Wallace F. "Wally" Nelson, 93, of Deerfield, Massachusetts died Thursday, May 23, 2002, at the home of Eveline MacDougall and John H. Thompson in Greenfield, Massachusetts. Born March 27, 1909, and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas, he was the son of Lydia (Durand) and Duncan Nelson.
During his youth, he served as a regional youth director for the United Methodist Church, after which he attended Ohio Wesleyan University. As a committed advocate of active nonviolence, he refused to bear arms during World War II and served in a Civilian Public Service camp, followed by three and a half years in federal prison. While in prison, he played a key role in ending racial segregation as the official policy of the federal prison system. In 1947, he participated in the first interracial "Freedom Ride," traveling by bus through the Southern states to test the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision banning racial segregation in interstate transportation. In 1948, he co-founded Peacemakers, a national organization dedicated to active nonviolence as a way of life. In the same year, he and his wife Juanita Nelson began their lifelong practice of refusing to pay taxes used for armaments and killing. During the early 1950's, as the first national field organizer for the Congress of Racial Equality(CORE), he directed several interracial workshops on nonviolent direct action in Washington, D.C., which led to the complete desegregation of public places in the nation's capitol. For the next several decades he continued to participate in numerous social justice and civil rights groups and activities. In 1968, he fasted for 21 days in support of the United farm Workers' campaign for just wages and working conditions for farm laborers. (Photo © Charlie Jenks)
In 1974, he and Juanita moved to Woolman Hill in Deerfield (Mass.) where the started an organic vegetable farm. During the late 1970's, he and Juanita were among the founders of the Valley Community Land Trust in Franklin County (Mass.), Pioneer Valley War Tax Resisters, and the Greenfield Farmers' Market. He was well-known as a regular Market vendor every Saturday morning in downtown Greenfield, and as a participant in the annual war-tax protest in front of the Greenfield Post Office on Tax Day. Besides his wife Juanita, he is survived by his nieces Lydia Nelson and Yasmine Suliman of Cleveland, Ohio, numerous other nieces and nephews, and a large community of friends in New England and elsewhere.
Memorial contributions are suggested to the Valley Community Land Trust, Box 1552, Greenfield, Ma 01302 and Pioneer Valley War Tax Resisters, P.O. Box 223, Greenfield, MA 01302. We invite you to email your reflections on Wally's remarkable life of 93 years. May we grow to be as clear and loving as Wally. (Photo of Wally and Juanita ©Sunny Miller 2000.)
Rembering Wally (letter to The Nonviolent Activist)
I am writing this belated thank you for printing those fine articles by Juanita Nelson, Ruth Benn and Ed Hedemann about the late Wally Nelson.
I first met Wally back in July 1964 when he first came to a meeting of the Young People’s Socialist League (YPSL) to take part in a debate on nonviolence vs. armed self-defense in the civil rights movement. Wally didn’t so much espouse the theory of nonviolence as talk about a personal experience of nonviolence in dealing with a potentially violent situation. What he said was so meaningful and unforgettable it inspired me to retell it on numerous occasions.
Wally was a man who was true to his beliefs. He loved life and he loved people. Randy Kehler was right on the mark when he said, through tears at the time of Wally’s death, that he never knew a man who led a life of greater integrity. Additionally, Wally was the kindest, gentlest man I ever knew. And that’s saying something because during the course of my life I’ve come to know a number of very kind, gentle men. Additionally, as Bob Bady pointed out at his memorial, Wally’s grandparents were slaves while, in contrast, Wally was the freest man he’d ever known.
To close, Wally was one totally at peace with himself, was totally approachable and one whom I not only miss terribly but who is in my thoughts every day. Would that I should lead a life half as consistent and half as loving.
—Lou Waronoker
Brattleboro, VT
Wally Links:
Nonviolent
Activist - "He'll be With Us for a Long Time."
The
African American Registry - "Wally Nelson, a Committed Activist"
Peacework
Magazine (AFSC) - "Saying Farewell to Wally Nelson"
eatthestate.org
- "Wally Nelson, 1909-2002"
Act
Up - "Practicing Nonviolence"
Oregon
Peace Works - "War Tax Resister and Civil Rights Leader Wally
Nelson Dies"
Valley
Viewpoint - "Can't Kill the Spirit"
