International Day of Peace and The Linus Pauling House
Sept. 26, 2025
By: Heather Flint Chatto
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Every year on September 21, the world celebrates International Day of Peace.
This year AHC was in the streets with the, sustainable Southeast community coalition, and the Portland Chapter of the United Nations (UNAPDX) . The celebration included a street fair with booths from local community nonprofits Neighborhood Association, our District Coalition, Southeast Uplift, and even City Repair‘s magical Tea Horse. AHC hosted a booth sharing information about Portland’s two-time Nobel Prize winner, Linus Pauling. Linus and his wife Ava were dedicated and influential peace activists and the Linus Pauling house is on SE Hawthorne Blvd. near 40th. You’ve probably seen his childhood home, a beautiful historic old Portland home with the giant red helix sculpture representing Linus’s groundbreaking work in chemistry. Today he is recognized as one of the top 20 most notable scientists in the world.. Despite his importance, few people seem to know about his work and how influential he was, winning two Nobel Prizes for chemistry and peace.
AHC invited community participants to share their hopes for peace on a vintage typewriter that ironically just happened to have a typewriter key labeled “Shift Freedom”.
The event included live music and cultural performances, speakers, and a ceremony sharing the United Nation’s goals and history of the peace pole project. When the iconic Hawthorne hostel was demolished, the peace poles were moved to 50th and Hawthorne and new peace poles have been added over time with additional languages reflecting Portland’s diverse communities - now displaying 29 different languages.
Our research revealed his house is not on the HRI nor the National Register. Should the Advocacy Committee explore a possible historic nomination of the house?
In the meantime, staff propose an AHC Peace Pole in honor of Linus Pauling and his wife Ava to elevate this important cultural heritage. We’ll follow up to get your ideas about what additional eight languages should be added to the installation. This would be installed on the next Earth Day. Here’s hoping for greater peace in the world, preservation of our important cultural places, and special people in our fair city and around the world.
