John E. Wall Legal Papers Pertaining to the Trial of Dr. Benjamin Spock and Others 1943-1972 (Bulk 1967-1968) MS.2008.010
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John E. Wall Legal Papers Pertaining to the Trial of Dr. Benjamin Spock and Others 1943-1972 (bulk 1967-1968) MS.2008.010 http://hdl.handle.net/2345/604 Archives and Manuscripts Department John J. Burns Library Boston College 140 Commonwealth Avenue Chestnut Hill 02467 library.bc.edu/burns/contact URL: http://www.bc.edu/burns Table of Contents Summary Information .................................................................................................................................... 3 Administrative Information ............................................................................................................................ 4 Related Materials ........................................................................................................................................... 4 Biographical Note: John E. Wall ................................................................................................................... 5 Biographical Note: Benjamin Spock ............................................................................................................. 5 Biographical Note: William Sloane Coffin, Jr. ............................................................................................. 6 Historical Note: "Boston Five" Case ............................................................................................................. 6 Scope and Contents ........................................................................................................................................ 7 Arrangement ................................................................................................................................................... 7 Collection Inventory ....................................................................................................................................... 8 I: Transcripts of Proceedings ...................................................................................................................... 8 II: John Wall's Legal Papers ....................................................................................................................... 8 John E. Wall Legal Papers Pertaining to the Trial of Dr. Benjamin Spock and Others MS.2008.010 - Page 2 - Summary Information Creator: Wall, John E., 1931-2007 Title: John E. Wall legal papers pertaining to the trial of Dr. Benjamin Spock and others ID: MS.2008.010 Date [inclusive]: 1943-1972 Date [bulk]: 1967-1968 Physical Description 5.25 Linear feet (10.5 boxes) Language of the English Material: Abstract: The collection consists of attorney John E. Wall's notes and background materials used in the prosecution of Dr. Benjamin Spock, Reverend William Sloane Coffin, Jr., and others for encouraging draft resistance during the Vietnam War. It includes handwritten notes, typescript documents, photographs, newspaper clippings, and transcripts of legal proceedings. Preferred Citation Identification of item, Box number, Folder number, John E. Wall legal papers pertaining to the trial of Dr. Benjamin Spock and others, MS.2008.010, John J. Burns Library, Boston College. John E. Wall Legal Papers Pertaining to the Trial of Dr. Benjamin Spock and Others MS.2008.010 - Page 3 - Administrative Information Publication Information Processed by Karen S. Beck, Fall 2008; Rachael Young in 2018. This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace. Restrictions on access Collection is open for research. Restrictions on use These materials are made available for use in research, teaching and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source. The original authors may retain copyright to the materials. Provenance Collection was received as a gift from Jane A. Wall in 2008. Processing Information The folder titles in Series II. reflect Wall's original lables. He also used metal paper clips to flag some of his materials, which were replaced with plastic clips to preserve their location on the pages. Related Materials Related Materials William Sloane Coffin, Jr. papers, MS 1665, Sterling Memorial Library, Yale University. John E. Wall Legal Papers Pertaining to the Trial of Dr. Benjamin Spock and Others MS.2008.010 - Page 4 - Biographical Note: John E. Wall John E. Wall (1931-2007) was born in Lynn, Massachusetts. He received his B.S. in Government from Boston College in 1954. Following several years of military service, he received his LL.B from Columbia University School of Law in 1960, and was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar in 1961. He received an LL.M from Georgetown in 1965. During the 1960s he worked as an attorney for the Department of Justice, the United States Attorney's Office, and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, where he served as Assistant Attorney General. In 1968, while serving as an Assistant United States Attorney, Wall took part in prosecuting Dr. Benjamin Spock, the Rev. William Sloane Coffin, Jr., and three others for encouraging Vietnam War draft resisters. He left the Justice Department in disgust during the Nixon administration, and "changed sides," spending over 35 years in private practice as a defense attorney. He practiced in the areas of criminal law, white- collar crime, and drug-related criminal litigation. He was a fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers. In 1993, Wall told the New York Times: "I thought [the Boston Five] had violated the law, but I had mixed emotions about whether it was good judgment to prosecute them. I believed that we were prosecuting and putting in jail and driving out of the country some of the people with the most tender consciences, some of our best and brightest. I was given the chance to re-prosecute some of them, and I refused. Today, I wouldn't prosecute them at all." A bachelor until 1969, Wall married Jane A. (Lyness) Wall in 2000. He died in Peabody, Massachusetts in 2007. Sources: Marquard, Bryan. "John Wall, at 76; Was Noted Federal Prosecutor, Then Defense Attorney." Obituary in Boston Globe C20. November 23, 2007. Obituary: "John E. Wall." Herald News. November 23, 2007. http://www.heraldnews.com/archive/ x1720548829 (accessed October 29, 2008). Biographical Note: Benjamin Spock Dr. Benjamin McLane Spock (1903-1998) was born in New Haven, Connecticut. He received his B.A. in English from Yale in 1925. During his summer vacations, he worked at a home for disabled children in Newington, Connecticut, and this experience led him to pursue a medical career. Spock received his medical degree from Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons, graduating first in his class in 1929. He married Jane Davenport Cheney in 1927; they had two sons. Spock combined his medical training with postgraduate work in psychology and psychiatry. He brought all of his experiences to bear to produce his most famous book: Baby and Child Care. Publication of this book led to a succession of academic posts in the areas of child development and child psychology; he retired from John E. Wall Legal Papers Pertaining to the Trial of Dr. Benjamin Spock and Others MS.2008.010 - Page 5 - academia in 1967. He continued to produce revised editions of his book; the most recent edition appeared in 1998, the year he died. He also wrote popular advice columns in Ladies' Home Journal and Redbook. By the 1960s, Spock had become increasingly socially liberal, as he saw the relationship between child care, health care, education, and other social policy issues. Early in this decade he became concerned about growing political unrest in Vietnam as well, and lobbied Presidents Kennedy and Johnson against armed intervention. Spock and four others were indicted on charges of criminal conspiracy to aid draft evaders, and he was convicted in June 1968. A year later, his conviction was overturned on appeal. Enjoying newfound popularity after the famous trial, Spock continued his career of political activism, becoming co-chair of the People's Party and even running for President. Spock and Jane Cheney divorced in early 1976; later that year, he married Mary Morgan Councille. He enjoyed ballroom dancing and sailing throughout his life, and died in San Diego. Sources: Opitz, Donald L. "Spock, Benjamin." American National Biography Online. http://www.anb.org/ (accessed October 23, 2008). Biographical Note: William Sloane Coffin, Jr. William Sloane Coffin, Jr. (1924-2006) was born into a prosperous Manhattan family. He earned a B.A. in government from Yale. He served as an Army officer during World War II, where he served as a liaison to the French and Soviet armies due to his language skills. His expertise in Russian also led to a three-year stint as a CIA agent in Germany training operatives for subversive operations within the Soviet Union. Coffin received his bachelor of divinity degree from the Yale Divinity School in 1956. He served as chaplain at Yale from 1958 to 1976, and used his pulpit as a platform for civil rights and antiwar activities. Coffin and four others were indicted on charges of criminal conspiracy to aid draft evaders, and he was convicted in June 1968. A year later, his conviction was overturned on appeal. After the end of the Vietnam War, Coffin continued his social activism, working for a nuclear freeze and opposing many U.S.-led military interventions. He published a memoir and a number