Yale University Library Manuscripts and Archives Guide to the Coalition to Stop Trident Records MS 1696 compiled by Tom Hyry and staff of Manuscripts and Archives May 1997 Revised: June 2010 New Haven, Connecticut Copyright © 2010 by the Yale University Library. Coalition to Stop Trident records MS 1696 - Page 2 Table of Contents Overview 3 Administrative Information 3 Provenance 3 Ownership & Copyright 3 Cite As 3 Biographical Sketch 4 Organization History 4 Description of the Papers 5 Arrangement 6 Collection Contents 7 Series I. Organizational Records 7 Series II. Subject Files 13 Series III. Visual Materials, 1981, no date 15 Accession 1998-M-100. Additional Material 16 Accession 1999-M-073. Additional Material 18 Accession 2000-M-087. Additional Material 22 Accession 2001-M-028. Additional Material 23 Accession 2001-M-029. Additional Material 24 Accession 2001-M-067. Additional Material 25 Accession 2002-M-104. Additional Material 26 Accession 2005-M-062. Additional Material 27 Accession 2007-M-086. Additional Material, 1960-1987 28 Accession 2010-M-076. Additional Material 29 Coalition to Stop Trident records MS 1696 - Page 3 Overview REPOSITORY: Manuscripts and Archives Sterling Memorial Library 128 Wall Street P.O. Box 208240 New Haven, CT 06520 Email: [email protected] Phone: (203) 432-1735 Fax: (203) 432-7441 CALL NUMBER: MS 1696 CREATOR: Coalition to Stop Trident. TITLE: Coalition to Stop Trident records DATES: 1960-1996 PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 10.5 linear feet LANGUAGE(S): The materials are in English. SUMMARY: The records consist of administrative records, correspondence, publications, subject files, and photographs documenting the history, structure, philosophies, and activities of the Coalition to Stop Trident as well as other groups working to stop the production and deployment of Trident submarines and missiles in Connecticut and New England. There are also subject files which place the local activities of these Connecticut groups into the context of the national and international disarmament movement. FINDING AID LINK: To cite or bookmark this finding aid, use the following address: http://hdl.handle.net/10079/fa/mssa.ms.1696. Administrative Information Provenance Gift of Marjorie Van Cleef, 1995, 2005; Stephen Kobasa, 1998-1999, 2001-2002,2007 and 2010; Art Laffin, 2000; and Sam Marshall, 2000. Ownership & Copyright Copyright has been transferred to Yale University by the creator(s) of this collection for materials they have authored or otherwise produced. Copyright status for other collection materials is unknown. Cite As Coalition to Stop Trident Records (MS 1696). Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library. Coalition to Stop Trident records MS 1696 - Page 4 Biographical Sketch The Coalition to Stop Trident (CST) was formally established in 1984 to coordinate and continue the activities of several groups resisting the production and deployment of Trident nuclear submarines and missiles in Connecticut. Resistance to the Trident program in Connecticut began in 1976, with the keel laying of the first Trident submarine, the USS Ohio. Groups which preceded the CST included the Trident/Conversion Campaign, the American Friends Service Committee of Connecticut, the Atlantic Life Network, and the Connecticut Freeze Campaign. Along with educating the public about the dangers of nuclear weapons and the Trident program specifically, the CST participated in a series of demonstrations against the Trident, which usually occurred in conjunction with the launching or commissioning of a new submarine. The anti-Trident movement also included a small number of direct actions, known as "Plowshares actions," during which protestors would enter a shipyard and damage submarines and missiles. In 1989, the CST disbanded, but protests continued against the Trident program. Organization History Although the Coalition to Stop Trident (CST) was not formally established until 1984, resistance to the construction of the Trident submarines in Connecticut began with a protest during the keel laying of the first Trident, the USS Ohio, in 1976. Southeastern Connecticut became a national locus for demonstrations supporting nuclear disarmament and protesting against the construction of the Trident and other "fast attack submarines," largely because the submarines were built at Electric Boat, a ship yard situated in Groton, Connecticut. Ceremonies at Electric Boat and at nearby naval bases marking the launching and commissioning of the submarines provided high profile opportunities for protest against their construction and more broadly against the nuclear arms race. The history of resistance to the Trident program is complex. As their name suggests, the Coalition to Stop Trident was comprised of several different local affinity groups working toward eradicating nuclear weaponry. Other groups, though not formally part of the CST, participated in and assisted with several demonstrations and actions. To further complicate matters, the work of several different groups preceded the CST in organizing resistance to Trident and other nuclear weaponry. Although perhaps slightly divided on questions of theory and method, all of these groups were united by the need to stop the production of nuclear arms, particularly in Connecticut. "Trident" is an overall military nuclear program comprised of Trident submarines and two generations of missiles, the Trident I, which became operational in 1979 with the launching of the USS Ohio, and the Trident II, which became operational in 1986 with the launching of the USS Tennessee, the ninth Trident submarine. Planning for the Trident program began in the early 1970s. The USS Ohio was launched in 1979 and was commissioned into the United States Navy in 1981. The USS Wyoming, the seventeenth Trident, was commissioned in 1996, and the submarines continue to be produced. The Trident submarines, which measure 560 feet in length and can carry up to twenty-four highly explosive nuclear missiles with long range capabilities, brought unprecedented speed, accuracy, and power to an already potent fleet of "fast attack" submarines. Trident allowed the Navy to possess the "first strike" option, an ability to quickly attack and destroy an opponent's defenses, thereby rendering them unable to retaliate. Anti-nuclear groups, many of which grew out of the peace movements of the late 1960s and early 1970s, saw the development of Trident as making nuclear war more dangerous and more likely. They believed that rather than acting merely as a deterrent, the faster, more accurate, and more powerful weapons would make the option of using them without retaliation more viable. The enhanced defense abilities also would cause opponents to be more likely to launch their own weapons on only the suspicion rather than the reality of an attack. Furthermore, most of these groups protested against the large budgetary allotments made to the Trident program (each submarine costs approximately two billion dollars to produce). The anti-nuclear protestors favored a conversion of the Connecticut economy from the highly influential defense industries to services which would combat the social problems of homelessness, poverty, unemployment, poor health care, and ineffective public education. Protests against the Trident program involved many different groups and individuals. The most prominent organizations which preceded the formation of the CST included the Atlantic Life Network, the Trident/Conversion Campaign, the American Friends Service Committee of Connecticut, Connecticut Freeze Campaign, the War Resister's League, and Spinsters Opposed to Nuclear Genocide. Membership in the groups often overlapped. Coalition to Stop Trident records MS 1696 - Page 5 The protests themselves were organized in an ad hoc manner and varied widely. The largest demonstrations usually coincided with the launching or commissioning of a new Trident submarine. Actions at these events often took on two forms: legal demonstrations and civil disobedience. Legal demonstrations included prayer vigils, leafleting, marching, "die-in's," chanting, music, street theater, and speakers. Civil disobedience technique generally consisted of attempts to disrupt the normal course of business, or celebratory activities at the site of the protest. Protestors involved in the civil disobedience actions practiced non-violence, and these actions usually resulted in their arrest. In July 1982, a more radical form of direct action against the Trident program ensued in Connecticut when nine women and men broke into the Electric Boat shipyard, spray-painted "USS AUSCHWITZ," poured their own blood, and hammered on sonar devices on the USS Florida, the third of the Trident submarines. These nine protestors, who became known as "Trident Nein," were arrested and some of them ended up imprisoned. Protests such as these became known as "Plowshares" actions, the name being taken from the biblical verse, "and they shall beat their swords into plowshares." Plowshares actions recurred four other times in Connecticut and at Quonset Point, Rhode Island, the site of another Electric Boat shipyard. The break-ins and the trials of the Plowshares groups, especially Trident Nein and Plowshares #4, were covered extensively by local media and even received national attention. The trials and sentencings of these groups also resulted in staged demonstrations supporting their actions and protesting their incarceration. During the weekend of June 18-20, 1983, large demonstrations were organized to protest