
Currently, she serves as president of the Hague Appeal for Peace, UN representative of the International Peace Bureau, honorary patron and advisor to the Committee on Teaching About the UN (CTAUN) and chairmnan of the board of Downtown Community Television (DCTV) in New York city. In 2000 she was instrumental in drafting UN Security Council Resolution 1325, which urged for female participation at all levels of governance, and for prevention of violent conflict and the protection of women and girls during violent conflict.
In 2015, the Global Network of Women Peacebuilders (GNWP) established a fellowship in her name.
“It’s for young women from any developing country who want to learn how to implement 1325 locally and nationally,” she said.
In the 1960s the couple dedicated much of their time to protesting the Vietnam War. Mrs. Weiss was an early member of Women Strike for Peace, an organization that calls for international disarmament. The couple opened their Vineyard home to community members and activists looking to participate in what would become a widespread social movement.
“We had lots of meetings in the barn of our house,” Mrs. Weiss said of their former up-Island residence, the Captain Flanders House. “And one night Tom Hayden arrived from Vietnam. He and others from the anti-war movement spoke from the hay loft of the barn and that was full of people.”
Mr. Hayden wasn’t the only distinguished guest to share Island time with the Weiss’s during those days. Civil rights champions Eugenia (Genii) Guinier and her husband Ewart Guinier saw the Vineyard for the first time under the couple’s hospitality.
“Their first trip to the Vineyard was staying in our guest house,” Mrs. Weiss said.
“We also made our house available to young people who were active in the civil rights movement in the south,” Mr. Weiss added.
They expressed hope for the next generation of young activists. When asked how those fresh voices can combat any feelings of uncertainty about speaking out or challenging the establishment, Mrs. Weiss referred to a new book, penned by another familiar Vineyard name.
“Alexandra Styron has written a book for young people about why they have to get active,” Mrs. Weiss said of Steal This Country: A Handbook for Resistance, Persistence, and Fixing Almost Everything, which she recently bought for one of her grandsons.
“There’s no alternative,” she said.
The couple also prides themselves on their annual journey up Lighthouse Road to take part in the Hiroshima Day Vigil at the Gay Head Lighthouse. The event unites people from every corner of the Island for reflection, prayer and a shared moment of silence at the precise moment the bomb was dropped. Mr. and Mrs. Weiss have also traveled to Hiroshima and spoken at annual remembrance events there.
“Kofi Annan, who was a great Secretary General of the UN, spoke at the centennial of the Hague Appeal for Peace conference in May of 1999. The conclusion of his extraordinary speech was, ‘don’t despair, don’t be discouraged, and by all means, don’t ever give up,’” Mrs. Weiss said. She paused for a moment, looking thoughtfully at her husband.
“I think we can adopt that as well.”
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