David Dellinger
Encyclopedia
David T. Dellinger was an influential American
radical, a pacifist
and activist for nonviolent social change
.
, protesters whose disruption of the 1968 Democratic National Convention
in Chicago
led to charges of conspiracy and crossing state lines with the intention of inciting a riot. The ensuing court case was turned by Dellinger and his co-defendants into a nationally-publicized platform for putting the Vietnam War
on trial. On February 18, 1970, they were acquitted of the conspiracy charge but five defendants (including Dellinger) were convicted of individually crossing state lines to incite a riot.
Judge Hoffman's
handling of the trial, along with the FBI's bugging of the defence lawyers, resulted, with the help of the Center for Constitutional Rights
, in the convictions being overturned by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals
two years later, on 21 November 1972. Although the contempt citations were upheld, the appeal court refused to sentence anyone.
to a wealthy family. His father was a lawyer and a prominent Republican. A Yale University
and Oxford University student, he also studied theology at Union Theological Seminary
. Rejecting his comfortable background, he walked out of Yale one day to live with hobo
s during the Depression
. While at Oxford, he visited Nazi Germany and drove an ambulance during the Spanish Civil War
. During World War II
, he was an imprisoned conscientious objector
and anti-war agitator. In federal prison, he and fellow conscientious objectors — including Ralph DiGia
and Bill Sutherland — protested racial segregation in the dining halls, which were ultimately integrated due to the protests. In February 1946, Dellinger helped to found the radical pacifist Committee for Nonviolent Revolution
.
During the 1950s and 1960s, Dellinger joined freedom marches in the South and led many hunger strikes in jail. As US involvement in Vietnam
grew, Dellinger applied Gandhi's principles of non-violence to his activism within the growing anti-war movement, of which one of the high points was the Chicago Seven
trial. He travelled to both North
and South Vietnam
in 1966 to learn first-hand the impact of American bombing and later recalled that critics ignored his trip to Saigon and focused solely on his visit to Hanoi
.
In 1956, he and A. J. Muste
founded the magazine Liberation
, as a forum for the non-Marxist left, similar to Dissent
.
Dellinger had contacts and friendships with such diverse individuals as Eleanor Roosevelt
, Ho Chi Minh
, Martin Luther King, Jr.
, Abbie Hoffman
, A.J. Muste, Greg Calvert, David McReynolds
and numerous Black Panthers, including Fred Hampton
, whom he greatly admired. As chairman of the Fifth Avenue Vietnam Peace Parade Committee
he worked with many different anti-war organizations, and helped bring Dr. King and James Bevel
into leadership positions in the 1960s anti-war movement. He sat on the executive committee of the Socialist Party of America
and the Young People's Socialist League
, its youth section, until he left in 1943; and was also a long-time member of the War Resisters League
. In 1968, he signed the “Writers and Editors War Tax Protest” pledge, vowing to refuse tax payments in protest against the Vietnam War.
Dellinger appeared at the December 1971 gathering of music and political views in favor of the then-jailed John Sinclair
.
Anti-war activist, socialist and author for his lifelong commitment to pacifist values and for serving as a spokesperson for the peace movement, Dellinger was awarded the Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience on September 26, 1992.
In 1996, at the first Democratic Convention held in Chicago since 1968, Dellinger was arrested along with nine others (including his own grandson as well as Abbie Hoffman
's son Andrew) during a sit-in protest at Chicago's Federal Building. Later, in 2001, he led a group of young activists from Montpelier, Vermont
, to Quebec City
, to protest the creation of a free trade zone
.
David Dellinger died in Montpelier, Vermont, in 2004.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
radical, a pacifist
Pacifism
Pacifism is the opposition to war and violence. The term "pacifism" was coined by the French peace campaignerÉmile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress inGlasgow in 1901.- Definition :...
and activist for nonviolent social change
Nonviolence
Nonviolence has two meanings. It can refer, first, to a general philosophy of abstention from violence because of moral or religious principle It can refer to the behaviour of people using nonviolent action Nonviolence has two (closely related) meanings. (1) It can refer, first, to a general...
.
Chicago Seven
Dellinger achieved peak notoriety as one of the Chicago SevenChicago Seven
The Chicago Seven were seven defendants—Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, David Dellinger, Tom Hayden, Rennie Davis, John Froines, and Lee Weiner—charged with conspiracy, inciting to riot, and other charges related to protests that took place in Chicago, Illinois on the occasion of the 1968...
, protesters whose disruption of the 1968 Democratic National Convention
1968 Democratic National Convention
The 1968 Democratic National Convention of the U.S. Democratic Party was held at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois, from August 26 to August 29, 1968. Because Democratic President Lyndon Johnson had announced he would not seek a second term, the purpose of the convention was to...
in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
led to charges of conspiracy and crossing state lines with the intention of inciting a riot. The ensuing court case was turned by Dellinger and his co-defendants into a nationally-publicized platform for putting the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
on trial. On February 18, 1970, they were acquitted of the conspiracy charge but five defendants (including Dellinger) were convicted of individually crossing state lines to incite a riot.
Judge Hoffman's
Julius Hoffman
Julius J. Hoffman was a Chicago, Illinois, attorney and judge and former law partner of Richard J. Daley who achieved notoriety for his role in the Chicago Seven trial.-Early life:...
handling of the trial, along with the FBI's bugging of the defence lawyers, resulted, with the help of the Center for Constitutional Rights
Center for Constitutional Rights
Al Odah v. United States:Al Odah is the latest in a series of habeas corpus petitions on behalf of people imprisoned at the Guantanamo Bay detention center. The case challenges the Military Commissions system’s suitability as a habeas corpus substitute and the legality, in general, of detention at...
, in the convictions being overturned by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals
United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the courts in the following districts:* Central District of Illinois* Northern District of Illinois...
two years later, on 21 November 1972. Although the contempt citations were upheld, the appeal court refused to sentence anyone.
Life
Dellinger was born in Wakefield, MassachusettsWakefield, Massachusetts
-History:-Geography:The diagram above shows what is to the east, west, north, south, and other directions of the center of Wakefield. Towns with population above 25,000 are in bold italics.-Demographics:-Notable residents:...
to a wealthy family. His father was a lawyer and a prominent Republican. A Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
and Oxford University student, he also studied theology at Union Theological Seminary
Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York
Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York is a preeminent independent graduate school of theology, located in Manhattan between Claremont Avenue and Broadway, 120th to 122nd Streets. The seminary was founded in 1836 under the Presbyterian Church, and is affiliated with nearby Columbia...
. Rejecting his comfortable background, he walked out of Yale one day to live with hobo
Hobo
A hobo is a term which is often applied to a migratory worker or homeless vagabond, often penniless. The term originated in the Western—probably Northwestern—United States during the last decade of the 19th century. Unlike 'tramps', who work only when they are forced to, and 'bums', who do not...
s during the Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. While at Oxford, he visited Nazi Germany and drove an ambulance during the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, he was an imprisoned conscientious objector
Conscientious objector
A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, and/or religion....
and anti-war agitator. In federal prison, he and fellow conscientious objectors — including Ralph DiGia
Ralph DiGia
Ralph DiGia was a World War II conscientious objector, lifelong pacifist and social justice activist, and staffer for 52 years at the War Resisters League....
and Bill Sutherland — protested racial segregation in the dining halls, which were ultimately integrated due to the protests. In February 1946, Dellinger helped to found the radical pacifist Committee for Nonviolent Revolution
Committee for Nonviolent Revolution
The Committee for Nonviolent Revolution, or CNRV, was a pacifist organization founded in Chicago at a conference held from February 6 through 9, 1946. Many of the founding members were conscientious objectors who had served time in prison or in Civilian Public Service camps due to their refusal to...
.
During the 1950s and 1960s, Dellinger joined freedom marches in the South and led many hunger strikes in jail. As US involvement in Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
grew, Dellinger applied Gandhi's principles of non-violence to his activism within the growing anti-war movement, of which one of the high points was the Chicago Seven
Chicago Seven
The Chicago Seven were seven defendants—Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, David Dellinger, Tom Hayden, Rennie Davis, John Froines, and Lee Weiner—charged with conspiracy, inciting to riot, and other charges related to protests that took place in Chicago, Illinois on the occasion of the 1968...
trial. He travelled to both North
North Vietnam
The Democratic Republic of Vietnam , was a communist state that ruled the northern half of Vietnam from 1954 until 1976 following the Geneva Conference and laid claim to all of Vietnam from 1945 to 1954 during the First Indochina War, during which they controlled pockets of territory throughout...
and South Vietnam
South Vietnam
South Vietnam was a state which governed southern Vietnam until 1975. It received international recognition in 1950 as the "State of Vietnam" and later as the "Republic of Vietnam" . Its capital was Saigon...
in 1966 to learn first-hand the impact of American bombing and later recalled that critics ignored his trip to Saigon and focused solely on his visit to Hanoi
Hanoi
Hanoi , is the capital of Vietnam and the country's second largest city. Its population in 2009 was estimated at 2.6 million for urban districts, 6.5 million for the metropolitan jurisdiction. From 1010 until 1802, it was the most important political centre of Vietnam...
.
In 1956, he and A. J. Muste
A. J. Muste
The Reverend Abraham Johannes "A.J." Muste was a Dutch-born American clergyman and political activist. Muste is best remembered for his work in the labor movement, pacifist movement, and the US civil rights movement.-Early years:...
founded the magazine Liberation
Liberation (magazine)
Liberation Magazine was a monthly magazine, of the New Left compared with Dissent , and Studies on the Left.-Early days:"Liberation" was founded, published, and edited by David Dellinger, A. J. Muste from 1956–1975 out of New York. A. J...
, as a forum for the non-Marxist left, similar to Dissent
Dissent (magazine)
Dissent is a quarterly magazine focusing on politics and culture edited by Michael Walzer and Michael Kazin. The magazine is published for the Foundation for the Study of Independent Social Ideas, Inc by the University of Pennsylvania Press....
.
Dellinger had contacts and friendships with such diverse individuals as Eleanor Roosevelt
Eleanor Roosevelt
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was the First Lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945. She supported the New Deal policies of her husband, distant cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and became an advocate for civil rights. After her husband's death in 1945, Roosevelt continued to be an international...
, Ho Chi Minh
Ho Chi Minh
Hồ Chí Minh , born Nguyễn Sinh Cung and also known as Nguyễn Ái Quốc, was a Vietnamese Marxist-Leninist revolutionary leader who was prime minister and president of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam...
, Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for being an iconic figure in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods following the...
, Abbie Hoffman
Abbie Hoffman
Abbot Howard "Abbie" Hoffman was a political and social activist who co-founded the Youth International Party ....
, A.J. Muste, Greg Calvert, David McReynolds
David McReynolds
David McReynolds is an American democratic socialist and pacifist activist who described himself as "a peace movement bureaucrat" during his 40-year career with Liberation magazine and the War Resisters League...
and numerous Black Panthers, including Fred Hampton
Fred Hampton
Fred Hampton was an African-American activist and deputy chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party...
, whom he greatly admired. As chairman of the Fifth Avenue Vietnam Peace Parade Committee
Fifth Avenue Vietnam Peace Parade Committee
During the mid-1960s, the New York Fifth Avenue Vietnam Peace Parade Committee coordinated anti-war parades which involved perhaps hundreds of organizations.Leader Norma Becker was a member of the established War Resisters League....
he worked with many different anti-war organizations, and helped bring Dr. King and James Bevel
James Bevel
James L. Bevel was an American minister and leader of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement who, as the Director of Direct Action and Director of Nonviolent Education of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference initiated, strategized, directed, and developed SCLC's three major successes of the era:...
into leadership positions in the 1960s anti-war movement. He sat on the executive committee of the Socialist Party of America
Socialist Party of America
The Socialist Party of America was a multi-tendency democratic-socialist political party in the United States, formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party which had split from the main organization...
and the Young People's Socialist League
Young People's Socialist League
The Young People's Socialist League , founded in 1989, is the official youth arm of the Socialist Party USA. The group's membership consists of those democratic socialists under the age of 30, and its political activities tend to concentrate on increasing the voter turnout of young democratic...
, its youth section, until he left in 1943; and was also a long-time member of the War Resisters League
War Resisters League
The War Resisters League was formed in 1923 by men and women who had opposed World War I. It is a section of the London-based War Resisters' International.Many of the founders had been jailed during World War I for refusing military service...
. In 1968, he signed the “Writers and Editors War Tax Protest” pledge, vowing to refuse tax payments in protest against the Vietnam War.
Dellinger appeared at the December 1971 gathering of music and political views in favor of the then-jailed John Sinclair
John Sinclair (poet)
John Sinclair is a Detroit poet, one-time manager of the band MC5, and leader of the White Panther Party — a militantly anti-racist countercultural group of white socialists seeking to assist the Black Panthers in the Civil Rights movement — from November 1968 to July 1969...
.
Anti-war activist, socialist and author for his lifelong commitment to pacifist values and for serving as a spokesperson for the peace movement, Dellinger was awarded the Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience on September 26, 1992.
In 1996, at the first Democratic Convention held in Chicago since 1968, Dellinger was arrested along with nine others (including his own grandson as well as Abbie Hoffman
Abbie Hoffman
Abbot Howard "Abbie" Hoffman was a political and social activist who co-founded the Youth International Party ....
's son Andrew) during a sit-in protest at Chicago's Federal Building. Later, in 2001, he led a group of young activists from Montpelier, Vermont
Montpelier, Vermont
Montpelier is a city in the U.S. state of Vermont that serves as the state capital and the shire town of Washington County. As the capital of Vermont, Montpelier is the site of the Vermont State House, seat of the legislative branch of Vermont government. The population was 7,855 at the 2010...
, to Quebec City
Quebec City
Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...
, to protest the creation of a free trade zone
Free trade zone
A free trade zone or export processing zone , also called foreign-trade zone, formerly free port is an area within which goods may be landed, handled, manufactured or reconfigured, and reexported without the intervention of the customs authorities...
.
David Dellinger died in Montpelier, Vermont, in 2004.
Quote
- "Before reading [his autobiography], I knew and greatly admired Dave Dellinger. Or so I thought. After reading his remarkable story, my admiration changed to something more like awe. There can be few people in the world who have crafted their lives into something truly inspiring. This autobiography introduces us to one of them." — Noam ChomskyNoam ChomskyAvram Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, and activist. He is an Institute Professor and Professor in the Department of Linguistics & Philosophy at MIT, where he has worked for over 50 years. Chomsky has been described as the "father of modern linguistics" and...
, from the dustjacket of From Yale to Jail
Selected works
- Dellinger, David T., Revolutionary nonviolence: essays by Dave Dellinger, Indianapolis : Bobbs-Merrill, 1970
- Dellinger, David T., More power than we know : the people’s movement toward democracy, Garden City, N.Y. : Anchor Press, 1975. ISBN 0385001622
- Dellinger, David T., Vietnam revisited : from covert action to invasion to reconstruction, Boston, MA : South End PressSouth End PressSouth End Press is a non-profit book publisher run on a model of participatory economics. It was founded in 1977 by Michael Albert, Lydia Sargent, John Schall, Pat Walker, Juliet Schor, Mary Lea, Joe Bowring, and Dave Millikan, among others, in Boston's South End...
, 1986. ISBN 0-89608-320-9 - Dellinger, David T., From Yale to Jail: The Life Story of a Moral Dissenter, New York : Pantheon Books, 1993. ISBN 0-679-40591-7. (Dellinger's autobiography)
See further
- "Why I Refused to Register in the October 1940 Draft and a Little of What It Led To" (1999), from Gara, Larry and Lenna Mae Gara, eds., A Few Small Candles: War Resistors of World War II Tell Their Stories. Kent, Ohio. Kent State University Press. ISBN 0-87338-621-3.
- Radical Pacifism: The War Resisters League and Gandhian Nonviolence in America, 1915-1963 (2003), by Scott H. Bennett. ISBN 0-8156-3028-X.
- Clavir, Judy; and John Spitzer, (editors), The conspiracy trial, Indianapolis, Bobbs-Merrill, 1970
- Conspiracy on appeal; appellate brief on behalf of the Chicago Eight. Of Counsel: Arthur Kinoy, Helene E. Schwartz [and] Doris Peterson. New York, Center for Constitutional Rights; distributed by Agathon Publication Services, 1971.
External links
- "Goodbye, David Dellinger" (CounterPunchCounterpunchCounterpunch can refer to:* Counterpunch , a punch in boxing* CounterPunch, a bi-weekly political newsletter* Counterpunch , a type of punch used in traditional typography* Punch-Counterpunch, a Transformers character...
) - Revolutionary Non-Violence: Remembering Dave Dellinger, 1915-2004 - Tribute by Democracy Now!Democracy Now!Democracy Now! and its staff have received several journalism awards, including the Gracie Award from American Women in Radio & Television; the George Polk Award for its 1998 radio documentary Drilling and Killing: Chevron and Nigeria's Oil Dictatorship, on the Chevron Corporation and the deaths of...