SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
The Catonsville Nine on May 17, 1968.
Just Ahead of 50th Anniversary, 'Catonsville Nine' Honored for 'Important Role in Antiwar Movement'
State sign now erected across the street from where the Catholic group, led by the Berrigan brothers, burned nearly 400 draft files to protest the Vietnam War
May 06, 2018
Fifty years after they set hundreds of draft files ablaze to protest the Vietnam War, the "Catonsville Nine" were honored with a historical marker in the Maryland community.
The state sign, unveiled Saturday, recognizes the pivotal role of their action. Indeed, Joby Taylor, director of the Shriver Peaceworker Program at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, called it "one of the most significant acts of war resistance in our nation's history." The sign reads:
On May 17, 1968, nine Catholic activists raided the Selective Service Office in Catonsville and burned several hundred draft files to protest the Vietnam War. In a highly-publicized trail, the "nine," who included priests Daniel and Philip Berrigan, were convicted and sentenced to prison. The Catonsville action played an important role in the antiwar movement, inspiring similar acts of civil disobedience across the country.
The marker sits just across the street from the site where the Berrigans, along with Brother David Darst, John Hogan, Tom Lewis, Marjorie Melville, Thomas Melville, George Mische, and Mary Moylan took the 378 draft files, put them into wire trash bins, and carried them outside where they set them ablaze with homemade napalm.
"Our apologies, good friends, for the fracture of good order, the burning of paper instead of children, the angering of the orderlies in the front parlor of the charnel house. We could not, so help us God, do otherwise," Father Dan Berrigan, who died in 2016, said at the time.
As the draft documents turned to ashes, "we prayed for peace and waited for the police," Mische would later write.
Marjorie Melville was at the commemoration event on Saturday, and recalled to the Baltimore Sun, "I personally put a match on [the draft files]." She and Mische are the only remaining survivors of the nine.
\u201cOnce prosecuted, now honored, Catonsville Nine get a memorial marker https://t.co/4yluQeVF3O\u201d— Read Knox (@Read Knox) 1525563556
The new sign was erected on the grounds of the Catonsville Public Library. That's because, according to organizers, the Knights of Columbus, where the Selective Service files were housed, did not want the marker there, the Sun reported.
Other events commemorating the 50th anniversary are continuing this month.
To watch the historic event, click below on the footage obtained by Waging Nonviolence:
Join Us: News for people demanding a better world
Common Dreams is powered by optimists who believe in the power of informed and engaged citizens to ignite and enact change to make the world a better place. We're hundreds of thousands strong, but every single supporter makes the difference. Your contribution supports this bold media model—free, independent, and dedicated to reporting the facts every day. Stand with us in the fight for economic equality, social justice, human rights, and a more sustainable future. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover the issues the corporate media never will. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Fifty years after they set hundreds of draft files ablaze to protest the Vietnam War, the "Catonsville Nine" were honored with a historical marker in the Maryland community.
The state sign, unveiled Saturday, recognizes the pivotal role of their action. Indeed, Joby Taylor, director of the Shriver Peaceworker Program at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, called it "one of the most significant acts of war resistance in our nation's history." The sign reads:
On May 17, 1968, nine Catholic activists raided the Selective Service Office in Catonsville and burned several hundred draft files to protest the Vietnam War. In a highly-publicized trail, the "nine," who included priests Daniel and Philip Berrigan, were convicted and sentenced to prison. The Catonsville action played an important role in the antiwar movement, inspiring similar acts of civil disobedience across the country.
The marker sits just across the street from the site where the Berrigans, along with Brother David Darst, John Hogan, Tom Lewis, Marjorie Melville, Thomas Melville, George Mische, and Mary Moylan took the 378 draft files, put them into wire trash bins, and carried them outside where they set them ablaze with homemade napalm.
"Our apologies, good friends, for the fracture of good order, the burning of paper instead of children, the angering of the orderlies in the front parlor of the charnel house. We could not, so help us God, do otherwise," Father Dan Berrigan, who died in 2016, said at the time.
As the draft documents turned to ashes, "we prayed for peace and waited for the police," Mische would later write.
Marjorie Melville was at the commemoration event on Saturday, and recalled to the Baltimore Sun, "I personally put a match on [the draft files]." She and Mische are the only remaining survivors of the nine.
\u201cOnce prosecuted, now honored, Catonsville Nine get a memorial marker https://t.co/4yluQeVF3O\u201d— Read Knox (@Read Knox) 1525563556
The new sign was erected on the grounds of the Catonsville Public Library. That's because, according to organizers, the Knights of Columbus, where the Selective Service files were housed, did not want the marker there, the Sun reported.
Other events commemorating the 50th anniversary are continuing this month.
To watch the historic event, click below on the footage obtained by Waging Nonviolence:
Fifty years after they set hundreds of draft files ablaze to protest the Vietnam War, the "Catonsville Nine" were honored with a historical marker in the Maryland community.
The state sign, unveiled Saturday, recognizes the pivotal role of their action. Indeed, Joby Taylor, director of the Shriver Peaceworker Program at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, called it "one of the most significant acts of war resistance in our nation's history." The sign reads:
On May 17, 1968, nine Catholic activists raided the Selective Service Office in Catonsville and burned several hundred draft files to protest the Vietnam War. In a highly-publicized trail, the "nine," who included priests Daniel and Philip Berrigan, were convicted and sentenced to prison. The Catonsville action played an important role in the antiwar movement, inspiring similar acts of civil disobedience across the country.
The marker sits just across the street from the site where the Berrigans, along with Brother David Darst, John Hogan, Tom Lewis, Marjorie Melville, Thomas Melville, George Mische, and Mary Moylan took the 378 draft files, put them into wire trash bins, and carried them outside where they set them ablaze with homemade napalm.
"Our apologies, good friends, for the fracture of good order, the burning of paper instead of children, the angering of the orderlies in the front parlor of the charnel house. We could not, so help us God, do otherwise," Father Dan Berrigan, who died in 2016, said at the time.
As the draft documents turned to ashes, "we prayed for peace and waited for the police," Mische would later write.
Marjorie Melville was at the commemoration event on Saturday, and recalled to the Baltimore Sun, "I personally put a match on [the draft files]." She and Mische are the only remaining survivors of the nine.
\u201cOnce prosecuted, now honored, Catonsville Nine get a memorial marker https://t.co/4yluQeVF3O\u201d— Read Knox (@Read Knox) 1525563556
The new sign was erected on the grounds of the Catonsville Public Library. That's because, according to organizers, the Knights of Columbus, where the Selective Service files were housed, did not want the marker there, the Sun reported.
Other events commemorating the 50th anniversary are continuing this month.
To watch the historic event, click below on the footage obtained by Waging Nonviolence:
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.