Wallace Floyd Nelson

Served three and a half years in federal prison as a conscientious objector during World War II, fasting 108 days (with forced tube-feeding) to protest racial segregation of prisoners. Participated in the 1947 Journey of Reconciliation — the first "freedom ride" — and became the first national field organizer for the Congress of Racial Equality. With Juanita he began war tax resistance in 1948; the couple was arrested as the "Elkton Three" for trying to integrate a Maryland restaurant. The Nelsons lived a radically simple life on less than $5,000 a year on a half-acre in Deerfield, Massachusetts, growing their own food and refusing electricity.