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"I have walked 25,000 as a penniless pilgrim. I own only what
I wear and what I carry in my small pockets. I belong to no organization. I have said that I will walk until given
shelter and fast until given food, remaining a wanderer until mankind has learned the way of peace."
Peace Pilgrim 1908-1981
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Peace Pilgrim, born Mildred Norman in 1908, lived modestly during her early years on a small farm in Egg Harbor City,
NJ. She graduated from Egg Harbor High School (now the Fanny D. Rittenberg Middle School) and delivered the commencement
address to her graduating class. After a failed marriage and years of quiet contemplation, she embarked on a journey
that would last the rest of her life. Her pilgrimage was one of "prayer and example."
After relinquishing her own identity and adopting the name Peace Pilgrim, she began walking at the head of the Rose Parade
in Pasadena, California on Jan. 1, 1953. She stopped counting the miles at 25,000, which took until 1964, but continued
to walk and spread her message of peace. On the way to a speaking engagement in Knox, Indiana on July 7, 1981, she and
her driver were killed in a head-on collision.
A penniless pilgrim, wearing a blue tunic and carrying only a comb and toothbrush, Peace Pilgrim crossed the country
seven times, visited Canada and Mexico, and was the first woman to walk the Appalachian Trail. She vowed to remain a
wanderer until humankind learned the way of peace.
