A distinguished panel of Yale alumni who demonstrate the history of anti-war activism in New Haven will discuss the legacy of draft resistance activity at Yale, a legacy that is of increasing importance in our own turbulent times. Panelists include:

Reverend Frederick Streets, Yale University Chaplain, will chair the panel.

Staughton Lynd (Professor of History at Yale, 1964-67). Quaker and conscientious objector during the Korean War, who later chaired the first march on Washington against the Vietnam war in 1965; Lynd also made a controversial trip to Hanoi in 1966, while a professor at Yale. This trip gained national attention, sparking much concern on the Yale campus.

Michael Ferber, currently a professor at the University of New Hampshire, was a student organizer in the anti-Vietnam war movement. He was indicted, tried and convicted, along with Dr. Benjamin Spock and William Sloane Coffin, for encouraging draft resistance in what became the famous “Boston Five” case.

Warren Goldstein, earned his B.A. and Ph.D. in American Studies from Yale and is currently Professor and Chair of History at the University of Hartford. He is author of William Slone Coffin: A Holy Impatience (Yale University Press).

William Sloane Coffin, Yale University Chaplain, 1958-1975, is tentatively scheduled to attend. In the event that he is unable to do so, he will prepare a statement to be read by Professor Goldstein.

David Mitchell resisted the draft during the Vietnam war on the grounds that the U.S. government was guilty of war crimes under the Nuremberg principles. His 1965 trial in New Haven received national attention and many believe that the judge moved the date in an effort to complete the trial before Yale students returned to school. He served two years in jail.

Sponsored by Historians Against the War, Reclaiming the Prophetic Voice, Yale Alumni for Social Justice, and Yale Peace Coalition.

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