It is hard to think of the 1960s and early 1970s without taking into account the anti-war movement, which was then in its heyday. Large groups of protestors gathered for demonstrations all across the country. While the peace activists were against the Vietnam War, they also protested the Cold War and all war in general. All-out nuclear war was a very real possibility that commanded a great deal of attention and produced a far-reaching national fear. The protests and demonstrations heightened both the attention and the fear--but not until they reached the heightened proportions of that time. But there were earlier protests that have been largely forgotten.
One of the very first peace demonstrations came in 1948 when protesters burned their draft cards issued from the very first peacetime draft held that year. The next year is when the Soviet Union exploded its first atomic bomb and China fell to the Communists so the Cold War began in earnest and fear ruled the national thinking. Peace demonstrations were very few and far between.
Then in 1958 an organization was formed called the Committee For Nonviolent Action (CNVA). The group embraced nonviolence and civil disobedience in the spirit of Mohandas K. Gandhi. Their fist act of civil disobedience came that year. They attempted to sail a small boat full of their people from Hawaii into the range of a test explosion of a nuclear bomb being conducted by the U.S. in the Pacific. They were stopped and arrested before they could make it to the test site.
Their second act of civil disobedience occurred right here in Nebraska. The group planned to disrupt the construction of Atlas missile silos near Lincoln and Omaha in June of 1959. A group comprising around 80 local Nebraska protestors and around 35 national protestors went to a construction site near Mead, Nebraska and staged a 24-hour vigil. At times they blocked the roads leading to the sites so that construction equipment and supplies could not get in. The vigils lasted for over a month. Many of the protestors were arrested. While most of them served a short time in local jails, four of them were convicted and sentenced to federal prison for six months and given $500 fines.
This was one of the first significant anti-war demonstrations and helped lay the groundwork for future demonstrations in the 1960s and 1970s. The demonstration became known as the "Omaha Action." While the protest did not stop the nuclear missile silos from being built it did help to bring the peace movement to national attention through the press coverage it received. From a construction site in Eastern Nebraska, the country got a hint of what was to come.
© Copyright by M. K. Albus. All Rights Reserved.
See other articles by M. K. Albus: Using Roses in the Kitchen - The Wonders of Kale - Dogs and Nuts Are Not a Good Mix - A Taste of Paprika - Food and Vibration - Dad's Apple Pandowdy
One of the very first peace demonstrations came in 1948 when protesters burned their draft cards issued from the very first peacetime draft held that year. The next year is when the Soviet Union exploded its first atomic bomb and China fell to the Communists so the Cold War began in earnest and fear ruled the national thinking. Peace demonstrations were very few and far between.
Then in 1958 an organization was formed called the Committee For Nonviolent Action (CNVA). The group embraced nonviolence and civil disobedience in the spirit of Mohandas K. Gandhi. Their fist act of civil disobedience came that year. They attempted to sail a small boat full of their people from Hawaii into the range of a test explosion of a nuclear bomb being conducted by the U.S. in the Pacific. They were stopped and arrested before they could make it to the test site.
Their second act of civil disobedience occurred right here in Nebraska. The group planned to disrupt the construction of Atlas missile silos near Lincoln and Omaha in June of 1959. A group comprising around 80 local Nebraska protestors and around 35 national protestors went to a construction site near Mead, Nebraska and staged a 24-hour vigil. At times they blocked the roads leading to the sites so that construction equipment and supplies could not get in. The vigils lasted for over a month. Many of the protestors were arrested. While most of them served a short time in local jails, four of them were convicted and sentenced to federal prison for six months and given $500 fines.
This was one of the first significant anti-war demonstrations and helped lay the groundwork for future demonstrations in the 1960s and 1970s. The demonstration became known as the "Omaha Action." While the protest did not stop the nuclear missile silos from being built it did help to bring the peace movement to national attention through the press coverage it received. From a construction site in Eastern Nebraska, the country got a hint of what was to come.
© Copyright by M. K. Albus. All Rights Reserved.
See other articles by M. K. Albus: Using Roses in the Kitchen - The Wonders of Kale - Dogs and Nuts Are Not a Good Mix - A Taste of Paprika - Food and Vibration - Dad's Apple Pandowdy
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