Staughton Lynd
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Staughton Lynd (b. November 22, 1929) is an American conscientious objector, peace and civil rights activist, tax resister, author, professor and lawyer. His involvement in social justice causes has brought him into contact with some of the nation's most influential activists, including Howard Zinn and Daniel Berrigan.
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[edit] Early life
Lynd was one of two children born to renowned sociologists Robert Staughton Lynd and Helen Lynd, who authored the groundbreaking "Middletown" studies of Muncie, Indiana, in the late 1920s and '30s. Staughton Lynd inherited not only his father's gifts as a scholar, but also his strong socialistic beliefs. Although Lynd never embraced undemocratic forms of socialism, his ideological outlook led to his expulsion from a non-combatant position in the U.S. military during the purges of the McCarthy Era.
He went on to earn a doctorate in history at Columbia University and accepted a teaching position at Spelman College, in Georgia, where he became acquainted with activist Zinn. During the summer of 1964, Lynd served as director of the SNCC organized Freedom Schools of Mississippi. After accepting a position at Yale University, Lynd relocated to New England, along with his wife, Alice, and their three children.
[edit] Vietnam-era activism
It was during his tenure at Yale that Lynd became an outspoken opponent to the Vietnam War. His protest activities included speaking engagements, protest marches, and a controversial visit to Hanoi, which cost him his teaching position at Yale. As the protest movement became increasingly violent, however, Lynd grew to have doubts about the values and practices of the New Left. As a self-described "social democratic pacifist," he became more interested in the possibilities of local organizing.
[edit] Labor activism
In the late 1960s, he relocated his family to Chicago. There, he struggled to make a living from community organization. Meanwhile, Staughton and Alice Lynd embarked upon an oral history project dealing with the working class. The conclusions of this work, titled Rank and File, inspired Lynd to study law, where he might assist workers victimized by companies and left unprotected by declining labor unions. In 1973, he enrolled at the University of Chicago law school, where he earned a degree in 1976.
[edit] Rust Belt Activism
From there, the Lynds relocated to Youngstown, Ohio, in the heart of the Rust Belt. He proved to be a vital participant in a late 1970s struggle to keep the Youngstown steel mills open. Despite the ultimate failure of these efforts, the Lynds have continued organizing in the Youngstown-Warren area. Staughton Lynd has remained extremely active as an attorney, taking on a broad range of cases, including those concerning disabled and retired workers. Lynd's newest book, Lucasville, takes an in depth look at inequalities within the U.S. prison system.
[edit] References
- Thomas G. Fuechtmann, Steeples and Stacks: Religion and Steel Crisis in Youngstown (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1989).
- Scene Magazine, Cleveland, Ohio, May 23, 2002.
