The
Catonsville Nine were nine
CatholicThe Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church. With more than a billion members, over half of all Christians and more than one-sixth of the world's population, the Catholic Church is a communion of the Western, or Latin Rite Church, and...
activists who burned
draftConscription is a general term for involuntary labor demanded by an established authority. It is most often used in the specific sense of requiring citizens to serve in the armed forces...
files to protest the
Vietnam WarThe Vietnam War or the Second Indochina War was a Cold War military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1959 to 30 April 1975...
. On May 17, 1968 they went to the draft board in
Catonsville, MarylandCatonsville is a census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 39,820 at the 2000 census. Catonsville is bordered by Woodlawn to the north, by Baltimore to the east, by Elkridge to the south, and by Ellicott City to its west.Catonsville is the home of...
, took 378 draft files, brought them to the parking lot in wire baskets, dumped them out, poured homemade
napalmNapalm is the thickener used to coagulate gasoline into a gelatine for military uses. Developed by Harvard chemists, headed by Louis Fieser, the thickener’s name, napalm, derives from the first letters of the names of the thickeners, coprecipitated aluminium salts of naphthenic and palmitic acids...
over them, and set them on fire. News footage shot by WBAL- a tv channel in Baltimore, Md.-exists of this action.
The 9 were:
- Father Daniel Berrigan
Daniel Berrigan, SJ is a poet, American peace activist, and Roman Catholic priest. Daniel and his brother Philip were for a time on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list for committing acts of vandalism including destroying government property.-History:Daniel Berrigan was born in Virginia,...
, a Jesuit priest
- Philip Berrigan
Philip Francis Berrigan was an internationally renowned American peace activist, Christian anarchist and former Roman Catholic priest...
, a former JosephiteThe Josephite Fathers and Brothers or, more properly, Saint Joseph's Society of the Sacred Heart, Inc. are an American society of Catholic priests and brothers, founded in 1893. It was formed in 1871 by a group of priests from the English Foreign Mission Society of Saint Joseph, also known as the...
priest (deceased)
- Bro. David Darst (deceased)
- John Hogan (deceased)
- Tom Lewis
Thomas Lewis was an artist, peace activist, and a father.Thomas Lewis was born on March 17, 1940, in Baltimore, Maryland, In the late 60s, he was involved in such "actions" as the Baltimore Four, who poured blood on draft files at the Baltimore Customs House in 1967, and Catonsville Nine, who...
, an artist (deceased)
- Marjorie Bradford Melville
- Thomas Melville, a former Maryknoll
Maryknoll is a name shared by three organizations within the United States Catholic Church whose joint focus is on the overseas mission activity of the U.S. Catholic Church. These organizations are: The Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers ; The Maryknoll Sisters Maryknoll is a name shared by three...
priest
- George Mische
- Mary Moylan (deceased).
George Mische and Father Phil Berrigan were prime organizers of the Catonsville 9. Numerous Baltimore community members assisted in key ways as well. The organizing process was very democratic- with interminable meetings and who's in, who's out hand raisings.
Fr. Philip Berrigan and Tom Lewis had previously poured blood on draft records as part of "The Baltimore Four"- with David Eberhardt and James Mengel - and were out on bail when they burned the records at Catonsville. The first documented action against draft files is reputed to have been by Barry Bondhus in Minnesota- who, along with other family members, carried human ordure into a draft board and then defaced draft records.
The Catonsville Nine were tried in federal court October 5–9, 1968. The lead defense attorney was
William KunstlerWilliam Moses Kunstler was an American self-described "radical lawyer" and civil rights activist, known for his controversial clients...
. They were found guilty of destruction of U.S. property, destruction of Selective Service files, and interference with the Selective Service Act of 1967. They were also sentenced to a total of 18 years jail time and a fine of $22,000. Several of the nine- Mary Moylan, Phil Berrigan, Dan Berrigan and George Mische, went "undergound"- when it came time to show up for prison- in other words, the FBI had to try to find them. Father Dan Berrigan caused considerable embarassment to FBI Director, J. Edgar Hoover, by popping up and giving sermons and then fading back into the "undergound".
Fr. Daniel Berrigan wrote, of the Catonsville incident: "Our apologies, good friends, for the fracture of good order, the burning of paper instead of children. . . ."- the whole of his statement is in
The Trial of the Catonsville Nine.
Large demonstrations occurred outside the Federal Courthouse on Calvert St. during the trial. The trial came soon after the events of the Democratic Convention in Chicago- where considerable violence took place. The 9's trial, with clergy men involved, made the over all peace movement a bit harder to dismiss- since protesters in Chicago consisted of younger, student and SDS, Weathermen, and youths with long hair.
Both the Judge- Rozwell Thompson and prosecutor of the 9- Stephen Sachs, realized the historic proportions of the event- but allowed little leeway to the defendants arguments. In these early trials of such actions- the government always overcharged and always tried to keep the trials to "nothing but the facts"- i.e.- did the 9 destroy files? or did they not. The 9, on the other hand, often referred to a higher law that they were following- God's moral law, as well as such precedents as the Nuremburg war crimes trials after World War II. They called several expert witnesses. At one point, prosecutor Sachs quipped that "the government is not a balloon attached to the consciences of the 9."
Numerous reunions have occurred with participants including jurors- the prosecutor- Steve Sachs, who later ran for Governor of Maryland- and, of course - members of the 9.
"The Trial of the Catonsville Nine" (play)
Fr. Daniel Berrigan wrote a play in
free verseFree verse - also known as vers libre - is a term describing various styles of poetry that are written without using a strict rhyme scheme, but still recognizable as poetry by virtue of complex patterns of one sort or another that readers will perceive to be part of a coherent whole.-Types:Philip...
,
The Trial of the Catonsville Nine, about the trial. The version performed is usually an adaptation into regular dialogue by Saul Levitt. The play is but a partial transcript of the trial.
In 1972 a film version of the play was produced by
Gregory PeckGregory Peck was an American actor.One of 20th Century Fox's most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1960s, Peck continued to play important roles well into the 1990s...
. The play, as of 2009, is on tour presented by the "Actors' Gang" of Culver City Calif., founded by film star Tim Robbins, but has been presented innumerable times as well.
The "9", as well as the 4, inspired many other anti draft and anti military actions in the 60's and 70's- some publicized, others not....actions such as the Milwaukee 14, DC 9, Chicago 8, Harrisburg 7, Camden 28- etc. etc. The action in Camden was portrayed in a documentary that appeared on Public Television. There were actions where persons stayed- to be arrested- and actions where the participants were happy not to stay! It is unknown how many persons were not drafted because of these actions, although some few stories have surfaced.
Beginning in 1980 with the "Plowshares 8", the movement morphed into a movement that continues today (2009)- with an emphasis on nuclear weapons. These actions,called "Plowshares" actions, along with the Catonsville 9 and other earlier actions, have been portrayed in numerous films, books, etc. etc. Jonah House, in Baltimore, Md., maintains a website that updates these actions.
A Chronology of Plowshares Disarmament Actions -1980-2003- has been edited and compiled by Arthur Laffin.
External links