Biography
Alfred Burmeister was a conscientious objector from Illinois imprisoned during World War I. Court-martialed for refusing military service, he was held at Fort Leavenworth; Fort Douglas. Sentenced to 50 years in prison, reduced to 5 years. (Documented in the Swarthmore College Peace Collection's World War I Conscientious Objectors database.) Archival note: registered for draft on June 5, 1917, as a C.O.; interviewed by Bd. on Jan. 6, 1919 at Disciplinary Barracks ; charged with disobedience of orders and with seditious utterances; sentenced to 50 years in prison, reduced to 5 years; reason for stance = humanitarian, socialist; …
A prisoner letter published in the December 1919 One Big Union Monthly records that Burmeister was drafted on June 27, 1918, reached camp on June 30, and was confined in the guardhouse on July 1 for disobedience of orders. His court-martial on August 22, 1918 imposed fifty years, reduced to five years around March or April 1919. The letter lists him among the military prisoners held at Fort Douglas, Utah.
A prisoner letter published in the December 1919 One Big Union Monthly records that Burmeister was drafted on June 27, 1918, reached camp on June 30, and was confined in the guardhouse on July 1 for disobedience of orders. His court-martial on August 22, 1918 imposed fifty years, reduced to five years around March or April 1919. The letter lists him among the military prisoners held at Fort Douglas, Utah.
