Biography
Jos. A. Berman was a conscientious objector from Massachusetts imprisoned during World War I. Court-martialed for refusing military service, he was held at Fort Leavenworth. Sentenced to 15 years in prison - reduced to 2. (Documented in the Swarthmore College Peace Collection's World War I Conscientious Objectors database.) Archival note: registered for the draft on June 5, 1917, but not as a CO; interviewed by the Special Bd. on charge of desertion at the Disciplinary Barracks on Jan. 5, 1919; sentenced to 15 years in prison - reduced to 2.5 years; was a member of the Socialist Party
1920s custody review: The source entry identifies 1917 as the draft year, not prison admission. It places Berman at the disciplinary barracks for an interview on January 5, 1919, and describes a fifteen-year sentence reduced to two and a half years. The imported 1917 incarceration year is removed and the truncated sentence corrected. The interview does not establish admission. The inherited 1920 release year still requires independent verification; Yoder leaves the release field blank. No identifiable photograph was established.
Source: Anne M. Yoder conscientious-objector database, Jos. A. Berman entry. The local original import mapped the draft year into incarceration; the source columns were checked separately.
