David Dellinger

David Dellinger (August 22, 1915 ? May 25, 2004) was a renowned pacifist and activist for nonviolent social change, and one of most influential American radicals in 20th century. He was most famous for being one of the Chicago Seven, a group of 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 found guilty of conspiring to incite riots but the charges were eventually dismissed by an appeals court due to errors by US District Judge Julius Hoffman.

Related Topics:
August 22 - 1915 - May 25 - 2004 - Pacifist - Nonviolent social change - American - Chicago Seven - 1968 Democratic National Convention - Chicago - Vietnam War - February 18 - 1970 - Appeals court - US District Judge - Julius Hoffman

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Dellinger was born in Wakefield, Massachusetts to a well-to-do family (his father was a lawyer and a prominent Republican). A Yale and Oxford student, he also studied theology at Union Theological Seminary. Rejecting his comfortable background, he walked out of Yale one day to go and live with Hobos during the Depression. During World War II, he was a conscientious objector and anti-war agitator.

Related Topics:
Wakefield - Massachusetts - Republican - Yale - Oxford - Union Theological Seminary - Hobo - Depression - World War II - Conscientious objector

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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 Eight trial.

Related Topics:
1950s - 1960s - Vietnam - Gandhi's

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Dellinger had contacts and friendships with such diverse individuals as Eleanor Roosevelt, Ho Chi Minh, Martin Luther King, Jr., Abbie Hoffman, A.J. Muste, 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.

Related Topics:
Eleanor Roosevelt - Ho Chi Minh - Martin Luther King, Jr. - Abbie Hoffman - A.J. Muste - Black Panthers - Fred Hampton - Fifth Avenue Vietnam Peace Parade Committee

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In 2001, Dellinger led a group of young activists from Montpelier, Vermont, to Quebec City, to protest the creation of a free trade zone. He died 25 May, 2004, in Montpelier.

Related Topics:
2001 - Montpelier, Vermont - Quebec City - Free trade zone - 25 May - 2004

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