12 Facts About Tom Cornell

Thomas C Cornell was an American journalist and a peace activist against the Vietnam War and the Iraq War.

Tom Cornell was an associate editor of the Catholic Worker and a deacon in the Catholic Church.

In 1953 when Tom Cornell was 19, he joined the Catholic Worker community in New York, where he served those in need at Maryhouse and St Joseph House, two Catholic Worker locations in the East Village of Manhattan.

Tom Cornell became a writer and editor for the Catholic Worker newspaper.

Tom Cornell was the managing editor of the newspaper from 1962 to 1964.

Tom Cornell led the first protest against the Vietnam War, which started with only two people from the Catholic Worker, himself and Chris Kearns, on July 16,1963, in Union Square in New York City.

Tom Cornell called the first corporate act of resistance to the Vietnam draft, when he and five others, including David McReynolds, burned their draft cards, November 6,1965, in Union Square, New York City.

In 1967, Tom Cornell signed a public statement declaring his intention to refuse to pay income taxes in protest against the US war against Vietnam.

In 1972, Tom Cornell took part in a meeting which led to the establishment of Pax Christi.

Tom Cornell urged that military chaplains be trained in the law regarding conscientious objection and give positive support to claimants.

In 1988, Tom Cornell was ordained a deacon in the Archdiocese of Hartford.

Tom Cornell died at the age of 88 on August 1,2022, at a nearby hospital in Poughkeepsie, New York.