It was in its role as a gathering place for activists that Viva House hosted several of the Catonsville Nine during their trial, as well as many of the protestors who came on their behalf. It continued to be a meeting place for members of the Nine to meet post-trial, and the place where four of the Nine (Mische, Moylan, and the Berrigan brothers) made the decision to go underground, so it’s probably unsurprising that the FBI put the house under surveillance, believing that the fugitives might shelter there. When Mary Moylan was finally ready to surface from the underground in 1979, she did indeed reach out to Willa Bickham of Viva House to figure out how to surrender to the authorities. Viva House also hosted a 40th anniversary celebration of the Catonsville Nine in 2008.

Retrospective Interview with Willa Bickham & Brendan Walsh of Viva House

Video

Founded in 1968 by Brendan Walsh and Willa Bickham, members of the Catholic Worker movement, Viva House has been a working soup kitchen for more than 50 years.  Per founder Walsh, “Viva House has been a place for discussion and clarification of local, national and international issues. It has been a gathering place where people talked seriously and made plans for acts of nonviolent resistance to the greed and violence so peculiar to the United States.” 

Viva House

This digital story map interprets the history of the Catonsville Nine, a group of anti-Vietnam War activists who seized and burned draft files from a Selective Service office in Catonsville, Maryland. Using places on the map to explore the history of the events surrounding the protest and its aftermath, this educational resource offers an exploration of of the nine activists, their motivations, the significance and aftermath of the protest, and the way the event has been remembered over the past half-century. 

Introduction “We say: killing is disorder, life and gentleness and community and unselfishness is the only order we recognize. For the sake of that order, we risk our liberty, our good name.” -Daniel Berrigan, The Trial of the Catonsville Nine. On May 17, 1968, a group of nine men and women entered the Catonsville Selective Services Office. They seized more than 350 draft files which they removed to the parking lot to burn with a batch of homemade napalm. As the files burned, they linked hands and prayed, and waited to be arrested. Six of them had been or still were affiliates of Catholic religious orders, including Father Daniel Berrigan, a Jesuit priest, and Father Philip Berrigan, a Josephite priest. It was one of the first Vietnam War protests that were not student-led, and the fact that clergy were involved caught the attention of the nation. Their action inspired many similar protests, and their trial attracted enormous attention and crowds of protestors. It also inspired a play, a movie, songs, and multiple documentaries. Though largely remembered (when remembered at all) as a protest of the Vietnam War, the nine men and women who participated in the Catonsville action were protesting for many reasons. Uniting them all were their feelings on what they saw as the destructive foreign policy of the US; not just in Asia and Vietnam, but in South America (particularly Guatemala, where the Melvilles and Hogan had been previously stationed), and in Africa (where Moylan had worked as a nurse in Uganda). They were also protesting poverty, racism, military interventions, and the funneling of millions of dollars into the military-industrial complex. The Catonsville Action On the morning of May 17th, 1968, the Nine met to review their plans and the information that they had on the Knights of Columbus building. They notified hand-picked members of the media and made the drive to Catonsville.  David Darst was stationed outside as a lookout to keep authorities from intervening too early, while the rest of the Nine entered the building in staggered waves. There were three Selective Service clerks working at the time who attempted to stop the activists as they seized the files. The action was supposed to be completely nonviolent, but the clerks resisted more than expected, and there were some minor tussles over the files.  Less than ten minutes later, the activists exited to the parking lot with their spoils. They were joined by Darst, and each of the Nine made sure to participate in either dousing the files with their homemade napalm or lighting the matches to set the blaze. As the reporters filmed, the activists prayed and spoke about what they were doing and why. The shared group statement explained, “We destroy these draft records not only because they exploit our young men, but because those records represent misplaced power, concentrated in the ruling class of America. Their power threatens the peace of the world and is aloof of public dissent and parliamentary process” (The Catonsville Nine, Peters). Daniel Berrigan’s later meditation on their action became the more famous statement, “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” (The Trial of the Catonsville Nine, Berrigan). The group then waited around to be arrested. First on the scene was the Baltimore County Police, who were later joined by the FBI. The activists were identified and questioned on-premises, and then taken into custody by the police.

The Catonsville Knights of Columbus office was originally built as a country home in the post-Civil War era and was purchased by the local Knights of Columbus in 1921.  During the Vietnam War, it was home to the local Selective Service office.  In 1968, it was the site of a well-publicized act of civil disobedience, when a group of nine activists (Daniel Berrigan, Philip Berrigan, David Darst, John Hogan, Tom Lewis, Marjorie Melville, Thomas Melville, George Mishe, and Mary Moylan) seized hundreds of draft files and burned them with homemade napalm in the parking lot. Following this protest against the Vietnam War, the activists became known as the Catonsville Nine.

Catonsville Knights of Columbus Building

One of the many reasons that discussions of the Catonsville Nine will elicit mixed emotions in Catonsville: none of the activists were from Catonsville. They chose it for more prosaic reasons than personal attachment: it was accessible, and per Tom Lewis, because it had an open, safe place to burn the files out back. (The Catonsville Nine, Peters) The historical marker reads:“Catonsville NineOn 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 trial, 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.Maryland Historical Trust Maryland State Highway Administration” When the marker was dedicated in 2018, only two of the nine activists were still alive. Marjorie (Margarita) Melville attended the ceremony.

This historical marker was dedicated up by the Maryland Historical Trust in 2018 on the 50th anniversary of the Catonsville Nine's protest against the Vietnam War. The actions of the nine activists remain a topic that generates a variety of responses among Catonsville residents, and for this reason, it was agreed that marker the marker would not be placed in front of the Knights of Columbus building where the action took place, but instead in front of the Catonsville Public Library.

Catonsville Nine Historical Marker

Tom Lewis, a local artist and social justice activist was introduced to Philip Berrigan by a mutual friend. As the anti-war movement heated up, they sought new ways to protest the war and get those protests noticed. In 1965, draft card burning had become a popular move (popular enough that Congress made it a felony). However, both Lewis and Berrigan had already each served in the armed services (Berrigan fought in the army in WWII, Lewis was in the National Guard), so burning their own draft cards would have had no meaning. They came to realize that destroying the draft cards of others could serve twofold, as act of civil disobedience, and also as a way of interfering with the bureaucracy of the Selective Service. They brainstormed and planned with other Baltimore anti-war activists, and two of those, David Eberhardt, who was secretary of the Interfaith Peace Mission, and James Mengel, a minister in the United Church of Christ, decided to join them in their action. The men were unable to draw enough of their own blood for their purposes, so they had to purchase and mix in animal blood to have sufficient quantities. They entered the offices, distracted the clerks, opened the filing cabinets where the draft records were kept, and managed to anoint approximately 600 draft files with the blood. They then waited to be arrested.

The Custom House was built at the very beginning of the 20th century in Beaux-Arts style and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.  On October 27th, 1967, Philip Berrigan and Tom Lewis, later to be part of the Catonsville Nine action, were joined by David Eberhardt and James Mengel, in an act of civil disobedience that saw them labeled as “The Baltimore Four”.  At the time the Customs House was home to the Baltimore Selective Service, and the four men entered and poured blood (a combination of their own blood and animal blood) onto draft records in protest of the Vietnam War.  

“We shed our blood willingly and gratefully in what we hope is a sacrificial and constructive act.  We pour it upon these files to illustrate that with them and with these offices begins the pitiful waste of American and Vietnamese blood” - Statement of the Baltimore Four (The Catonsville Nine, Peters).


US Custom House, Baltimore

On the first day of the trial, well over a thousand protestors gathered in Wyman Park, and then marched toward the War Memorial Plaza for a demonstration, gathering supporters along the way. Activists chanted “Free the Nine”, and carried signs protesting the war. All along the way, hundreds of police officers kept watch on the situation. At the plaza, speakers voiced their support for the Nine, and spoke out for antiwar and social justice causes, even as counter-demonstrators tried to provoke confrontation. This protest was the largest antiwar protest in Baltimore during the Vietnam era (Julius, Marilyn. “Fire and Faith.” The Catonsville Nine File), and was a source of inspiration for many of the participants and onlookers.

The Baltimore War Memorial was dedicated in 1925 for veterans of WWI and rededicated in 1977 in honor of all Maryland veterans of wars of the 20th century (Pousson, Baltimore Heritage). The plaza was also the site of a large protest and rally on behalf of the Catonsville Nine during their trial in 1968.

War Memorial Plaza

George Mische and Daniel Berrigan convinced notable civil rights lawyer William Kunstler (a director of the ACLU known for defending the Mississippi Freedom Riders and Lenny Bruce, among so many others) to take their case. He was joined by a team of skilled attorneys, including Harrop Freeman (a Quaker and professor of law at Cornell), Father William Cunningham (a Jesuit and professor of law at Loyola University), and Harold Buchman (a local Baltimore attorney and champion of humanist causes). The trial started on October 7, 1968, only six weeks after the disastrous Democratic Convention in Chicago, where clashes between anti-war protestors and police led to violence and riots. The trial of the Catonsville Nine would provide another lightning rod for anti-war protestors, and supporters of the Nine made plans for events and actions to draw national attention to their cause. The Nine and their lawyers began the trial by declining to participate in the jury selection, a symbolic gesture representing their lack of faith in the criminal justice system, and their belief that there was no way in which they could receive a fair trial. Judge Roszel Thomsen, though firm in his belief in the right of law, allowed the defendants a large amount of leeway, giving them the chance to speak about their beliefs, their background, and the motivations behind their action. As William Kuntsler stated, “the defendants are not going to deny doing what the evidence shows they did. They’re proud of it, and they think it is one of the shining moments of their own personal lives”. Each of the Nine had a chance to speak about the experiences that led to their dramatic action. David Darst spoke to his experience working in the inner city, and noted that it is “astonishing… that our country cannot command the energy to give bread and milk to children, yet it can rain fire and death on people ten thousand miles away for reasons that are unclear to thoughtful men”. Philip Berrigan spoke to the guilt of those in charge of American foreign policy. George Mische discussed his experiences working in Latin America and the repressive dictatorships that the US had helped to foster there. He also addressed the illegality of carrying out war actions in Vietnam when Congress had not declared war.  Thomas Melville also condemned national policy and spoke of his experiences in Guatemala, and the involvement of Americans in executions carried out there. Mary Moylan discussed her experiences in Uganda, as well as her work among the African American community in DC, and how the injustices in both places had inspired her to stand up. Tom Lewis spoke about civil disobedience being “well documented in Christianity”, and his understanding that those practicing it often faced severe consequences, but that for him, “it was a choice between saving one’s soul and losing it”.  John Hogan spoke about the making of Napalm, about the devastation it caused in Vietnam. Marjorie Melville shared her experiences in Guatemala and Central America, and her desire to draw attention to the terrible things the U.S. government was doing there, as she stated, “I wanted to make as effective a protest as possible to U.S. military intervention across the world”. Daniel Berrigan was the last to give his testimony, and he spoke eloquently of his experiences at home and abroad, including his trip to Vietnam earlier that year. He discussed his evolution as a man, and as a man of faith, and asked, “how can we survive as human beings in a world more and more officially given over to violence and death… I was threatened with verbalizing my moral substance out of existence”.  In closing arguments, William Kuntsler argued that the case of the Catonsville Nine was unique. “The trial of Socrates was not merely a question of a man sowing confusion and distrust among the youth of Athens; the trial of Jesus could not be reduced to one conspiracy against the Empire... [t]he defendants weren’t burning files for the sake of burning files.” In rebuttal, the prosecution argued that “the problems of the United States are not going to be solved by people who deliberately violate the duly enacted laws of the United States”, and the judge reiterated that “the law does not recognize political, religious, moral convictions, or some higher law, as justification for the commission of a crime, no matter how good the motive may be.” When the jury exited the courtroom to deliberate, the judge allowed the Nine to speak about the trial, and they debated with the judge about what had happened in front of the crowded courtroom. Finally, they ended by requesting the judge allow them to pray. The prosecution and the judge agreed, and the Nine linked hands and spoke the “Our Father” and were joined by all the spectators. After, the jury returned, and the defendants were all found guilty.

The Post Office and Courthouse was built in 1932 in the Neo-Classical style and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. This was the site of the trial of the Catonsville Nine, which in many ways was to be of more importance than the actual burning of the draft files. Using the court transcript, Daniel Berrigan later wrote a dramatic account in The Trial of the Catonsville Nine, which was transformed into a play that has seen multiple revivals. The quotes below are taken both from that text, and from the book The Catonsville Nine, by Shawn Francis Peters.

United States Post Office and Courthouse

A committee was formed to organize the protests and events around the Trial of the Catonsville Nine, called the Baltimore Defense Committee (BDC). They sought national attention and invited prominent antiwar activist guests. Maryland governor Spiro Agnew had just been selected as Richard Nixon’s running mate, and activists hoped to highlight his defects and his war hawking while defending the Nine. The Sunday night before the trial began, over 700 people met in the basement of the church to rally and lay out a plan of action for the week. On the following nights of the trial, hundreds of supporters continued to meet at St. Ignatius, holding rallies in support of the Nine, burning draft cards, and listening to the speeches of many prominent social justice activists, including Howard Zinn, Dorothy Day, William Stringfellow, Noam Chomsky, and I.F. Stone.

St. Ignatius was built in the 1850s, and is one of the oldest Catholic churches in Baltimore.  It underwent extensive renovations in 1999.  This church was one of the main meeting places for many protestors and activists who supported the Catonsville Nine, and several rallies, speeches, and events were held here throughout the trial.  Father J. William Michelman, the Jesuit priest in residence in 1968, made it available to the activists, a choice that led to him later being pushed out of the parish.

St. Ignatius Church 

Philip Berrigan, inspired by the call to action of Vatican II, became an outspoken anti-war and social justice activist. His outspokenness landed him in trouble with his superiors, and in 1965 he was transferred from Newburgh, NY to Baltimore’s St. Peter Claver church (which was more removed from the New York anti-war scene, and also closer to the Josephite headquarters). Berrigan was also ordered to avoid controversial topics. He basically gave the finger to his bosses and helped to found the Interfaith Peace Mission (along with fellow Catonsville Nine member Tom Lewis), and began participating in acts of civil disobedience.  After the Baltimore Four action, the Archdiocese of Baltimore denounced Berrigan to the press and at the pulpit.

St. Peter Claver Church was founded in 1888 by the Mill Hill Josephite Fathers, and was built specifically for African American parishioners.  It is named for Saint Peter Claver, the patron saint of slaves.  Philip Berrigan, a Josephite priest, was assigned here as priest prior to his civil disobedience actions in Baltimore and Catonsville in the 1960s. 

St. Peter Claver Church

This is the last stop of the tour, but while it speaks to Philip Berrigan’s life after the Catonsville action, what of the rest of the Nine?  David Darst died in a car accident in 1969, before he could serve his sentence for the Catonsville action. Mary Moylan, George Mische, and Daniel and Philip Berrigan chose to evade arrest and go underground to continue their protests. Philip Berrigan and George Mische were captured fairly quickly. Daniel Berrigan remained at large for several months, attending a protest event at Cornell University and popping up in several different places to speak and give interviews before he was caught in August of 1970. Mary Moylan went uncaptured for nearly a decade; she finally chose to surface and give herself up in 1979. In the end, though, they each served their jail time for the Catonsville action.  Their lives went different ways, but the surviving members of the Catonsville Nine remained passionate activists. Daniel Berrigan settled in New York, where in addition to joining Philip with the Plowshares movement, he also ministered to AIDS victims. George Mische was a criminal justice and labor activist in Minnesota. Tom Lewis moved to Massachusetts, where he continued his work as an artist and activist, demonstrating against war, genocide and torture. When he wasn’t in jail for his activism, he also taught at the Worcester Art Museum. Thomas and Marjorie Melville became academics and studied Central and South America. John Hogan worked on public housing for the poor in Connecticut. Mary Moylan returned to work as a nurse, and was an advocate of the women’s rights movement. Only two of the Nine are still living at this time: George Mische and Marjorie Melville. David Darst died in 1969, Mary Moylan in 1995, Philip Berrigan died in 2002, Tom Lewis and John Hogan died in 2008, Daniel Berrigan died in 2016, and Thomas Melville died in 2017.

Jonah House is a faith-based community that was founded by a group that included Philip Berrigan and Elizabeth McAlister (McAlister was a former nun; Berrigan left the priesthood to marry her in 1973).  Their tenets are “nonviolence, resistance, and community”.  The Jonah House moved to its current location in 1996, having previously been located in a rowhouse.  They are affiliated with the Plowshares Movement, an anti-nuclear war movement founded in 1980 by a group that included Philip and Daniel Berrigan.  Philip Berrigan died in 2002, but the Jonah House and Plowshares continue on.

Jonah House

It was in its role as a gathering place for activists that Viva House hosted several of the Catonsville Nine during their trial, as well as many of the protestors who came on their behalf.  It continued to be a meeting place for members of the Nine to meet post-trial, and the place where four of the Nine (Mische, Moylan, and the Berrigan brothers) made the decision to go underground, so it’s probably unsurprising that the FBI put the house under surveillance, believing that the fugitives might shelter there. When Mary Moylan was finally ready to surface from the underground in 1979, she did indeed reach out to Willa Bickham of Viva House to figure out how to surrender to the authorities.  Viva House also hosted a 40th anniversary celebration of the Catonsville Nine in 2008.

Catonsville Nine Digital Story Map

Viva House

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources

Additional Information