The American Tradition of Nonviolence: Selected, Briefly Annotated Bibliography
The resources below often include useful listings of other worthwhile
histories and memoirs about a rich tradition of nonviolence in the U. S.
BOOKS
Ackerman, Peter and Christopher Kruegler. Strategic Nonviolent Conflict: The Dynamics of People Power in the Twentieth Century. Westport, CT: Praeger, l994. Foundations for conducting and evaluating campaigns.
Daniel Berrigan: Poetry, Drama, Prose, ed. Michael True. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, l998. An anthology of writings by a Jesuit priest, poet, activist, and playwright, with introduction.
Berrigan, Philip, A Punishment for Peace. NY: Macmillan Co., l969. A journey into war resistance by a member of the Catonsville 9 and the Plowshares, Jonah House Community, Baltimore.
Black Protest: History, Documents, Analyses 1619 to the Present, ed. Joanne Grant. Greenwich, CT: Fawcett Premier, l968.
Brock, Peter, Pacifism in the United States from the Colonial Era to the First World War. Princeton University Press, l968, and Twentieth Century Pacifism. NY: Van Nostrand, 1970. Standard, thorough and readable histories by a major scholar.
Civil Disobedience in America: A Documentary History, ed. David R. Weber. Cornell University Press, l978. Thoreau's famous essay on civil disobedience, with similar statements and manifestos, l7th century to the present.
Cook, Jack. Rags of Time: A Season in Prison. Boston: Beacon Press, l972. A powerful and eloquent prison memoir by a draft resister.
Day, Dorothy. The Long Loneliness. NY: HarperCollins, and Selected Writings, ed., with introduction by Robert Ellsberg (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1983). Memoir and writings by the editor and co-founder of the Catholic Worker Movement.
DeBenedetti, Charles. An American Ordeal: The Antiwar Movement in the Vietnam Era, with Charles Chatfield. Syracuse University Press, l990. A comprehensive history, late 1950s 1970s. .
__________. Origins of the Modern American Peace Movement, 1915-1929. Millwood NY; KTO Press, l978. .The Peace Reform Movement in American History. Indiana University Press, l980. The best overall history of nonviolence in the U.S., l7th century to the present.
__________. The Peace Reform Movement in American History. Indiana University
Press, l980. The best overall history of
nonviolence in the U.S., l7th century to the present.
Dellinger, David. From Yale to Jail: The Life Story of a Moral Dissenter. NY:Pantheon Books, l993. Memoir of a major figure in the American tradition of nonviolence.
Dissent: Explorations in the History of American Radicalism, ed. Alfred F. Young. DeKalb: No. Illinois University Press, 1968. Essays on resistance movements, 17th century to the present.
Goodman, Paul. Drawing the Line. NY: Random House, 1974. Essays by an anarchist, poet, novelist, educational reformer.
Hennacy, Ammon. The Book of Ammon and The One Man Revolution in America. SD: Fortkamp/Rose Hill Publications. An autobiography and biographies of 18 men and women who lived the revolution, by a great anarchists and nonviolent activist (1893-1970).
King, Martin Luther, Jr. A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings of Martin Luther King, Jr., ed. James Melvin Washington. NY:Harper and Row, l986. "Letter from Birmingham Jail" and other major essays.
Lens, Sidney. Labor Wars: From the Molly McGuires to the Sitdowns. NY: Doubleday and Co., l974. A very readable account of labor struggles, violent and nonviolent, in the l9th and 20th centuries.
Maurin, Peter. Radical Christian Thought : Easy Essays. West Hamlin, WV 26571: Green Revolution Publications. Verse essays by the co-founder of the Catholic Worker movement.
Matthiessen, Peter. Sal Si Puedes: The New American Revolution. NY: Random House, 1969. A history of the United Farm Workers, Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta.
Merton, Thomas. The Nonviolent Alternative, ed. Gordon Zahn. NY: Farrar, Straus, Giroux. The principal writings by a Trappist monk on nonviolence, and excellent introduction by the editor.
Nonviolence in America: A Documentary History, ed. Alice and Staughton Lynd.
Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, l995. An expanded,
updated edition of a classic anthology of American documents on the subject,
with an excellent introduction/history.
The Pacifist Conscience, ed. Peter Mayer. NY: Holt, Reinhart, and Winston, l966. Essays from various countries and traditions.
Peace Movements in America, ed. Charles Chatfield. NY: Schocken Books, l973. Essays on various historical periods.
Mel Piehl, Breaking Bread: The Catholic Worker and the Origin of Catholic Radicalism in America.Philadelphia: Temple University Press, l982. The best book on the American roots of the Catholic Worker movement.
The Power of the People: Active Nonviolence in the United States, ed. Robert Cooney and Helen Michalowski. Culver City, CA: Peace Press, Inc., 1987. Readable history with outstanding photographs and biographies.
Protest, Power, and Change: Encyclopedia of Nonviolence from ACT-UP to Women's Suffrage, ed. Roger S. Powers and William B. Vogele. NY: Garland Publishing Co., l997. An indispensable history and handbook on nonviolent movements around the globe.
Protest, Pacifism and Politics: Some Passionate Views on War and Nonviolence,
ed. James Finn. NY: Random House, l967. Interviews
and commentary by recent activists and theorists.
Reweaving the Web of Life: Feminism and Nonviolence, ed. Pam McAllister.Philadelphia: New Society Publishers. Writings by Barbara Deming, Grace Paley, Joan Baez, and others.
Sharp, Gene. The Politics of Nonviolence. Boston: Porter Sargent, l973. An indispensable study emphasizing strategy, extensive bibliography, by a major theorist.
Sibley, Mulford Q. The Quite Battle: Writings on the Theory and Practice of Non-Violent Resistance. Boston: Beacon Press, 2968. A standard work.
True, Michael. An Energy Field More Intense Than War: The Nonviolent Tradition and American Literature. Syracuse University Press, l995. A literary history, about of poems, stories, essays, chronicling the tradition, l7th century-present. .
__________. To Construct Peace: 30 More Justice Seekers, Peacemakers. Mystic, CT: XXIII Publications, l992. Brief biographies of 30 activists over two centuries.
The Universe Bends Toward Justice: A Reader on Christian Nonviolence in the U.S. Philadelphia: New Society Publishers, 1990. A useful anthology of nonviolence, from a religious base.
Howard Zinn, A People's History of the United States. NY: Harper and Row, l980. A standard history, with an emphasis upon social justice, by a major historian
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PERIODICALS
l. Catholic Worker. 36 E. First St., New York, New York 10003. Monthly. A penny
a copy
2. Fellowship: The Magazine of FOR. Box 271, Nyack, NY 10960. Monthly <for@forusa.org>
3. Maryknoll. Maryknoll, NY 10545. Monthly.
4. Nonviolent Sanctions: News from the Albert Einstein Institution. AIE, 50
Church St., Cambridge, MA 02138. (617) 876-0311 <
www.aeinstein.org>
5.The Nonviolent Resister. Monthly. War Resister's League, 339 Lafayette St.,
New York, New York 10012.
6. Peacework. American Friends Service Committee, 2161 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge,
MA 02140. (617) 661-7130. Monthly. <pwork@igc.org>
7. Year One. Jonah House, 1302 Moreland Ave. Baltimore, MD 21216. Bimonthly.
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FILMS AND VIDEOS
Films and videos centering on the history of nonviolence include the award-winning
feature length films, such as Gandhi, Joe Hill, Salt of the
Earth, and Entertaining Angels: The Dorothy day Story, as well as the award-winning
documentaries, Eyes on the Prize, about the Civil
Rights Movement, and School of Assassins, about the campaign to close the School
of Americas, Ft. Benning, GA. The organizations
below are helpful in dentifying other resources.
1. Literature Resources Unit, American Friends Services Committee, 1501 Cherry
St., Philadelphia, PA 19102-1479;
2. Film Resources Library, American Friends Service Committee, 2161 Massachusetts
Ave., Cambridge, MA 02140.
3. Maryknoll World Productions, P.O. Box 308, Maryknoll, NY 10545.
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