Conscientious Objection

Stories of Conscientious Objectors

Robert Simmons

World War I

Imprisoned at Alcatraz – for Opposing War by Elaine Elinson

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Ben Salmon

World War I

“Born in 1899, Benjamin Joseph Salmon was raised in a working-class Catholic family in Denver, Colo. He became politically active as young man, while supporting himself in a variety of office jobs. In 1914 he began working full time for the Colorado Single Tax Association, an organization that focused primarily on tax reform but also addressed other political issues. He edited the organization’s weekly newspaper and wrote articles on topics like capital punishment, the economy and war. His statements on the latter topic leave no doubt that Salmon’s pacifism was in place well before the prospect arose of his own military conscription. Salmon actively supported Woodrow Wilson in his 1916 run for a second term as president. Wilson’s successful campaign, it should be noted, included proud declarations that he had kept the United States out of the war then raging in Europe.”
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Read about the remarkable and inspiring life of Ben Salmon, a World War I era conscientious objector.
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Bayard Rustin

World War II

Read Bayard Rustin’s letter to the Draft Board
Read about Bayard Rustin’s resistance in WWII

James Lawson

World War II

James Lawson is a life-long American peace and social justice activist and teacher of nonviolence. He is veteran and leader of the Civil Rights movement in the United States and was a friend of Martin Luther King Jr. and John Lewis.
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James Lawson speaks at the Upaya Institute and Zen Center on the commemoration of the dropping of the atomic bombs on the Japanese people
Read about his speech