Thinker's Lodge: Pugwash, NS

 A year ago I had been to Pugwash to check out the Thinker's Lodge - it has interested me for a couple of decades.  We visited in June and it was not open to the public.  I tried best to arrange a day when I could have a tour and I had success.  For those of you who have never heard of the Thinker's Lodge,  I'm including this link for a short description: 

Thinkers Lodge National Historic Site

I very much enjoyed my visit to the "lodge" and I learned that this is exactly what it was - lodging for the people who came to discuss peace in a world with nuclear warfare.  The guide did provide me with lots of information at the entranceway of the house and then you are "on your own" travelling up and down 3 separate staircases to get to various bedrooms.  I was a bit dismayed that the very nice bedspreads on the beds all had labels with "made in China" on them.  But I did learn quite a bit about who had been there and the various conferences that were held in this tiny Nova Scotia town over the years.  The first Pugwash Conference on Science and World Affairs was held in 1957 and the location has changed throughout the world.   

In 1995 Jozef Rotblat, a scientist who left the Manhattan Project prior to its conclusion, and the Pugwash Conferences,  were awarded the Nobel Prize for their efforts to bring about global peace.  I believe Jozef stayed in the room pictured above.  

Krushchev met with Cyrus Eaton, the owner of the Lodge, when he went to Europe to attend one of the conferences.  Krushchev felt strongly that nuclear disarmament was an important issue in the world.  He and Eaton had a very friendly visit and Eaton, a dual Canadian/American citizen earned criticism for his "red" tolerance. 

The actual conferences took place in this building, about 1/2 km away from the Lodge.  The Lodge was the place where attendees slept and probably stayed up partying.  

The first thing you will see is the quotation on the upper part of the wall directly in front of you after entering the Peace Hall.  By the time the conference started, everyone attending would have heard the Russell-Einstein Manifesto that the two great thinkers issued about the critical issue of nuclear war.  Pugwash, NS has played a part in trying to make the world a more peaceful place.