My Wikipedia featured photo
- Coming to Canada
My photo of counseling draft dodgers in 1967 was nominated as a featured photo on Wikipedia. “This is a featured picture, which means that members of the community have identified it as one of the best images on the English Wikipedia, adding significantly to its accompanying article.”
In August 1967, John Phillips and I arrived in Toronto and were counseled by Mark Satin of the Toronto Anti-Draft Program.
After months of applications and hearings, the Algona, Iowa draft board denied John’s application for Conscientious Objector status, which would have allowed him to serve the United States for two years of alternative service to the military. The Draft Board decided to “make a man” out of John and send him to Vietnam.
During one of John’s visits with the draft board, I sat reading the Ladies Home Journal and learned of the Toronto Anti-Draft Program and the possibility of Canada. The choices at the time were war, jail, or Canada. Many of our friends chose jail. We chose Canada.
When John was given the notice of 30 days to report, we dropped out of the Quaker college that we were attending in New York and headed to Spadina Ave. in Toronto.
It was the best life-choice for me – moving to Toronto with John. I found a sense of neighborliness and community here that contradicts stereotypes of city life. Even after forty years of being here, I still adore Toronto.
Mark Satin (far left) John Phillips (far right)