Olivia Gorecke
Prof. L. Rosner
Life of the Mind
21 November 2014
The Trial of the Catonsville Nine
On Monday, November 3rd, members of Professor O’Hara’s Dissent in America course performed scenes from Daniel Berrigan’s play, The Trial of the Catonsville Nine. As a member of the class, I was able to participate in this performance.
The play itself was adapted from court transcripts, and turned into a form of free verse by defendant and priest Daniel Berrigan. He and nine others, during the height of the Vietnam War, took over three hundred draft files from the Catonsville, Maryland draft board and publicly burned them with homemade napalm. While the files were burning, the nine held hands and prayed over them, waiting for the authorities to come. The play chronicles the trial in an almost poetic way, ultimately leading to the guilty verdict for all nine defendants.
The class and myself worked on this play for months. Professor O’Hara explained that this was much more than simply putting on a show, and that the themes of civil disobedience and resistance displayed by the nine are more relevant now than ever. I was extremely happy that I was present for and participated in the retelling of such a key moment of American dissent.