I never knew that the founder of ACORN started in Springfiled Mass. From humble seeds mighty Acorns grow. Anyways he comes back to where it all started his
First Job
First Riot
First Arrest
AHHH the memories.
ACORN founder Wade Rathke returning to Western Mass., long after his first arrest in Springfield | Breaking News - MassLive.com - - MassLive.com
SPRINGFIELD – Wade Rathke, founder of the scandal-prone Associations of Community Organizations for Reform Now – ACORN – has plenty of fond memories of the city of Homes.
Long before his sprawling anti-poverty network was dragged into the national spotlight, Rathke sparked one of the largest public disturbances in Springfield’s history.
As a 20-year-old Williams College student, he organized a sit-in at the public welfare office on State Street on Oct. 15, 1969, the same day as the city’s largest Vietnam-era peace march.
When the demonstrators were ordered to leave the office, they stayed – triggering a rock-and-bottle throwing melee that erupted into a riot as hundred of anti-war marchers converged on the office.
In the chaos, 50 people were arrested, looting broke out in Mason Square and a three-day curfew was imposed across the city.
It was here that Rathke – perhaps the nation’s most prolific community organizer – found his calling.....
The Seed of Acorn
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