# Frida Berrigan

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**Frida Berrigan** (born 1974) is an American peace activist and author. She published the 2015 book, *It Runs in the Family: On Being Raised by Radicals and Growing into Rebellious Motherhood,* about her life in a family of prominent activists and her own philosophies of parenting.[1] Raised in the [Plowshares movement](/source/Plowshares_movement), she has been featured in documentaries and studies of the movement, including award-winning director [Susan Hagedorn's](/source/Susan_Hagedorn) 2021 *The Berrigans: Devout and Dangerous*.[2][3] Frida Berrigan has documented and interpreted the movement's history and meaning from her first-hand perspective for a global audience.

## Early life and education

Frida Berrigan, named for her paternal grandmother,[4] was born on April 1, 1974, in Baltimore, Maryland to [Elizabeth McAlister](/source/Elizabeth_McAlister) and [Philip Berrigan](/source/Philip_Berrigan), a former nun and priest turned radical Catholic peace activists.[5][6] They lived in the [Jonah House](/source/Jonah_House) community, which they co-founded.[7]

Her mother is most recently a member of the [Kings Bay Plowshares 7](/source/Kings_Bay_Plowshares), and her father co-established both the [Catonsville Nine](/source/Catonsville_Nine) and the Plowshares movement. Frida is the older sister of Jerry and Kate Berrigan, and the niece of Jesuit peace activist [Daniel Berrigan](/source/Daniel_Berrigan).[8] In 1971, both Philip and Daniel made the cover of [*Time* magazine](/source/Time_(magazine)) as "rebel priests" while Philip was still in the [Josephite](/source/Josephites_(Maryland)) order.[9][10] Frida Berrigan has estimated that her parents spent 11 of their 29 years of marriage incarcerated for antiwar activities, which affected family life.[4] In her memoir she recalls both parents accidentally being arrested at the same time when she was three and her brother just one; community members cared for the children.[1] She was first arrested at age 8, during a protest at the [US Capitol](/source/United_States_Capitol).[4]

She attended the selective, majority-Black magnet [Baltimore City College High School](/source/Baltimore_City_Public_Schools).[11] She attended [Hampshire College](/source/Hampshire_College) in [Amherst](/source/Amherst,_Massachusetts), Massachusetts after receiving a scholarship that covered the majority of the costs; she covered the remaining $800 per semester herself by working at a food co-op.[4] She graduated in 1997, while her father was in jail in Maine for the "Prince of Peace" Plowshares action at [Bath Iron Works](/source/Bath_Iron_Works).[12][13][14] In college she studied with Pakistani political scientist [Eqbal Ahmed](/source/Eqbal_Ahmad), and she worked for [Frances Crowe](/source/Frances_Crowe) at the [American Friends Service Committee](/source/American_Friends_Service_Committee).[15]

## Peace activism and political party

Her first job after college was spending two years working for a Central America solidarity organization in Baltimore.[12] She left to intern at *[The Nation](/source/The_Nation)* in New York City, and write about military policy, nuclear weapons, and the arms trade for a think tank, the Arms and Security Initiative, a position she held until early 2010.[16] She joined the World Policy Institute's Arms Trade Resource Center, led by [William D. Hartung](/source/William_D._Hartung).[12][17] In another Hartung endeavor, she was a senior program associate at the [New America Foundation's](/source/New_America_(organization)) Arms and Security Initiative, also at the World Policy Institute, prior to February 2010.[16] She is on the board of the [War Resisters League](/source/War_Resisters_League), a secular pacifist organization that marked its centennial in 2023, and serves as a member of its national committee.[18][19]

In 2005 she cofounded [Witness Against Torture](/source/Witness_Against_Torture) with Matthew Daloisio and others, to work for the closure of the [Guantánamo Bay detention center](/source/Guantanamo_Bay_detention_camp) and end the US-backed use of torture.[20] Berrigan is currently a columnist for *Waging Nonviolence,*[21] and she has written columns and op-eds for [*The Day*](/source/The_Day_(New_London)).[22] She blurbed the book *ARISE AND WITNESS: Poems by [Anne Montgomery, RSCJ](/source/Anne_Montgomery_(peace_activist)), About Faith, Prison, War Zones and Nonviolent Resistance,* published in 2024.[23]

She has been a mayoral candidate for the city of [New London, Connecticut](/source/New_London,_Connecticut), running for the [Green Party](/source/Green_Party_of_the_United_States).[24] Her platform focused on affordable home ownership, in conjunction with her role as a convener of the New London chapter of the Southeastern Connecticut Community Land Trust.[25] She is also a member of the Connecticut Committee for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.[26] She teaches a first-year seminar at [Connecticut College](/source/Connecticut_College), focusing on disarmament.[27] In 2016, Berrigan estimated she had been arrested around 20 times for activism-related reasons.[4]

## Personal life

Prior to 2010, Berrigan lived in [Redhook, Brooklyn](/source/Red_Hook,_Brooklyn), New York City.[16] In 2010 she moved to the [Maryhouse Catholic Worker](/source/Catholic_Worker_Movement) in New York,[4] where she lived until her marriage.[28] Around the same time, she reconnected with Patrick Sheehan-Gaumer, also a member of the War Resisters League. The two began dating and married in June 2011 at All Souls [Unitarian Universalist](/source/Unitarian_Universalism) Congregation in New London,[4][16] in order to meet Sheehan-Gaumer, an atheist, halfway on faith.[29]

She lives in [New London, Connecticut](/source/New_London,_Connecticut) with her husband, a social worker who grew up in the same peace circles, and their three children.[4][16] She categorizes herself as an urban farmer, and also a community activist. She does not consider herself a lapsed Catholic, but rather "a Catholic in waiting, waiting for my church to remember the Gospels, to be a justice and peace-seeking community, to be fully inclusive of women and to be welcoming to people who are not hetero-normative. Pope Francis is a step in the right direction, but there is a long way to go".[29]

## References

1. Berrigan, Frida (2015). [*It Runs in the Family: On Being Raised by Radicals and Growing into Rebellious Motherhood*](https://books.google.com/books?id=6sCMDAAAQBAJ&q=+eleven). OR Books. ISBN 978-1-939293-66-4.

1. Cosacchi, Daniel (2021). ["The Berrigans: Devout and Dangerous dir. by Susan Hagedorn"](https://muse.jhu.edu/article/846054). *American Catholic Studies*. **132** (4): 53–57. [doi:10.1353/acs.2021.0062](https://doi.org/10.1353/acs.2021.0062). [ISSN 2161-8534](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/2161-8534). [S2CID 246648957](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:246648957)

1. ["Dr. Susan Hagedorn '77"](https://www.umassalumni.com/s/1640/rd17/leftCol.aspx?sid=1640&gid=2&pgid=7429). *www.umassalumni.com*. Retrieved February 18, 2024.

1. ["'The Peace Kids' grow up: Daughter of activist recalls extraordinary upbringing"](https://www.theday.com/local-news/20160604/the-peace-kids-grow-up-daughter-of-activist-recalls-extraordinary-upbringing/). *www.theday.com*. Retrieved February 29, 2024.

1. ["Elizabeth McAlister and Philip Berrigan papers, Special Collections, DePaul University Libraries"](https://archives.depaul.edu/repositories/2/resources/274). *archives.depaul.edu*. Retrieved February 17, 2024.

1. Lewis, Daniel (December 8, 2002). ["Philip Berrigan, Former Priest and Peace Advocate in the Vietnam War Era, Dies at 79"](https://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/08/us/philip-berrigan-former-priest-peace-advocate-vietnam-war-era-dies-79.html). *The New York Times*. [ISSN 0362-4331](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0362-4331). Retrieved February 17, 2024.

1. ["Frida Berrigan accepting award for Philip Berrigan"](https://jonahhouse.org/archive/Frida0410.htm). *jonahhouse.org*. Retrieved February 18, 2024.

1. Anderson, George M. (February 21, 2011). ["Growing Up Berrigan: Portrait of a Family of Peacemakers"](https://www.americamagazine.org/issue/765/article/growing-berrigan). *America Magazine*. Retrieved February 18, 2024.

1. ["TIME Magazine Cover: Philip and Daniel Berrigan"](https://content.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19710125,00.html). *[Time](/source/Time_(magazine))*. January 25, 1971. Retrieved February 17, 2024.

1. Berrigan, Frida (May 13, 2016). ["What the obituaries missed about my uncle, Dan Berrigan"](https://wagingnonviolence.org/2016/05/what-the-obituaries-missed-about-my-uncle-dan-berrigan/). *Waging Nonviolence*. Retrieved February 18, 2024.

1. Berrigan, Frida (June 16, 2012). ["The Coolest War Resister in School"](https://wagingnonviolence.org/2012/06/the-coolest-war-resister-in-school/). *Waging Nonviolence*. Retrieved February 17, 2024.

1. Berrigan, Frida (May 25, 2013). ["Pomp and Circumspect"](https://wagingnonviolence.org/2013/05/pomp-and-circumspect/). *Waging Nonviolence*. Retrieved February 17, 2024.

1. Abrecht, Marian (January 1, 1998). ["Plowshares Update"](https://sojo.net/magazine/january-february-1998/plowshares-update). *Sojourners*. Retrieved February 17, 2024.

1. ["Philip Berrigan describes plowshares action aboard the USS Sullivans: Prince of Peace Plowshares at Bath Iron works."](https://jonahhouse.org/archive/Phil_PoPplowshare.htm). *jonahhouse.org*. Retrieved February 17, 2024.

1. Riegle, Rosalie G. (January 7, 2013). [*Doing Time for Peace: Resistance, Family, and Community*](http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv16758kn). Vanderbilt University Press. [doi:10.2307/j.ctv16758kn.7](https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv16758kn.7). ISBN 978-0-8265-1873-6. [JSTOR j.ctv16758kn](https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv16758kn)

1. Brady, Lois Smith (July 15, 2011). ["Frida Berrigan and Patrick Sheehan-Gaumer"](https://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/17/fashion/weddings/frida-berrigan-and-patrick-sheehan-gaumer-vows.html). *The New York Times*. [ISSN 0362-4331](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0362-4331). Retrieved February 18, 2024.

1. ["Frida Berrigan: World Policy Institute, 2001 | Special Collections"](https://archives.depaul.edu/repositories/2/archival_objects/52204). *DePaul University Libraries*. Retrieved February 17, 2024.

1. ["Frida Berrigan"](https://www.warresisters.org/magazine-authors/frida-berrigan). *War Resisters League*. April 17, 2015. Retrieved February 18, 2024.

1. Sargent, Carole (January 12, 2024). ["The War Resisters League just turned 100. Here's a history of its Catholic ties."](https://www.ncronline.org/opinion/guest-voices/war-resisters-league-just-turned-100-heres-history-its-catholic-ties). *National Catholic Reporter*

1. Riegle, Rosalie (2012). ["Let’s Do It Again!’: The Berrigans and Jonah House"](https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv16758kn). *Doing Time for Peace: Resistance, Family, and Community*. Nashville, Tennessee: Vanderbilt University Press. pp. 49–69. [doi:10.2307/j.ctv16758kn.7](https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv16758kn.7). ISBN 978-0-8265-1872-9. [JSTOR j.ctv16758kn](https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv16758kn)

1. ["Frida Berrigan, Author at Waging Nonviolence"](https://wagingnonviolence.org/author/fridaberrigan/). *Waging Nonviolence*. Retrieved February 29, 2024.

1. Berrigan, Frida (April 1, 2009). ["Made in the U.S.A.: American Military Aid to Israel"](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1525/jps.2009.XXXVIII.3.6). *Journal of Palestine Studies*. **38** (3): 6–21. [doi:10.1525/jps.2009.XXXVIII.3.6](https://doi.org/10.1525/jps.2009.XXXVIII.3.6). [ISSN 0377-919X](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0377-919X)

1. Laffin, Arthur & Sargent, Carole (eds.) (15 September 2024). *ARISE AND WITNESS: Poems by Anne Montgomery, RSCJ, About Faith, Prison, War Zones and Nonviolent Resistance*. Washington, DC: New Academia/SCARITH. ISBN 979-8-9900542-4-0.

1. Collins, David. ["Frida Berrigan will crack open New London's mayoral race"](https://www.theday.com/local-columns/20190907/frida-berrigan-will-crack-open-new-londons-mayoral-race/). *www.theday.com*. Retrieved February 29, 2024.

1. ["Presenters"](https://ctconservation.org/presenters/). *Connecticut Land Conservation Council*. Retrieved February 19, 2024.

1. Centore, Michael. ["Golden Rule Boat Sets Sail for 'A Nuclear-free World'"](https://www.ncronline.org/news/golden-rule-boat-sets-sail-nuclear-free-world). *National Catholic Reporter*. Retrieved February 19, 2024.

1. Berrigan, Frida. ["How my Gen Z Students Learned to Start Worrying and Dismantle the Bomb"](https://thebulletin.org/premium/2024-01/how-my-gen-z-students-learned-to-start-worrying-and-dismantle-the-bomb/). *Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists*. Retrieved February 18, 2024.

1. Berrigan, Frida (May 4, 2013). ["Opinion | A Place Where It's Easier To Be Good"](https://www.commondreams.org/views/2013/05/04/place-where-its-easier-be-good). *Common Dreams*. Retrieved February 29, 2024.

1. Berrigan, Frida (October 11, 2013). ["What Should Church Look Like?"](https://wagingnonviolence.org/2013/10/church-look-like/). *Waging Nonviolence*. Retrieved February 18, 2024.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Frida Berrigan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frida_Berrigan) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frida_Berrigan?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.