Alice "Pat" Granahan
(Other Images Below)
Alice "Pat" (Foley) Granahan has worked at making Hingham and the world at large a better place for much of her adult life. Born to Frances and John Foley on February 7, 1928, she was raised in Newton, Mass. During her years as a student in the public schools she participated in many different activities, including archery, hockey, the Spanish Club, and the Camera Club.
After graduating from Newton High School in 1945 Pat attended Regis College in nearby Weston. She lived with her parents throughout her years at college and after graduation worked as a laboratory assistant. In 1952 she married College of the Holy Cross student Leon Granahan, who would later become a chemist. The two lived in and around Boston before moving to Hingham.
In the 1970s, Dr. Helen Caldecott of Australia was speaking out against nuclear energy and its dangers, and specifically the harmful effects to humans. Her words inspired Pat, who quickly joined the anti-nuke campaign. She founded REACH, the Responsible Energy Alternatives Coalition of Hingham in 1979 with the goal of swaying the Hingham Light Board away from their support of the Nuclear Power Plant in Seabrook, New Hampshire. Through REACH Pat was able to bring noted experts on the subject of alternative energy to speak in Hingham and encourage all residents to become fully informed regarding this issue.
In 1983 Granahan was the first woman elected to the Municipal Light Board of Hingham, on which she would serve until 1986. During her tenure she devoted herself to promoting wind power and other alternative energy sources not only to the rest of the Board, but also to her constituents. These efforts included successfully petitioning the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy Resources to conduct a study focusing on improving efficiency and on using alternative energy at the Light Plant. Although never utilized, the study did find that Turkey Hill might be a suitable place for wind turbines.
Pat continued her fight for alternative energy use even after leaving the Municipal Light Board. In 1988 she led a campaign to ban nuclear power in Massachusetts and to close the two plants currently in use. She helped gather the 74,000 signatures that allowed it to be included on the November, 1988 ballot and was also involved in a campaign to stop nuclear waste. She was actually arrested for trespassing in 1989 while protesting the reopening of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant of Plymouth, Massachusetts. It was the first of several times that Pat would practice civil disobedience.
To this day, Pat is involved in promoting the use of alternative energy sources. She is also involved in raising awareness about the dangers of pesticides and advocating for peace rather than war. Pat states that she will continue to fight for the causes she believes in for as long as she is able to do so.
A major influence in the beginnings of REACH was the fact that the Hingham Light Board owned shares in the Seabrook Station Nuclear Power Plant in Seabrook, New Hampshire.
This article presents the debate about the Hingham Light Board’s interest in purchasing shares of the Seabrook nuclear power plant. Granahan is mentioned in the closing of the article, asking citizens to become informed about the upcoming decisions.
On September 20, 1979 the Hingham Journal highlighted an upcoming talk about the different energy options available to citizens and governments. The talk, delivered by Harvard professor Daniel H. Yergin was open to “all South Shore citizens...at no charge.”
Pat Granahan maintains numerous scrapbooks with newspaper clippings about her activist work. This article about her arrest during a protest against nuclear power was annotated by a family member who added "MY HERO!"
This banner has been carried by Pat Granahan and her fellow protestors at various rallies supporting peace. "NO WAR. PROTECT OUR CHILDREN-EARTH-LIVES." Granahan said this banner had to be refurbished because it was well-worn from travelling to rallies across the state for a number of years.
Pat Granahan still lives in Hingham and says, "I have one more good arrest left in me." Pat is a mother of seven with five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. She is still involved in REACH.