Sally Lilienthal
Like many Americans, Sally Lilienthal was concerned that a thermonuclear war between the United States and the Soviet Union could erupt at anytime.
And rightly so: it was 1981, the height of the Cold War, and each country had amassed arsenals with the destructive power to extinguish all life on the planet. Instead of getting ready for a quiet life of retirement, the 62-year-old sculptor, human rights activist, mother and wife decided to take on nuclear weapons. With a little help from her friends and a lot of grit and determination, Sally founded Ploughshares Fund in her San Francisco living room in 1981.