A purple plaque has been unveiled outside an Aberystwyth home in recognition of the work of peace campaigner, Annie Hughes Griffiths.

The plaque, unveiled on Friday at 4 Laura Place, is the 14th to be installed in Wales.

Annie spearheaded the organisation of a remarkable peace petition signed by nearly 400,000 women in Wales in 1923 - estimated to be three quarters of all the women in Wales at the time. It's estimated that all the sheets of signatures, if put together, would reach seven miles long.

Annie went on to lead a women’s ‘peace delegation’ which, in 1924, took the petition across the Atlantic. With the help of American women’s organisations it was presented to a huge gathering of women in New York representing thousands of activists from across the USA. The delegation then made their appeal to the US President Coolidge at the White House and another gathering of prominent women in Washington.

Annie then toured America taking the message of the peace appeal to the American Welsh and helped give a new impetus to the women’s peace movement in the US.

The petition, which was started as a reaction to the horrors of World War One, was bequeathed to the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC in 1924. It has now been repatriated to Wales and will reside in the National Library in Aberystwyth.

Annie Hughes Griffiths was born Annie Jane Davies in 1873 in Llangeitho.

She became a well-known figure in London-Welsh circles and was deeply involved in the Welsh League of Nations and efforts to create a lasting peace after WW1.

Her involvement with the peace petition marks her out as one of the movers and shakers in the 1920s bringing women’s voices to the fore.

Sue Essex, chair of Purple Plaques Wales, said: “We think Annie truly embodies the spirit of Purple Plaques Wales. The fact that she was able to lead on a project which touched so many women right across Wales and emboldened them to sign a petition for peace was remarkable in itself - especially in an age without mass communications. To then go on and present it to the US President and tour it across the United States was an amazing achievement. I’m so glad we can mark this with a Purple Plaque.”

The Minister for Social Justice, Jane Hutt, will be attending the unveiling in Aberystwyth. She said: “The Minister for Social Justice and Chief Whip, Jane Hutt, will be attending the unveiling in Aberystwyth. She said: “Annie Hughes Griffiths was a trailblazer in the women’s peace movement in Wales and it is right she is remembered for her remarkable efforts with a Purple Plaque. I’m thrilled her legacy is now being recognised and the petition she spearheaded has been repatriated to the National Library in Aberystwyth.”

The Purple Plaque ceremony is part of the programme for Aberystwyth University’s annual Festival of Research, whose theme this year ‘The Pursuit of Peace’ was inspired by the centenary of the Welsh Women’s Peace Petition.

Following the unveiling, a bilingual, multi-authored book edited by Professor Mererid Hopwood and Dr Jenny Mathers from Aberystwyth University, will be launched at the National Library of Wales at 5pm on Friday 3 November.

Professor Mererid Hopwood said: “As we launch our book telling the remarkable story of the Welsh Women’s Peace Petition, we are delighted that a Purple Plaque is being unveiled in lasting recognition of the efforts of Annie and the thousands of other women who came together a century ago to make such an ambitious call for global peace.”