Staughton Lynd Staughton Craig Lynd ( born November 22 , 1929 ) is an American conscientious objector , Quaker , peace activist and civil rights activist , tax resister , historian , professor , author 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 , Tom Hayden and Daniel Berrigan . Lynd ' s contribution to the cause of social justice and the peace movement is chronicled in Carl Mirra ' s biography , " The Admirable Radical : Staughton Lynd and Cold War Dissent , 1945 - 1970 " , published in 2010 by Kent State University Press . Early life . Lynd was one of two children born to the 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 parents ' gifts as scholars , but also their strong socialist 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 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 historian and civil rights activist Howard 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 . In 1965 he gave lectures on ' The History of the American Left ' at the Free University of New York . Vietnam - era activism . It was during his tenure at Yale that Lynd became an outspoken opponent of the Vietnam War . His protest activities included speaking engagements , protest marches , and a controversial visit to Hanoi along with Herbert Aptheker and Tom Hayden on a fact - finding trip at the height of the war , which cost him his teaching position at Yale . As the protest movement became increasingly violent , Lynd began 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 . In 1967 , Lynd signed a letter declaring his intention to refuse to pay taxes in protest against the U . S . war against Vietnam , and urging other people to also take this stand . Labor activism . In the late 1960s , Lynd relocated his family to Chicago . There , he struggled to make a living from community organizing . Meanwhile , he and his wife , Alice , 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 in order to 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 . 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 the late 1970s struggle to keep the Youngstown steel mill s open . Despite the ultimate failure of those 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 book , " Lucasville " , is an investigation into the events surrounding the 1993 prison uprising at Southern Ohio Correctional Facility , and voices serious concern over the integrity of legal proceedings subsequent to the event . His newest book , a memoir of his and Alice ' s life , " Stepping Stones : Memoir of a Life Together " was released in January 2009 . Lynd still maintains an active Ohio law license .