Marion Bromley ''née'' Coddington (October 10, 1912 – January 21, 1996) was a pioneer of the modern American

tax resistance Tax resistance is the refusal to pay tax because of opposition to the government that is imposing the tax, or to government policy, or as opposition to taxation in itself. Tax resistance is a form of direct action and, if in violation of the ta ...

movement and a civil rights activist.

Tax resistance

In 1948 Bromley left the staff of the

Fellowship of Reconciliation The Fellowship of Reconciliation (FoR or FOR) is the name used by a number of religious nonviolent organizations, particularly in English-speaking countries. They are linked by affiliation to the International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR). ...

(where she had been

A.J. Muste Abraham Johannes Muste ( ; January 8, 1885 – February 11, 1967), usually cited as A. J. Muste, was a Dutch-born American clergyman and political activist. He is best remembered for his work in the labor movement, pacifist movement, antiwar m ...

's secretary) to avoid the withholding of taxes on her paycheck. Bromley helped found the group

Peacemakers Peacemakers was an American pacifist organization founded following a conference on "More Disciplined and Revolutionary Pacifist Activity" in Chicago in July 1948. Ernest and Marion Bromley and Juanita and Wally Nelson largely organized the g ...

later that year, and concentrated her focus on the organization of war tax resistance by that group. Over the years her refusal to pay her taxes has appeared in the news. The first war tax resistance "how to" guide, ''Handbook on Nonpayment of War Taxes'', was published by Marion and Ernest Bromley in 1963. Bromley participated in the first meeting of the

National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee The National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee (NWTRCC — usually pronounced "new-trick") is an American activist coalition that promotes tax resistance as a way to protest against and/or disassociate from war and militarism. In 1982, the ...

in 1982. In the 1970s the

Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting Taxation in the United States, U.S. federal taxes and administerin ...

tried and failed to seize their home for non-payment of taxes. In 1977 the

War Resisters League The War Resisters League (WRL) is the oldest secular pacifist organization in the United States, having been founded in 1923. History Founded in 1923 by men and women who had opposed World War I, it is a section of the London-based War Resisters' ...

gave the Bromleys its annual Peace Award.

Desegregation activism

She participated in the campaign to desegregate the

Coney Island Coney Island is a neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach to its east, Lower New York Bay to the south and west, and Gravesend to ...

amusement park in 1952. She was with a black couple in a car that attempted to gain access to the park but was attacked by an anti-desegregationist mob (the occupants of the car were charged with disorderly conduct).

Personal life

She married

Ernest Bromley Ernest Bromley (March 14, 1912 – December 17, 1997) was an American minister, Quaker and civil rights and peace activist. A founding member of the Freedom Riders, he played an active role in protests of racial segregation in the Southern Un ...

in 1948.

References

External links

* Coddington, Marion 1996 deaths American tax resisters {{US-activist-stub