In the summer of 1960, the Committee for Nonviolent Action (CNVA), the most active antiwar group in the country at the time, came to New London, Connecticut to stage demonstrations and host workshops arguing against the nuclear arms race. They called it Polaris Action after the Polaris nuclear weapon submarines being built at the nearby General Dynamics facility, Electric Boat. Eight months after the summer activities had finished, a contingent of CNVA members was nearing the East Coast again, having walked all the way from San Francisco as demonstrators against the arms race and intending to walk across Europe to Moscow as well. In that same time, several other CNVA members had remained in southeastern Connecticut and established the New England chapter of the CNVA. In those months, they had set up an office with regular public hours, made considerable contacts with national media and at least one filmmaker, and had conducted countless speaking engagements and public demonstrations. Many members had been arrested for civil disobedience, some on multiple occasions, and several were still locked up. But they had made allies in the local community and further away, allies who could both help fill the gaps left by lost personnel and lend a degree of legitimacy with the local populace. Dr. Gordon Christiansen, chair of the Chemistry Department at Connecticut College, was one local resident who quickly joined the CNVA — within a short time, he was made Chairman of the Personnel Committee of the New England chapter. And so, as their fellow CNVA members walked ever closer, the New England chapter began to plan another round of summer programs against the arms race. The first part of the program is in many ways a continuation of the New England CNVA’s work from the previous several months. The last few days of May were dedicated to the rendezvous and send-off of the San Francisco to Moscow Walk Team in New York — a campaign that had been first dreamed up at the Hygienic Restaurant in New London just eight months earlier, and which was to be continued stateside by the New England team for a week and a half solidarity walk east across Long Island (ending with the ferry back to New London). A one-day workshop was scheduled for the week after they returned. Between the solidarity walk and the workshop, several court hearings and demonstrations were scattered throughout, giving the impression of a busy schedule for a very dedicated team. Published in late May 1961, it appears in the newsletter that the last part of June, all of July, and the first part of August had not yet been scheduled. For the end of the summer, the New England CNVA again partnered with the Peacemakers for an intensive 3-week training on nonviolent action and philosophy with a scope and breadth that may be surprising to some. We will explore the 1961 Peacemakers Training Program in the future. But the lack of more detailed plans for the middle of the summer was likely due to a desire to stay flexible to continuously developing situations, such as issues with the law as well as any opportunities for action that may arise. And besides, even between the protests, field trips, and workshops, for those who wanted to dedicate their summer to activism, or even for those who were just curious, there was always plenty to be done or learned or practiced. (Click the images below to download the PDF version of the original clipping) --
Take Action The CT Committee for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons organizes pro-disarmament demonstrations throughout the year. To participate in these demonstrations against nuclear arms and in support of the UN’s Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, please get in touch with us on Facebook at facebook.com/voluntownpeacetrust or email us at nuclearbanct@gmail.com. — Support Us If you like our weekly posts, please consider supporting this project with a one-time or recurring donation. Contributions of all sizes are appreciated. Click this link to learn more about what we do and how you can donate: https://www.mightycause.com/organization/Voluntown-Peace-Trust — Source “Peace Education.” Polaris Action Bulletin. 25 May 1961 (Bulletin #23), page 5. “Summer Program.” Polaris Action Bulletin. 25 May 1961 (Bulletin #23), page 5-6. Last week, we shared some general descriptions of a wave of mass civil disobedience that swept through the US and UK in the Easter season of 1961. The demonstrators objected to the “civil defense drills” promoted by the US and UK governments, pointing out what a meager defense that duck-and-cover could provide in the face of a doomsday scenario that their own governments had started. Common people were forced into the role of pawns in a global chess match between the nuclear-armed powers, and some of those common people had had enough. (See our post from last week here: “Thousands in Civil Disobedience; Hundreds Arrested in US and England” (1961)) This week, we have a brief description of the largest civil defense protest in the US that season: the roughly 1500-strong civil disobedience action in New York City. The author of the article, Mary Meigs, had at the time only recently become involved with the New England Committee for Nonviolent Action (CNVA), having been introduced to the group by her partner Barbara Deming. Despite the relatively short time that Meigs was involved with the CNVA, she is especially notable for being the person to purchase Campbell Farm in Voluntown, Connecticut in 1962, which she gifted to the CNVA to ultimately become the Voluntown Peace Trust. Meigs’ description of the NYC civil defense protest is particularly evocative of the mood of such mass civil disobedience actions. A few details may seem familiar to those who have participated in similar demonstrations: the outsized number of police, the sudden and arbitrary mass arrests, the undercounting of participants by the press, and the many unanswered questions — but also the feeling of determination, solidarity, and even joy shared between the diverse participants. At the bottom of this clipping, there is a brief notice about the summer program organized by the New England CNVA. While CNVA member Brad Lyttle was the primary organizer of the summer program, others contributed to the project. One was the then-Chair of the Chemistry Department at Connecticut College, Dr. Gordon Christiansen, who also wrote a pamphlet on nuclear detonation scenarios in and around southeastern Connecticut (see this link to read his pamphlet: Survival in Nuclear War: A Vanishing Probability). We will return to Brad Lyttle and the 1961 New England CNVA summer program later. For now, let us reflect on all of the grassroots political activity that was swelling at the time. In the South, the civil rights movement was already picking up momentum. In the North, the movement against nuclear weapons and war in general was also gaining strength. Many elements of these movements would eventually merge, culminating with Dr. King’s powerful and controversial speech on the Vietnam War in April 1967. Already in 1961, these confluences were developing: campaigns like the Quebec to Gauntanamo Walk and the Southern Peace Walk addressed militarism and racism as interconnected issues. Still, in the midst of organizing civil disobedience actions, summer trainings, and the communications to coordinate all of this activity, people like Mary Meigs, Barbara Deming, Brad Lyttle, Gordon Christiansen, even Dr. King didn't know how their work would turn out. But despite their own uncertainties, something compelled them to keep pushing the movement forward. Let us follow in their footsteps and continue to push past where they left off. (Click the image below to download the PDF version of the original clipping) --
Take Action The CT Committee for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons organizes pro-disarmament demonstrations throughout the year. To participate in these demonstrations against nuclear arms and in support of the UN’s Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, please get in touch with us on Facebook at facebook.com/voluntownpeacetrust or email us at nuclearbanct@gmail.com. — Support Us If you like our weekly posts, please consider supporting this project with a one-time or recurring donation. Contributions of all sizes are appreciated. Click this link to learn more about what we do and how you can donate: https://www.mightycause.com/organization/Voluntown-Peace-Trust — Source Meigs, Mary. “The Civil Defense Protest at City Hall Park.” Polaris Action Bulletin. 6 May 1961 (Bulletin #22), page 6. In the early 1960s, a movement against the production and use of nuclear weapons was growing across the world. In the English-speaking world, this movement spread rapidly in the two principal countries most responsible for the invention of the first nuclear weapons: the United States and the United Kingdom. The movement involved various protest actions for consciousness-raising and educating the public, and in the US and UK, Easter time became a major period for protest demonstrations against nuclear weapons. In April 1961 in New York City, over two thousand people obstructed, refused to participate in, or otherwise protested the “civil defense drills” (i.e. “duck-and-cover” drills”). That same month, across New York State and New Jersey, many more staged demonstrations against the drills, especially students and educators at various colleges and high schools. In New Hampshire, one university professor helped to organize dozens of students and other activists in a protest march during a civil defense drill, and ultimately resigned from his position in order to join the San Francisco to Moscow Transcontinental Walk for Peace. Over in London, UK, where the Transcontinental Walk would pass within a few months, over 2000 people marched in protest over their own government’s active involvement in and production of nuclear weapons. The hundreds of protesters went limp when arrested, just as they had trained, refusing to cooperate with their own arrests and causing massive and expensive disruptions in the heart of the country. Many other less well-documented demonstrations popped up across both the United States and the United Kingdom in Spring 1961 and after, including ones put on by the Committee for Nonviolent Action (CNVA) across Connecticut — "the toughest state in which to refuse to take shelter." Some were small, with just a few dozen participants, while others swelled to hundreds or thousands of protesters at a time. And yet, all taken together, even the small demonstrations contributed to the wider movement. Demonstrations that started small often snowballed over the years into bigger affairs involving more organizations. These demonstrations were especially effective because of their timing. American and British activists still living in predominantly Christian countries specifically chose the Easter season to conduct protest activities in part in order to contrast the modern rhetoric of nuclear war with the message of the ancient “Prince of Peace,” Jesus of Nazareth. By evoking the language, imagery, and stories familiar to the general populace and applying them to contemporary issues — by meeting the people where they were — the movement continued to grow. While the dream of full disarmament, the ultimate goal of many of these activist groups, remains unfulfilled, within just a few years of the first of the antinuclear weapons protests, the United States, United Kingdom, and Soviet Union (plus the few other nuclear powers of the time) would work together to strictly regulate the proliferation of nuclear arms in their own countries and around the world. (Click the images below to download the PDF version of the original clippings) --
Take Action The CT Committee for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons organizes pro-disarmament demonstrations throughout the year. To participate in these demonstrations against nuclear arms and in support of the UN’s Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, please get in touch with us on Facebook at facebook.com/voluntownpeacetrust or email us at nuclearbanct@gmail.com. — Support Us If you like our weekly posts, please consider supporting this project with a one-time or recurring donation. Contributions of all sizes are appreciated. Click this link to learn more about what we do and how you can donate: https://www.mightycause.com/organization/Voluntown-Peace-Trust — Source “Thousands in Civil Disobedience; Hundreds Arrested in US and England.” Polaris Action Bulletin. 6 May 1961 (Bulletin #22), pages 3-4. Even in progressive and radical circles, there still remains a great deal of misinformation and confusion about the strategy and philosophy of nonviolent resistance: particularly, its reasoning, goals, and tactics. Therefore, it is often helpful to consult the leaflets and other primary sources of the time to learn exactly what they thought they were doing. This little leaflet from 1961 produced by the New England CNVA gives us a particularly clear articulation of their analysis of the Cold War nuclear situation and the practicality of nonviolent action in the age of weapons of mass destruction. As we today again find ourselves in conflict with the greatest nuclear power in the world, it may be useful to examine the analysis and strategy of past generations’ nonviolent actionists. As the leaflet alludes, part of the purpose of practicing nonviolent resistance is to demonstrate how truly disruptive it could be. Some examples of nonviolent tactics were learned from the peace movement’s overlap with the labor movement: actions like slowdowns and strikes, but also organizing principles like collective action and economic sharing. When applied to the peace movement, most actions were of course more effective with many participants, but even just a few people could deface enough property, delay enough tests, and otherwise cost the government enough time and money to force it reconsider its plans from time to time. And if totalitarianism ever came to the country, the nonviolent resisters would have already been organized, practiced, and ready to act. On the back, the leaflet gives a few examples of what nonviolent resistance to war and the war industry might look like. While some actions are obvious (“Speaking out”), some may be unfamiliar to most people (“Refusing to pay war taxes”) while others may not seem directly related to war at all (“Sharing worldly goods”). While often made out to be naive, passive, and ineffective, actual practitioners of nonviolent resistance in the 1960s were often the ones who articulated strong analyses, put their own bodies on the line, and not only made some David-vs-Goliath victories, but also inspired an entire new generation of social justice movements. (Click the images below to download the PDF version of the original clippings) --
Take Action The CT Committee for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons organizes pro-disarmament demonstrations throughout the year. To participate in these demonstrations against nuclear arms and in support of the UN’s Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, please get in touch with us on Facebook at facebook.com/voluntownpeacetrust or email us at nuclearbanct@gmail.com. — Support Us If you like our weekly posts, please consider supporting this project with a one-time or recurring donation. Contributions of all sizes are appreciated. Click this link to learn more about what we do and how you can donate: https://www.mightycause.com/organization/Voluntown-Peace-Trust — Source “let’s walk for PEACE.” Polaris Action Bulletin. 10 April 1961 (Bulletin #21), insert 1-2. In the early 1960s, the Committee for Nonviolent Action (CNVA) frequently staged protest demonstrations at and around the General Dynamics: Electric Boat facility in Groton, Connecticut — the place where some of the world’s first nuclear-armed submarines were being built at the time. Many of those CNVA EB demonstrations involved attempts by young activists to physically block, board, or otherwise disrupt the launch of those submarines. They used canoes, other small boats, or just their bodies swimming in the Thames River to disrupt public ceremonies, drawing attention to the fact that 1) there were people in their community who had deep and well-considered misgivings about the area’s involvement in producing such weapons, and that 2) even just a few strong swimmers or paddlers armed with nothing but their convictions could outmaneuver dozens of other military watercraft and reach the nuclear leviathan to pose the question: were these weapons really worth the taxpayer money and the danger of annihilation? Neither the CNVA nor modern anti-sub activists have expected their demonstrations to immediately end the construction of nuclear submarines in southeastern Connecticut. Instead, these groups have demonstrated and continue to demonstrate to bear witness to the tragedy of our area’s nuclear-armed submarine manufacturing: weapons ostensibly designed for the express purpose of killing as many people as we can after we have already lost a nuclear war. Transforming society most often requires community organizing, collective action, and large systemic changes — but those things don’t happen overnight. They start with small groups and actions that eventually grow, inspire more acts, and build more momentum, until they become an unstoppable force. (Click one of the images below to download the PDF version of the original clippings) --
Take Action The CT Committee for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons organizes pro-disarmament demonstrations throughout the year. To participate in these demonstrations against nuclear arms and in support of the UN’s Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, please get in touch with us on Facebook at facebook.com/voluntownpeacetrust or email us at nuclearbanct@gmail.com. — Support Us If you like our weekly posts, please consider supporting this project with a one-time or recurring donation. Contributions of all sizes are appreciated. Click this link to learn more about what we do and how you can donate: https://www.mightycause.com/organization/Voluntown-Peace-Trust — Source “Crisis and the Individual.” Polaris Action Bulletin. 6 May 1961 (Bulletin #22), insert. In March 1961, two antiwar activists disrupted a commissioning ceremony for the world’s fifth ever nuclear missile submarine in order to raise awareness of the danger and absurdity of the nuclear arms race with the Soviet Union. The two activists nonviolently attempted to board the submarine by paddling through frigid waters and dodging the patrol boats in nothing but a canoe. As alluded to in last week’s story, this action occurred during the Easter-time 3-Week Walk for Peace through the Northeast US, organized by the New England Committee for Nonviolent Action (NE CNVA) as a companion walk for the much bigger San Francisco to Moscow Walk for Peace. (See our previous posts: “Organizing the San Francisco to Moscow Walk for Peace (1960-1961)” “‘Call to a 3-Week Walk for Peace’ (1961)” “‘Report on the Walk’ (1961)”) Longtime readers will be familiar with this kind of action that the CNVA popularized in the late 1950s and early 1960s. As the United States unveiled the world’s first line of nuclear missile submarines with patriotic pomp and military ceremony, at least two teams of activists would often show up. The larger group would amass visibly, often near the entries to the ceremonies, and hold signs and/or pass out leaflets about the dangers of nuclear weapons to those in attendance. Meanwhile, the smaller group would sneak onto the banks of the water near the ceremonies, launch their canoe or other small vessel (or simply dive in), and cause a great commotion playing cat-and-mouse with the patrols — stealing the limelight from the military. Indeed, this seems to be exactly how it played out in Portsmouth, New Hampshire in 1961. What is so striking about the action is its drama. We live in a very different world now compared to 1961, and it is questionable whether such actions would be effective (or even safe) to attempt today, but they seemed to have worked multiple times in those early years specifically in large part because they were using a new tactic to respond directly to the unveiling of a new and world-changing technology. If there is a lesson to be drawn, perhaps it is that, as activists and organizers, we must constantly adopt new tactics to disorient the military-industrial complex and the State — and that when violence as a response is removed from the table, new possibilities and innovative tactics often suddenly spring forth. (Click the image below to download the PDF version of the original clippings) --
Take Action The CT Committee for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons organizes pro-disarmament demonstrations throughout the year. To participate in these demonstrations against nuclear arms and in support of the UN’s Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, please get in touch with us on Facebook at facebook.com/voluntownpeacetrust or email us at nuclearbanct@gmail.com. — Support Us If you like our weekly posts, please consider supporting this project with a one-time or recurring donation. Contributions of all sizes are appreciated. Click this link to learn more about what we do and how you can donate: https://www.mightycause.com/organization/Voluntown-Peace-Trust — Source “Civil Disobedience at Portsmouth, N.H.” Polaris Action Bulletin. 10 April 1961 (Bulletin #21), page 4. In solidarity with the 1960-1961 San Francisco to Moscow Walk for Peace, one of the longest and most ambitious peace walks in modern history, many companion walks were organized throughout the United States and Europe. The New England Committee for Nonviolent Action (NECNVA), based at VPT in Voluntown, Connecticut, organized the New England companion walk which started in Kittery, Maine and passed through cities in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Connecticut before ending at the UN Building in New York City. Along the way, hundreds of people participated either as walkers or providers of hospitality, and thousands more heard the NECNVA message: that the US military plans during the Cold War were both ethically and strategically compromised. By many measures, the “3-Week Walk for Peace” through the Northeastern US in 1961 was a massive success. (See our previous posts: “Organizing the San Francisco to Moscow Walk for Peace (1960-1961)” “‘Call to a 3-Week Walk for Peace’ (1961)”) Shortly following the action, one of the NE CNVA founders, Bob Swann, wrote a brief report about the walk. He divided his report into three main sections: “Outreach,” “Publicity,” and “Participation.” Through his words, we can glimpse some of the smart organizing that may have contributed to the walk’s success. For example, Bob Swann recounts that the walkers held on average one public meeting every evening, in which an average of 20-60 people would attend. These meetings offered multiple ways for people to engage with the CNVA message: by watching a film, participating in discussion, or just actively listening. The walk also enjoyed much positive publicity in the newspapers, radio, and television news. One factor may have been the explicitly nonviolent behavior of these activists, and another, the quality of responses given in the many interviews conducted along the walk. But one crucial factor — and one that many modern activist groups sometimes overlook — seems to have been the fact that the NE CNVA purposely connected with some locally respected figures who agreed with the NE CNVA program to help lend legitimacy to the cause. Reaching the local community by having the area’s religious, academic, or otherwise culturally important leaders articulate the CNVA message proved to be a very effective strategy. But the walkers were not limited in spreading their message to just these public meetings. Along the walk, there were countless opportunities for spontaneous discussion: with bystanders as the participants walked; during breaks and at evenings with those providing hospitality; at universities, places of worship, community centers, and more. Indeed, the infinite opportunities to spread the message up close was one of the great strategic strengths of the 3-Week Walk for Peace and for other such peace walks in general. See below to read the report and determine for yourself why the walk was so successful. (Click the images below to download the PDF version of the original clippings) --
Take Action The CT Committee for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons organizes pro-disarmament demonstrations throughout the year. To participate in these demonstrations against nuclear arms and in support of the UN’s Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, please get in touch with us on Facebook at facebook.com/voluntownpeacetrust or email us at nuclearbanct@gmail.com. — Support Us If you like our weekly posts, please consider supporting this project with a one-time or recurring donation. Contributions of all sizes are appreciated. Click this link to learn more about what we do and how you can donate: https://www.mightycause.com/organization/Voluntown-Peace-Trust — Source Swann, Bob. “Report on the Walk.” Polaris Action Bulletin. 10 April 1961 (Bulletin #21), page 5. In September 1960, three peace activists met at Hygienic Restaurant in New London, Connecticut and started to form a plan for their next big action: the San Francisco to Moscow Walk for Peace. No other group had ever attempted a peace walk across the entire continental United States, and they only knew of one other peace group that had ever attempted to cross into the Soviet Union. And yet, working with the Committee for Nonviolent Action (CNVA), the three activists not only successfully organized the longest and most dramatic peace walk ever, but spawned several more peace walks in solidarity. (See our previous post: “Organizing the San Francisco to Moscow Walk for Peace (1960-1961)”) One such companion peace walk was organized in eastern Connecticut. Inspired by the San Francisco to Moscow Walk for Peace, as well as the UK’s Aldermaston to London “ban the bomb” marches that had been held every Easter since 1952, the New England CNVA (based at VPT in Voluntown, Connecticut) organized a peace walk from Kittery, Maine to the UN Headquarters in New York City. Named the “3-Week Walk for Peace,” the initial call was put out on February 2, 1961 in the Polaris Action Bulletin, about two months after the San Francisco to Moscow Walk for Peace began. Protest marches and peace walks had been held in the past, but none of the scale of the San Francisco to Moscow Walk. Thus, this was a relatively new tactic of the progressive left at the time, and one with several appealing factors. It was fast enough to cover a lot of ground, but slow enough to make real connections between people. It brought participants directly into communities to discuss the arms race face-to-face with folks and through the local media. It reminded some of the old religious itinerant holy people or pilgrims journeying to sacred sites. It reminded others of Gandhi and the success of the Salt March. Supporters were invited to participate in a number of ways. Those who could not walk the route themselves could put walkers up for a night and provide other hospitality. Volunteers were encouraged to contact their local media to arrange interviews or public discussions. Direct financial support was always useful to fund the whole operation. And, of course, one could sign up to walk. Although most walkers only committed themselves to just a portion of the full 340-mile, 3-week walk, it was often still a significant sacrifice of time and energy, even considering that the CNVA paid for food and other expenses for the participants. But in the comparatively more religious 1960s, such sacrifice during the Easter season was part of the point; like Dr. King in the civil rights movement around the same time, using the popular religious language and imagery allowed these activists to communicate their message on multiple levels. (Click the images below to download the PDF version of the original clippings) —
Take Action The CT Committee for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons organizes pro-disarmament demonstrations throughout the year. To participate in these demonstrations against nuclear arms and in support of the UN’s Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, please get in touch with us on Facebook at facebook.com/voluntownpeacetrust or email us at nuclearbanct@gmail.com. — Support Us If you like our weekly posts, please consider supporting this project with a one-time or recurring donation. Contributions of all sizes are appreciated. Click this link to learn more about what we do and how you can donate: https://www.mightycause.com/organization/Voluntown-Peace-Trust — Sources “Call to a 3-Week Walk for Peace.” Polaris Action Bulletin. 2 February 1961 (Bulletin #19), page 3. “Details of 3-Week Walk for Peace.” Polaris Action Bulletin. 2 February 1961 (Bulletin #19), page 4. For the last few weeks, we have been telling the story of Eroseanna Robinson’s refusal to pay taxes used for war, her imprisonment and absolute noncooperation with the prison system, and the grassroots community of supporters her story generated. She never signed anything the legal system mandated, refused to follow prison rules, and maintained a hunger strike from the first minute of her incarceration to the end. As a Black woman from Chicago imprisoned in West Virginia in 1960, “Sis” Robinson took great risks by challenging the sentencing judge, the correctional officers, and the rest of the punitive institution that kept her. And yet, she was released after serving just a quarter of her sentence. Why? (See our previous posts to learn more about Eroseanna Robinson and her arrest: - Eroseanna Robinson: Black Olympic Athlete, Desegregationist, War Tax Resister - "This is Why Eroseanna Robinson Refuses to Pay Taxes", 1960 - Solidarity with War Tax Resister Eroseanna Robinson, 1960) Members of the Peacemaker movement (to which Eroseanna Robinson belonged) had picketed outside of IRS offices and other federal buildings in various cities around the country, generating greater publicity to Robinson’s situation. Clergy and regular people wrote to the sentencing judge, Judge Robson appealing to his conscience and urging for leniency. Meanwhile, other peacemakers had protested outside of the Alderson prison at scattered opportunities during those months of her imprisonment, but in the week before Robinson’s release, ten people had set up a more permanent Peacemaker encampment outside the Alderson prison gates. They were of mixed genders, roughly half of them Black and half white. Most of them had taken up a hunger strike in solidarity with Eroseanna. All of them were willing and eager to talk with local people to explain why they were there. And all of this was announced to the Alderson community through a statement in the town newspaper — which caused many local people to go and hear for themselves the Peacemakers’ vision for a world without war. Judge Robson and the Alderson prison warden Nina Knisella both maintained that the letters and picketing did not influence the decision to release Eroseanna Robinson early, but that it was because her resistance had become too great of a burden on the prison medical staff who had to force-feed and monitor her. This may be true, but it should also be noted that the federal strategy toward the antiwar movement at the time was to ignore and downplay its actions to prevent the movement from growing — such pronouncements of denial should be taken with a grain of salt. Still, if Robson and Knisella are to be believed, it is perhaps an even more incredible story: that a northern Black woman imprisoned south of the Mason-Dixon line in 1960 would be released just one-quarter of the way through her sentence simply because through nonviolent resistance and noncooperation, she made her own imprisonment too difficult for the prison system to maintain. When Robinson was released, the prison bought her a ticket to Chicago and sent her directly to the train station, trying to avoid the publicity moment with the Peacemakers encampment outside of the prison gates. But the Peacemakers quickly made chase and met up with Robinson at the train station, where the correctional officers watched impotently as Robinson let the train leave without her and then drove off in the car with her Peacemaker friends. (Click the images below to download the PDF versions of the original articles) --
Take Action Visit the War Resisters League (WRL) page on war tax resistance to get an overview explanation of the movement. The WRL website is also where you can find the pie chart of federal income tax distribution, as well: https://www.warresisters.org/war-tax-resistance Learn more about war tax resistance, including how to resist war taxes yourself, and get involved in today’s national war tax resistance movement at the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee website: https://nwtrcc.org/ — Support Us If you like our weekly posts, please consider supporting this project with a one-time or recurring donation. Contributions of all sizes are appreciated. Click this link to learn more about what we do and how you can donate: https://www.mightycause.com/organization/Voluntown-Peace-Trust — Source “Pacifists Camp At Prison Gate.” The Charleston Gazette. 16 May 1960. “We at the Gate to Alderson Prison Speak.” The Alderson Times. 19 May 1960. “Prison To Free Hunger Striker.” Beckley Post-Herald. 20 May 1960. “Victory Celebrated by ‘Peacemakers.’” The Charleston Gazette. 21 May 1960. “Robinson Released; Still Won’t Pay Taxes.” The Peacemaker. 28 May 1960, Volume 13, Number 8. Page 1. Over the course of February and March 1960, in the weeks following Eroseanna “Sis” Robinson’s arrest for war tax resistance, people across the United States in the Peacemaker movement expressed their solidarity with Robinson and took action to find justice for her: they protested outside the IRS offices in three major cities, wrote to the ruling judge appealing for leniency, and some became war tax resisters themselves if they weren’t already. And while other publications covered her story, Sis Robinson was an active member of the Peacemakers, and that organization’s newsletter covered her story the closest. (See our previous posts to learn more about Eroseanna Robinson and her arrest: - Eroseanna Robinson: Black Olympic Athlete, Desegregationist, War Tax Resister - "This is Why Eroseanna Robinson Refuses to Pay Taxes", 1960) Indeed, the articles and notices we have now have become a part of the story itself: how an independent newsletter created such a wide-ranging community of supporters for Sis Robinson in multiple cities so quickly, and the success of their efforts. This week, we see that Robinson’s story from previous issues had generated greater interest in the finer details of war tax resistance. On page 2 of the March 5, 1960 issue, the editors included three specific methods to resist supporting war through income taxes. We also see that people answered the earlier calls the Peacemaker had made for solidarity actions. At least one other Peacemaker, Karl Meyer, even caused a bit of “good trouble” in protest, drawing even more attention to the case. But it wasn’t just individuals who were making and distributing leaflets about Robinson’s case; other local groups joined in the work of educating the public, like the committee from the Washington Park Forum mentioned in the “Chicagoans Support” story. This combination of small local organizations active in their own communities, audacious individuals willing to take a stand, and a broad national movement invested in widely sharing these stories and calls to action — altogether made a real difference to Sis Robinson as she continued to resist cooperation with the authorities. (Click the images below to download the PDF version of the original clippings) -- Take Action Visit the War Resisters League (WRL) page on war tax resistance to get an overview explanation of the movement. The WRL website is also where you can find the pie chart of federal income tax distribution, as well: https://www.warresisters.org/war-tax-resistance Learn more about war tax resistance, including how to resist war taxes yourself, and get involved in today’s national war tax resistance movement at the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee website: https://nwtrcc.org/ — Support Us If you like our weekly posts, please consider supporting this project with a one-time or recurring donation. Contributions of all sizes are appreciated. Click this link to learn more about what we do and how you can donate: https://www.mightycause.com/organization/Voluntown-Peace-Trust — Source “Chicagoans Support Sis Robinson.” The Peacemaker. 26 March 1960, Volume 13, Number 4. Page 3-4. “Ideas for Action.” The Peacemaker. 5 March 1960, Volume 13, Number 4. Page 1. “Nonpayment of War Taxes and Nonfiling of Returns.” “Unity with Sis Robinson in Three Cities.” “Literature on Sis Robinson.” “Militant Unity with the Best.” The Peacemaker. 5 March 1960, Volume 13, Number 4. Page 2. |
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