| Catonsville Nine | |
| War: | the Opposition to the Vietnam War |
| Active: | 1968 |
| Ideology: | Anti-war Catholic leftism |
| Leaders: | Philip Berrigan George Mische |
| Area: | Baltimore (Catonsville, Maryland) |
| Size: | 9 |
| Opponents: | U.S. Selective Service System The FBI |
The Catonsville Nine were nine Catholic activists who burned draft files to protest the Vietnam War. On May 17, 1968, they took 378 draft files from the draft board office in Catonsville, Maryland, and burned them in the parking lot.
| Catonsville Nine Incident | |
| Partof: | the Opposition to the Vietnam War |
| Place: | Catonsville, Maryland, U.S. |
| Coordinates: | 39.2709°N -76.7392°W |
| Causes: | Vietnam War |
| Goals: | Destruction of conscription cards |
| Methods: | Arson, theft, protest |
| Status: | Ended, movement still active |
| Result: | 378 draft records destroyed Possible saving of lives from conscription |
| Injuries: | 1 (minor) |
| Arrests: | 9 |
| Charged: | Philip Berrigan & Tom Lewis (3.5 years)1 Daniel Berrigan, Tom Melville, and George Mische (3 years) Mary Moylan, Marjorie Bradford Melville, David Darst, and John Hogan (2 years)2 |
| Fined: | $22,000 |
| Casualties Label: | Injuries and arrests |
| Notes: | 1Phil Berrigan & Tom Lewis were sentenced for both the Catonsville incident and the 1967 Custom House raid 2Sentenced to two years only since they were not considered leaders of the group |
The Nine were:
George Mische and Father Phil Berrigan were prime organizers of the Catonsville Nine. The organizing process was very democratic, with lengthy meetings and voting by raised hands.
On October 17, 1967, Fr. Philip Berrigan and Tom Lewis raided the Baltimore City Custom House and 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.[1] (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 waste into a draft board and defaced draft records.[2])
On May 17, 1968, the Nine went to the Catonsville office of the Selective Service on Frederick Road. They restrained an employee while gathering records into wire bins,[3] One SSS employee, Mary Murphy, attempted to save the draft records but was restrained by one of the Nine.[4] They then took the bins to the parking lot and set fire to them.[3] They then recited the Lord's Prayer and explained to news crews that they were protesting the Vietnam War. Three hundred and seventy-eight draft records were destroyed.[5]
Baltimore County police officers arrested the nine. While they were in jail, the group sent an apologetic letter and a basket of flowers to the clerk on duty at the office during the event.[6]
The Catonsville Nine were tried in federal court October 5–9, 1968, defended by William Kunstler. They were found guilty of destruction of U.S. property, destruction of Selective Service files, and interference with the Selective Service Act of 1967.[7] They were also sentenced to a total of 18 years in jail and fined $22,000. Mary Moylan, Philip Berrigan, Daniel Berrigan and George Mische failed to report for the beginning of their sentences. Daniel Berrigan caused considerable embarrassment to FBI by giving sermons at various events while a fugitive.
Tom Lewis had been sentenced to six years for a prior protest one week after Catonsville, and had three and a half years added to be served concurrently.[8] Fr. Daniel Berrigan was convicted and sentenced to three years in prison to begin on April 9, 1970. According to Anke Wessels, director of Cornell's Center for Religion, Ethics, and Social Policy, "On the very day he was scheduled to begin his prison term, he left his office keys on a secretary's desk in Anabel Taylor Hall and disappeared."[9] Cornell marked Berrigan's impending imprisonment by conducting a weekend-long "America Is Hard to Find" event April 17 - 19, 1970,[10] which included a public appearance by the then-fugitive Berrigan before a crowd of 15,000 in Barton Hall.[11] On August 11, 1970, the FBI found and arrested Berrigan at the home of William Stringfellow and Anthony Towne.[12] He was released from prison in 1972. Lewis was released in 1971.[8]
The "Nine" inspired many other anti-draft and anti-military actions in the 1960s and 1970s, including the Milwaukee 14, D.C. 9, Silver Spring 3, Chicago 8, Harrisburg 7, Camden 28. Participants sometimes remained at the scene to be arrested, sometimes they departed in order to avoid arrest. It is unknown how many persons were not drafted because of these actions. the movement had morphed into a continuing movement with an emphasis on nuclear weapons. The so-called "Plowshares" actions, along with the Catonsville Nine and earlier actions, have been detailed online by Jonah House.
Fr. Daniel Berrigan wrote a play in free verse, 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 based on a partial transcript of the trial.
In 1972 a film version of the play was produced by Gregory Peck. It cost $300,000 and Peck "lost every penny".[19]
In 2009, it was presented on a tour by a company called "the Actors' Gang" of Culver City, California, founded by film star Tim Robbins.[20]
In 1969, while briefly released on appeal, Tom Lewis published a portfolio of etchings he made while imprisoned at Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary. It contains ten etchings, in a run of fifty copies, some printed with ink he had to scrounge together from ashes, coffee or cocoa powder. He wrote accompanying text and the cover was printed by fellow Catholic activist Corita Kent. The etchings depict the psychic torment of his fellow prisoners by suicidal thoughts, boredom or isolation, as well as scenes of police brutality.[8]