When: Friday 2 June at 6pm
Where: Conway Hall (map)
Barbara Smoker was one of the 20th century’s leading humanist activists and a forthright defender of freedom and progressive reform. She was President of the National Secular Society (NSS) for 25 years and founder of our very own South East London Humanist Group over 60 years ago.
A celebration of Barbara’s life was held at Conway Hall while she was still alive: “Why wait until you are dead and unable to appreciate what people say?” she reasoned. Now, on the centenary of her birth and three years after her death, her friends and colleagues gather once more to remember her. As a tireless campaigner for a host of human rights causes including freedom of speech, LGBT+ rights, peace, the right to assisted death and abolition of the death penalty, she continues to be an inspiration.
Speakers at the centenary event will include Keith Porteous Wood, NSS President; Andrew Copson, Chief Executive of Humanists UK; Denis Cobell, former NSS President; Asad Abbas, former Secretary of Bromley Humanists; and public health expert and author Anthony Costello (Barbara’s nephew).
