“Peace Pilgrim”
The Life of Mildred Norman
Mildred Norman believed that people are inherently good and only need a little nudge to act. She chose her own path to literally provide that push.
On New Year’s Day in 1953, the traditional Rose Parade was underway in Pasadena. The streets were filled with flower-decorated floats, fairy-tale-like carriages, luxurious Porsche cars, and more. Giant American flags fluttered in the wind like bedsheets, scantily clad cheerleaders danced, and jubilant spectators cheered. A record captured the sight of people waving happily from a giant pumpkin with holes for eyes, nose, and mouth, parading across the screen. It was like a carnival, excessive in shape and color, exaggerated to the extreme, and astonishingly excessive in its extravagance.
Amidst the colorful crowd watching the parade, Mildred Norman stood out. She had grey hair in a loose ponytail, wore no makeup or jewelry, and donned blue pants, a sweatshirt, a loose shirt, and a simple tunic. On her front, it read “Peace Pilgrim,” and on the back, “Walking coast to coast for peace.” Over time, the slogan evolved to “Walking 10,000 miles for world disarmament” and “25,000 miles for world peace.”
From that New Year’s morning until her death 28 years later, Mildred Norman walked. She traversed America seven times, stepped foot in 50 states and 10 Canadian provinces, and crossed parts of Mexico. When she reached 25,000 miles in 1964, she stopped counting. “I am a pilgrim, a wanderer. I will continue wandering until humanity knows the path of peace,” she declared. What was the reason for her 28-year pilgrimage, akin to the last years of her life?
Seeking Meaning Through Walking
She carried no possessions, no spare clothes, and no money throughout her 28-year pilgrimage. A comb, a foldable toothbrush, a pen, and the letters she was currently using all fit in her pockets. Wanting to come from nothing and have no past, she never revealed her real name, using only the pen name “Peace Pilgrim.” She also kept her age and birthplace a secret. When asked by reporters, she vaguely mentioned a happy but poor childhood on a small farm on the East Coast. Her assertion was, “My personal life doesn’t matter. What matters is human peace, world peace.” However, as time passed, the facts about Peace Pilgrim began to emerge.
She was born and raised on a chicken farm on the outskirts of Egg Harbor City, New Jersey. “I was a happy child. I played in the woods, swam in the creek, had room to grow,” she said in interviews. A few years later, her sister Helen Young recalled that teenage Mildred loved dressing up, drew inspiration from colorful magazines for fashion, and enjoyed taking pictures in new dresses. She even traveled to Atlantic City to have shoes dyed to match her hats and gloves. She liked talking, having fun, and dating. As an adult, she had no financial worries, earning a sufficient income as a secretary. When she started her pilgrimage, her relatives couldn’t believe it. Her, on a pilgrimage?
During Mildred Norman’s youth, her life revolved around walks. While walking her dog, she pondered the meaning of life and searched for evidence of power within nature’s existence. Although her family did not attend church, teenage Mildred began to self-reflect on God and human morality. She contemplated the paradox of altruism in life. For instance, while altruism is considered one of the most noble virtues, people continue to compete for personal wealth. Pilgrims like her grappled with contradictions prevalent everywhere.
Illustration by Karina Piwowarska
At the age of 30, she walked through the forest all night and experienced an unprecedented euphoria. “I prayed in the moonlit forest. I felt an unwavering desire to dedicate my life, to dedicate it completely for service, saying, ‘Use me!’ I prayed to God,” she reminisced in her speech compiled in the book “Peace Pilgrim: Her Life and Work in Her Own Words.” During the fervent prayers of the night, she felt enveloped in a calm feeling. Mildred constructed her own narrative through moments of enlightenment, visions, and intuition. She believed there was something she must do and only needed to wait for signs.
Mildred Norman’s life is a manifestation of Victor and Edith Turner’s three-stage “rite of passage,” although it lacks the final stage of “individual and community integration.” In Peace Pilgrim’s case, there were 15 years of preparation for pilgrimage before the stage of social withdrawal. From that night in the forest, she changed her life for several years. She quit her secretary job to work in a nursing home and dedicated herself to serving underprivileged youth and disabled individuals. “I compensated for my immaturity with love and gave that love to people,” she later explained in her uniquely preachy and slightly irritating manner. A few years after awakening to the spiritual world at night, she left her family and divorced her husband Stanley Ryder. In later years, she described the reason for the divorce as “differences in thinking.” During World War II, Ryder joined the front lines despite her strong opposition. During this period, she was active as a peace activist. After the war, he sent her divorce papers from Europe, and she signed them without regret.
Furthermore, she could also discard old habits. New Mildred’s weekly expenses did not exceed $10. She started eating fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and occasionally cheese. Not eating meat wasn’t just for health reasons; she believed pacifism should not be selective. Favoring certain species and allowing the killing of others was unacceptable. Purification of the mind was also part of her pilgrimage preparation. “I don’t eat junk food, nor do I entertain junk thoughts.” In 1952, she embarked on her first long “trail.” The Appalachian Trail spans 3500 kilometers from Georgia to Maine. Mildred, as the first woman ever, completed it in six months. At that moment, she felt ready. A few months later, she parted ways with family and friends and entered the liminal stage as Peace Pilgrim, hanging between two communities. According to Victor Turner, this phase is characterized by humility, isolation, and the opportunity to learn anew about oneself.
Pilgrimage as Fishing
She plunged into that world without money, possessions, or social status protection. Wearing pilgrimage attire theoretically denied her sexuality and turned her into a human without attributes, beyond time and biology. In reality, she was still seen as a woman. She became a prey for loneliness without men, a vulnerable existence. Yet, “Peace Pilgrim” seemed to transcend her era and the limitations of others.
For her, pilgrimage was akin to fishing in the sea, where the fish would come to her without her having to make any effort. Although she never approached people herself, they always surrounded her. “Building peace within oneself and existing not for possessions, but for people is a good thing,” she repeated. “My pilgrimage is not reminiscent of violent crusades. My walking is primarily a prayer for peace,” she emphasized.
However, her pilgrimage held not only religious but also political significance. She began her march during the Korean War and the height of McCarthyism’s red scare. On one hand, there was an escalation of arms race, the Cold War, fear of nuclear warfare, and communism. On the other hand, there was a post-war economic boom. The eternal dilemma of “to have or not to have” seemed to have found a solution. Certainly, one should have had. However, Mildred Norman spoke of her mission in more humble terms. “The pilgrim’s job is to awaken people from indifference and make them think.” Rebecca Solnit in her book “Wanderlust” mentions that Peace Pilgrim’s journey, amidst the cultural and spiritual crisis of the 1950s, led many artists like John Cage, Gary Snyder, and others to Eastern spiritual traditions such as Zen, took Martin Luther King to India, and introduced him to Gandhi’s teachings of nonviolence, fitting well with the zeitgeist. What makes Mildred Norman’s pilgrimage unique is that despite her rebellion against society, she didn’t withdraw into wilderness but intentionally traversed through America’s most densely populated areas.
Normally walking 25 miles a day, if there was a commitment somewhere, she would double that distance without hesitation. “On very cold nights, I walk all night to keep warm. Like a bird, I move north in summer and south in winter. If you want to talk to people outside, you have to go where the weather is nice because people won’t come out otherwise.” She slept on roadsides, in graveyards, at train stations, bus stops, and in homes of people she met. She also spent nights in jail for vagrancy, which she saw as an opportunity to talk about peace with other inmates. She didn’t decline interviews from journalists for the same reason. Over time, she became a respected and unique speaker, invited to speak at schools, universities, and sometimes even chauffeured to events.
On July 7, 1981, while en route to a speaking engagement near Knox, Indiana, Peace Pilgrim passed away in a car accident. The accident occurred on Indiana State Road 23, near 100 meters south of the bridge over Eagle Creek (about 1 mile north from the intersection of Indiana State Road 23 and Indiana State Road 8). A marker is placed in the front yard on the west side of the highway.
However, thanks to her, thousands of people began to believe that “change can be brought about by walking,” if not in the world, at least within themselves.
