The Center was founded in 1985 in an effort to go beyond the traditional “peace movement” and bring peace and justice concerns to a local mainstream audience. Its achievements over the years have included:

• the 1988 Gettysburg Peace Symposium;
• a performance of the musical Peace Child in 1988;
• Rainbow Theater for local high school students in 1990;
• retreats on Nicaragua, on grassroots organizing, and on envisioning the future of Adams County;
• a Help Increase the Peace Youth Retreat in 1999;
• the Colors of Love Youth Workshop, a teenage dance and dramatic group, which gave performances on social justice issues;
• and the ongoing activities, including the Heritage Festival, Peace Camp, Let It Begin With Me Conference, Peacemaker Awards, Collinge Lecture, Annual Meeting and Potluck, and the Quarterly Newsletter.

Speakers at Center events have included Noel Paul Stookey, Barry Commoner, Frances Moore Lappé, Colman McCarthy, and many others.

A copy of the ICPJ Annals-in-progress (1985-2023), thanks to Bill Collinge, can be found here.

A copy of the ICPJ By-Laws, last revised in November 2017, can be found here (By-Laws revised 2017).