13 Facts About Albert Bigelow

1.

Albert Smith Bigelow was a pacifist and former United States Navy Commander, who came to prominence in the 1950s as the skipper of the Golden Rule, the first vessel to attempt disruption of a nuclear test in protest against nuclear weapons.

2.

Albert Bigelow's sister was Martha Bigelow, who married Theodore L Eliot, the grandson of Charles William Eliot, president of Harvard.

3.

Albert Bigelow resigned from the US Naval Reserve a month before becoming eligible for his pension.

4.

Albert Bigelow was humbled by the experience, in particular by his realization that the two young women "harbored no resentment against us or other Americans".

5.

In February, 1958, Albert Bigelow set sail for the Eniwetok Proving Ground, the Atomic Energy Commission's atmospheric test site in the Marshall Islands, in the Golden Rule, a 30-foot ketch.

6.

Albert Bigelow was accompanied by crew members James Peck, George Willoughby, William R Huntington, and Orion Sherwood.

7.

In 1959, Albert Bigelow published a book, Voyage of the Golden Rule which documented his journey.

8.

Albert Bigelow continued to take part in non-violent protests during the late 1950s and early 1960s, and was a participant in the Freedom Rides organized by the Congress on Racial Equality in 1961.

9.

Albert Bigelow married his first wife, Josephine Rotch, the daughter of Arthur and Helen Rotch, on June 21,1929.

10.

Albert Bigelow was a debutante of 1927 and was a member of the Junior League and Vincent Club of Boston.

11.

Two years later, Albert Bigelow married Sylvia Weld, daughter of Rudolph and Sylvia Caroline Weld, on September 10,1931.

12.

Albert Bigelow's great-grandparents were William Barclay Parsons and Eliza Parsons.

13.

Albert Bigelow died, aged 87, at a nursing home in Walpole, Massachusetts in 1993.