A Catholic, anti-Vietnam War group (soon to be called the Catonsville Nine) takes 378 draft records from a Selective Service office in Catonsville in 1968 and burns them in a nearby parking lot with press in attendance. Although there are many anti-war protests around the country, those by the Catonsville Nine are arguably the best-known.
The group, often called the “Catholic Left,” is organized by Josephite priest Philip Berrigan (1923-2002) and George Mische (1938-) and includes Berrigan’s brother Daniel, a Jesuit priest, and six others, including two women, one a former Maryknoll sister. In a previous 1967 raid on the Baltimore Customs House, Berrigan and Tom Lewis, an artist, poured blood on draft records.
The nine are arrested and tried for burning draft records, receiving a sentence of 18 years between them along with a $22,000 fine. Four members do not appear for their imprisonment but all eventually spend time in jail.
The Nine inspire many actions against the military and the Vietnam draft. Their militant action is the subject of several films, a play, songs and poems. Since 2009, the movement known as “Plowshares” continues to protest against nuclear weapons.
