30th Annual ‘Seeds of Peace’ ceremony among the roses

On Aug. 9, 1995, local grassroots group Georgians Against Nuclear Energy, now known as Nuclear Watch South, hosted a gathering called “Seeds of Peace” to commemorate the atomic bombing of Nagasaki 50 years before.

Held in the Rose Garden at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum, this free-form annual gathering of Atlanta peacemakers has quietly persisted. They gathered for the 30th time on Aug. 9, 2024, to circle in hope for an end to nuclear weapons.

When the tradition first took root, the Rose Garden was a semi-wild patch of rose bushes on a grassy hill. One year the group arrived to discover a circular cement walkway among the roses, with Japanese-style wooden arches marking three of the four directions and a bronze statue of a young girl named “Hope” in the center, releasing a dove.

In September 2022, an ornate temple bell from Hiroshima was installed on the grounds of the presidential library in a traditional Japanese bell tower. Though all of Japan’s temple bells were confiscated by the imperial government to be melted down into ammunition, this one miraculously survived.

The rescued bell was donated to the Carter Center in 1985 and dubbed the “Peace Bell” to honor the postwar friendship between Japan and the United States. It was exhibited in the foyer until the bell tower arrived. It was carved from Hiroshima cypress by Japanese carpenters and shipped to Atlanta to house the bell, along with a traditional striker for ringing it.

This year’s “Seeds of Peace” was co-sponsored by Georgia Women’s Action for New Directions and Atlanta Dances of Universal Peace, which brings its simple interfaith dances to each year’s gathering. The program is informal and open to anyone who wishes to share a song, a prayer, a poem, a story — not only to remember the horrific suffering that ushered in the Atomic Age, but to celebrate and renew a mutual commitment to peace and nuclear abolition. 

It took place this time at an especially perilous moment, when the U.S. is spending about $100,000 per minute on a newly revived nuclear arms race, prompting Russia and China to once again follow our lead. But this is also a time of hope, as witnessed by the string of miniature flags that framed the entry to the Rose Garden, representing the 70 nations that have ratified the 2021 U.N. Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. 

“Seeds of Peace” has adopted the Peace Bell as the centerpiece of its opening ceremony, inviting each participant to swing the striker and lift up an offering for peace in his or her own words as the reverberations of the bell ripple out into the world. 

Photos of the ceremony below by Kelly Jordan. Final image by Betsy Rivard.

Photos from the 2022 ceremony can be found here.