Silas Bissell
Silas Bissell | |
---|---|
Born | April 27, 1942 |
Died | June 15, 2002 | (aged 60)
Other names | Terrance Peter Jackson |
Occupation(s) | Artist, Physical Therapist |
Known for | Former member of the 1970s group Weatherman (Organization) |
Silas Bissell (April 27, 1942 – June 15, 2002
Early life
Silas Trim Bissell was born April 27, 1942.
When Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. were assassinated and activists stormed Chicago during the 1968 Democratic National Convention, Silas and Judith joined a Seattle draft resistance group. They were soon drawn to the Weatherman organization.[2]
Weatherman
Because they were a married couple in a movement that perceived the practice of monogamy as
They placed a home-made bomb under the steps of the University’s ROTC building. It did not go off because the Bissells made mistakes with the wiring. They were captured by the campus police almost immediately, making them think they had been framed by the members of Weatherman.[2]
Although it has been reported that Bissell was a member of the Weatherman, his widow Ruth disputes the allegation, though she reports that Bissell repeatedly said, "I would have if they'd have taken me."[4]
Underground
The Bissells posted the $50,000 in bonds and were planning to face the court in Seattle until, Bissell claims, Weatherman Mark Rudd told them to go underground. Traveling by bus and train, they relocated from Seattle to San Francisco, but were now shunned by fellow Weathermen. They ended up in Boston, where the mounting pressures of hiding finally ate away at the marriage. They divorced in 1970.[2]
In the early 1970s, he lived in Ithaca, New York, where he worked in a food co-op and was not politically active. He then moved to Eugene, Oregon, where he took a job as a nurse's assistant. He continued his artwork and playing music. He went back to university and earned a bachelor's degree in biology from North Carolina Central University in 1979 and a master's degree in physical therapy from Duke University in 1981.[1] He then moved to Eugene, Oregon, and started work as a physical therapist.[2]
Arrest
On January 29, 1987, he was arrested at home by
After release
After Bissell's release he and Ruth moved back to Eugene, where he became devoted to sculpture and painting. He achieved success, showing in many West Coast galleries. He used the proceeds from the sale of his work to fund human rights work. In 1993, he founded the Campaign for Labor Rights, a nationwide organization fighting sweatshop conditions in factories around the globe, and was the national director for many years. Even when he became semi-paralyzed after special chemotherapy for the cancer that was diagnosed in 2000, Bissell never stopped his work as an artist up until his death.
Silas Trim Bissell died at age 60 in Eugene of cancer of the brain on June 15, 2002.[6]
References
- ^ a b c d "Woo, Elaine. "Portrait of the Artist as a Complex Man." The Los Angeles Times, 23 June
- ^ a b c d e f g "Silas Trim Bissell, 60, Longtime Antiwar Fugitive." New York Times, 25 June 2002, Print.
- ^ a b Mosely, Joe. "Board says Silas Bissell can practice." Eugene Register-Guard, 25 February 1987: B. Print.
- ^ Interview with Ruth Bissell January 14, 2013.
- ^ Marshall, John. "TRIM BISSELL RETURNS." Seattle PI, 1 September 1992: C1. Print.
- ^ "Silas Trim Bissell, 60, a member of the militant 1960s...." Baltimore Sun, 18 June 2002: B. Print.