The Sarah Farmer Peace Award

The Sarah Farmer Peace Award has been presented annually, beginning in 2005, by the Bahá'í Community of the Greater Seacoast Region on the United Nations International Day of Peace to recognize the contributions of area individuals and groups who take effective local action to promote peace and understanding among members of the human family. The Award is named in honor of Sarah Jane Farmer, a turn-of-the century peace heroine, who was born in Dover, NH in 1847. She founded the Green Acre Conferences in Eliot where the first known peace flag in the world was hoisted in 1894, and where that tradition continues today.


Award Criteria for Selection as Recipient of the Sarah Farmer Peace Award

  • The individual/group manifests being a “constructive force” and building “unifying social structures”

  • The individual’s/group’s work is nonpartisan, law-abiding, inclusive, promoting unity while honoring and nurturing diversity.

  • The individual/group promotes/addresses ways to encourage the transformation of values, attitudes, modes of behavior and ways of life from those that perpetuate violence and conflict to those that “build the good”.

  • The individual/group promotes/addresses strategies for creating cultures of peace. (For example, through dialogue and negotiation, the arts, the education of children and parents, intergenerational activities, building religious and racial harmony, inter-group communication, sustainable agriculture and/or promote sustainable approaches and practices).

  • The individual/group mobilizes individuals/groups and builds sustained momentum, showing long-term commitment to peacemaking.

  • The individual’s/group’s work impacts our local (Greater Seacoast NH, Southern ME) area.

Award Recipients

These groups and individuals have previously received the Sarah Farmer Peace Award. You can click on the buttons below to view their accomplishments and learn more about their current activities.

2005 – The Portsmouth Peace Treaty Anniversary Committee

2006 – Teaching Peace Conference (Melinda Salzar, Kay Morgan)

2007 – Bert Cohen – The Piscataqua Sustainability Initiative

2008 – Friends Forever

2009 – Sarah Haskel

2010 – Sammy Snail (Lesley Smith)

2011 – Portsmouth Listens

2012 – Reverend Robert H. Thompson, Minister, Philips Church

2013 – New Heights Adventures for Teens

2019 – Erine Kate Leigh

2020 – Royaline B. Edwards

2021 - Voices from the Heart