Bernardine Dohrn
Bernardine Dohrn | |
---|---|
Weather Underground | |
Spouse | Bill Ayers |
Relatives | Rachel DeWoskin (daughter-in-law) |
Bernardine Rae Dohrn (
Dohrn had graduated from the
Early life
Bernardine Dohrn was born Bernardine Ohrnstein in
She attended Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, for one year before transferring to the University of Chicago, where she graduated with honors with a B.A. in political science in 1963. Dohrn received her J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School in 1967. While attending law school, Dohrn began working in support of civil rights movement leader Martin Luther King Jr. and became the first law student organizer for the National Lawyers Guild.[6]
Activist career
Students for a Democratic Society involvement
Dohrn became one of the leaders of the
The manifesto concludes with the following:
The RYM must also lead to the effective organization needed to survive and to create another battlefield of the revolution. A revolution is a war; when the Movement in this country can defend itself militarily against total repression it will be part of the revolutionary war. This will require a cadre organization, effective secrecy, self-reliance among the cadres ...[8]
The manifesto also asserted that African-Americans were a "black colony" within a U.S. government that was doomed to overextend itself. And the RYM was needed to quicken this process. Dohrn said, "The best thing that we can be doing for ourselves, as well as for the [Black] Panthers and the revolutionary black liberation struggle, is to build a fucking white revolutionary movement."[7]
The ninth annual national SDS conference was held at the
On the night of October 1, 1968, Dohrn spoke at a meeting in Chicago to condemn Chicago's Mayor Daley's orders to attack protesters during the 1968 Democratic National Convention. Then, from October 11 to 13, she and SDS held a national meeting at the University of Colorado Boulder wherein Dohrn was a speaker addressing concerns about where the movement was headed and what involvement they could expect as governmental tensions mounted and the student movement splintered into factions. On October 11, 1968, Dohrn suggested she would expand the movement to non-students and do all that was necessary to complete the job of "attack, expose, destroy."[13] Dohrn continued to give speeches on behalf of SDS and Weather Underground and attend leadership conferences for both organizations. On January 29 and 30, 1969, in recognition of the tenth anniversary of the Cuban Revolution, the University of Washington held a Cuba teach-in where Dohrn was a speaker on campus. A month later at a press conference at the regional headquarters of SDS in Chicago, Dohrn spoke of the plans that were under way to "attack" college graduation ceremonies across the country, saying, "Our presence will be known at the graduation ceremonies where the big people will come as speakers." By that time, Dohrn was known as a National Interim Committee member of the SDS and a member of the Weatherman group.[14]
Weather Underground involvement
The Weather Underground was a
Dohrn was a principal signatory on the Weather Underground's
We are building a communist organization to be part of the forces which build a revolutionary communist party to lead the working class to seize power and build
Marxism-Leninismis the most significant development in our recent history. ... We discovered thru our own experiences what revolutionaries all over the world have found — that Marxism-Leninism is the science of revolution, the revolutionary ideology of the working class, our guide to the struggle ...
According to a 1974 FBI study of the group, Dohrn's article signaled a developing commitment to Marxism-Leninism that had not been clear in the group's previous statements, despite their trips to Cuba and contact with Vietnamese communists there.[16]
Statements about Tate-LaBianca murders
Dohrn was criticized for comments she made about the murders of actress
Arrests and trials
On August 22, 1969, Dohrn was arrested in Chicago and charged with possession of drugs. The defense argued that Chicago Police had conducted an illegal search of the car in which she was a passenger, which led Judge Kenneth R. Wendt of the Narcotics Court of Chicago to dismiss the charges. On September 20, 1969, at an anti-Vietnam War rally at the Davis Cup tennis tournament in Cleveland, police arrested Dohrn and twenty other persons on charges of disorderly conduct. On September 26, 1969, Dohrn was arrested again in Chicago during a rally in support of the eight men accused of conspiracy concerning protests during the 1968 Democratic National Convention, who were on trial for riot conspiracy charges. Dohrn was next arrested on October 9, 1969, by the Chicago police during a rally for the women's faction of the Weathermen group and was later released on a one thousand dollar bond.[20] On October 31, 1969, a grand jury indicted 22 people, including Dohrn, for their involvement with the trial of the Chicago Eight, and she was again indicted on April 2, 1970, when a Federal Grand Jury indicted twelve members of the Weatherman group on conspiracy charges in violation of anti-riot acts during the "Days of Rage."[13][21] However, all of these convictions were reversed on November 21, 1972, by the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit on the basis the judge was biased in his refusal to permit defense attorneys to screen prospective jurors for cultural and racial bias.[22][failed verification][clarification needed]
Due to the increasing volatility of the Weather Underground led by Dohrn, on October 14, 1970, Dohrn was added to the
Coming out of hiding
While on the run from police, Dohrn used many aliases (including Bernardine Rae Ohrnstein, H.T. Smith, and Marion Del Gado) and married another Weatherman leader, Bill Ayers, with whom she has two children. During the last years of their underground life, Dohrn and Ayers resided in Chicago, where they used the aliases Christine Louise Douglas and Anthony J. Lee.[15] In the late 1970s, the Weatherman group split into two factions, the "May 19 Coalition" and the "Prairie Fire Collective", with Dohrn and Ayers in the latter. The Prairie Fire Collective favored coming out of hiding, with members facing the criminal charges against them, while the May 19 Coalition remained in hiding. A decisive factor in Dohrn's decision to come out of hiding were her concerns about her children.[23]
The couple turned themselves in to authorities in 1980. While some charges relating to their activities with the Weathermen were dropped due to
Later life and professional career
From 1984 to 1988, Dohrn was employed by the Chicago law firm Sidley Austin,[30] where she was hired by Howard Trienens, the head of the firm, who knew Thomas G. Ayers, Dohrn's father-in-law. "We often hire friends," Trienens told a reporter for the Chicago Tribune.[31] However, Dohrn had not been admitted to the New York or Illinois bar even though she had passed both bar exams; she did not submit an application to the New York Supreme Court's Committee on Character and Fitness,[30] and she was turned down by the Illinois ethics committee because of her criminal record. Trienens said of the Illinois rejection, "Dohrn didn't get a [law] license because she's stubborn. She wouldn't say she's sorry."[31]
In 1991, Dohrn was hired by
Later politics
In 1994, Dohrn said, "I still see myself as a radical."[33]
In 2008, Dohrn and Ayers
In a November 4, 2010, interview, Dohrn described the political "right" in the U.S. as racist, armed, hostile, and "unspeakable". Referring to the August 28, 2010
Personal life and family
Dohrn's son, Zayd Ayers Dohrn, is married to actress and writer Rachel DeWoskin.[37][38]
See also
- List of Weatherman actions
- Weatherman Member List
- Fugitive Days (2001), Bill Ayers' memoir
- The Weather Underground (film), 2002 documentary
- Underground (1976 film), documentary
References
- ^ a b Grathwohl, Larry, and Frank, Reagan, Bringing Down America: An FBI Informant in with the Weathermen, Arlington House, 1977, page 103
- ^ Lear, Patricia Rebel Without a Pause Archived May 9, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, Chicago, May 1993. Retrieved October 9, 2008.
- JSTOR 41177972.
- ^ Multiple sources:
- Fischer, Klaus P. American in White, Black, and Gray, Continuum International Publishing Group, 2006, p. 278, ISBN 0-8264-1816-3.
- "Rebel Without a Pause - Chicago Magazine - May 1993 - Chicago". Chicagomag.com. Archived from the original on December 19, 2010. Retrieved November 6, 2010.
- "Esquire". Esquire, Incorporated. September 2, 1971 – via Google Books.
- Collier, Peter (October 17, 1982). "Weatherman's untold story". Chicago Tribune.[permanent dead link]
- Fischer, Klaus P. American in White, Black, and Gray, Continuum International Publishing Group, 2006, p. 278,
- ^ "The Department of Greek and Latin at The Ohio State University". Omega.cohums.ohio-state.edu. Archived from the original on September 15, 2006. Retrieved November 6, 2010.
- ^ Siegel, Bill; et al. (2004). "The Weather Underground". American Historical Review.
- ^ a b c Kolbert, Elizabeth, "The Prisoner," The New Yorker Magazine, July 16, 2001, page 49.
- ^ a b "You Don't Need A Weatherman To Know Which Way The Wind Blows : Free Download & Streaming : Internet Archive". Internet Archive. 1969.
- ^ Chepesiuk, Ron, "Sixties Radicals, Then and Now: Candid Conversations With Those Who Shaped the Era", McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers: Jefferson, North Carolina, 1995, "Chapter 15: Bernardine Dohrn: From Revolutionary to Children's Rights Advocate", pages 223 and 224: "Dohrn, a leader of the Weather Underground" (p 223); "she then proceeded to lead the faction in the takeover of the organization's headquarters and the seizure of its assets"
- ^ Montgomery, Paul L., "Last of Radical Leaders Eluded Police 11 Years", article, The New York Times, October 25, 1981. Retrieved June 8, 2008.
- ^ Grathwohl, Larry, and Frank, Reagan, Bringing Down America: An FBI Informant in with the Weathermen, Arlington House, 1977, page 110: "Ayers, along with Bernardine Dohrn, probably had the most authority within the Weatherman."
- ^ a b Berger, Dan, Outlaws of America: the Weather Underground and the Politics of Solidarity, AK press, 2006.
- ^ a b U.S. Government Printing Office, The Weather Underground report, 1975.
- ^ "Bernardine Dohrn". www.influencewatch.org. Retrieved July 29, 2022.
- ^ a b Sheppart, Nathaniel, Jr., "Chicago Home of a Friend was Refuge for Miss Dohrn", The New York Times, December 5, 1980, p A22
- ^ a b "Weatherman Underground / Summary Dated 8/20/76 / Part #1", 1976, pp 23-24, FBI website, retrieved June 8, 2008
- ^ There are slightly differing versions of this quote cited in books and news reports.
Bugliosi, Vincent, Helter Skelter, 2001 page 297
Barber, David (2008). A hard rain fell: SDS and why it failed, page 211. - ISBN 9780857208958. Retrieved April 21, 2015.
- ISBN 9780061472756. Retrieved April 21, 2015.
- ^ October 24, 1969, Southern Illinoisan, Oregon, ILL. (AP)
- ISBN 978-0-7619-2408-1.
- ^ United States v. Dellinger, 472 F.2d 340 (7th Cir. 1972).
- ^ Franks, Lucinda, "The Seeds of Terror", article, New York Times Magazine, November 22, 1981. Retrieved June 8, 2008.
- ^ a b Smith, Dinitia (September 11, 2001). "No Regrets for a Love Of Explosives; In a Memoir of Sorts, a War Protester Talks of Life With the Weathermen". The New York Times. Retrieved November 6, 2010.
- ^ Joravsky, Ben (November 8, 1990). "The Long, Strange Trip of Bill Ayers". Chicago Reader.
- ^ Milwaukee Sentinel, January 14, 1981
- ^ Kass, John (April 23, 2008). "Underground links likely to resurface for Obama". chicagotribune.com.
- ^ "Bernardine Dohrn, former Weather Underground mastermind and once one..." UPI.
- ^ James Barron. "Former Radical Granted Parole In '81 Killings". The New York Times, August 21, 2003.
- ^ a b Haitch, Richard. Hurdle for Dohrn, The New York Times, February 10, 1985. Retrieved October 17, 2008.
- ^ a b c Grossman, Ron. Family ties proved Ayers' point, Chicago Tribune, May 18, 2008, last accessed, October 17, 2008.
- ^ Felsenthal, Carol. "Bill Ayers Talks Obama, Nelson Mandela, and Toni Preckwinkle". Chicago magazine.
- ^ Chepesiuk, Ron, "Sixties Radicals, Then and Now: Candid Conversations With Those Who Shaped the Era", McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers: Jefferson, North Carolina, 1995, "Chapter 15: Bernardine Dohrn: From Revolutionary to Children's Rights Advocate", p 239;"Acknowledgements" section dated by the author as "Summer 1994" indicating interview took place before that
- ^ Bumiller, Elisabeth and Healy, Patrick. McCain Joins Attacks on Obama Over Radical, The New York Times, October 9, 2008. Retrieved October 10, 2008.
- ^ Cooper, Michael. Palin, on Offensive, Attacks Obama's Ties to '60s Radical, The New York Times, October 4, 2008. Retrieved October 10, 2008.
- ^ "NewsClick India, November 4, 2010". Newsclick.in. November 4, 2010. Retrieved November 6, 2010.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
- ^ "Playwright And Chinese Soap Star Meet, Write". HuffPost. January 10, 2012. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
External links
- Bernardine Dohrn at IMDb
- Transcript of interview in 1996 with Bernardine Dohrn and Bill Ayers Archived January 1, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
- PBS Article "The Weathermen Today"
- Mugshot From Chicago PD Files
- Interview with Amy Goodman on Democracy Now
- Interview with Bernardine Dohrn by Jonah Raskin, The Rag Blog, October 20, 2011
- Bernardine Dohrn on Rag Radio, October 21, 2011, interviewed by Thorne Dreyer (57:33)