Profile: Karen Porter

By Tom Hope
Staff Writer

After returning from an anti-war protest in October of 2002, Karen Porter had trouble finding a peace activist group in the area. “There was no organization,” she said. “We came back, and I remember lying awake at night thinking about having a peace group here.” Eventually those thoughts turned into the Chester County Peace Movement, which has become constant sight on Saturday’s at the corner of High and Market streets in West Chester. Almost every Saturday since November 2002, the group has been promoting their cause by holding up signs in front of the Chester County Courthouse. Porter, whose protesting bonafides go back to Vietnam, says she usually holds a sign that says “Honk for Peace” because it encourages action by the passersby and likes getting feedback.

The groups e-mail list now reaches more than 1,000 people in the county, and is made up of all different political parties, religions, income levels and occupations.

The group says it supports of all efforts for world peace and, more specifically and specifically is in opposition to a war with Iraq.

A West Goshen resident, Porter has lived in the county on and off for 33 years. She graduated from law school in 1974 and has worked in adult professional education for the insurance industry for 17 years.

She likes to point out a quote by the ancient King Croesus, who said, “In peace, the sons bury their fathers. In war, the fathers bury their sons.” She adds that parents should never have to bury their sons.

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