Martha Hennessy (born July 11, 1955) is an

American Catholic The Catholic Church in the United States is part of the worldwide Catholic Church in communion with the pope, who as of 2025 is Chicago, Illinois-born Leo XIV. With 23 percent of the United States' population , the Catholic Church is the cou ...

peace activist and member of the

Catholic Worker Movement The Catholic Worker Movement is a collection of autonomous communities founded by Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin in the United States in 1933. Its aim is to "live in accordance with the justice and charity of Jesus Christ". One of its guiding prin ...

co-founded by her grandmother,

Dorothy Day Dorothy Day, Oblate#Secular oblates, OblSB (November 8, 1897 – November 29, 1980) was an American journalist, social activist and Anarchism, anarchist who, after a bohemianism, bohemian youth, became a Catholic Church, Catholic without aba ...

Life and work

Hennessy grew up

Weathersfield, Vermont Weathersfield is a New England town, town in Windsor County, Vermont, Windsor County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,842 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. History The town of Weathersfield was named after Wethersfield ...

. She is the seventh child of David Hennessy and Tamar Day Hennessy, the only child of

. Her sister is the author

Kate Hennessy Kate Hennessy (born 1960) is an American writer. Life and work Hennessy grew up Weathersfield, Vermont. She is the ninth and youngest child of David Hennessy and Tamar Day Hennessy, the only child of Dorothy Day. Her sister is Martha Hennessy. ...

. She worked for 30 years as an occupational therapist, including time at the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center, White River Junction Healthcare System in

White River Junction White River Junction is an unincorporated village and census-designated place (CDP) in the New England town, town of Hartford, Vermont, Hartford in Windsor County, Vermont, Windsor County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,528 at the ...

. Hennessy is active in the

. In 1979, Hennessy was arrested with many other demonstrators while attempting to occupy the

Seabrook Station Nuclear Power Plant The Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant, more commonly known as Seabrook Station, is a nuclear power plant located in Seabrook, New Hampshire, United States, approximately north of Boston and south of Portsmouth. It has operated since 1990. With its ...

under construction in

Seabrook, New Hampshire Seabrook is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 8,401 at the 2020 census. Located at the southern end of the coast of New Hampshire, on the border with Massachusetts, Seabrook is noted as the location of ...

. Since then, she has been arrested while demonstrating against the prison at Guantanamo Bay, the United States government's use of drones in war, and the use of starvation as a weapon of war in

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

. In 2020 Hennessy was interviewed about her life, anti-war activism, and grandmother, Dorothy Day, who co-founded the Catholic Worker Movement with Peter Maurin in 1933.

Kings Bay Plowshares

On April 4, 2018, Hennessy took part in the

Kings Bay Plowshares The Kings Bay Plowshares are a group of seven Catholic peace activists who broke into the Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base and carried out a symbolic act of protest against nuclear weapons. The name of the action and the wider anti-nuclear Plowshares ...

action, breaking into Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base in Georgia to protest its stockpile of nuclear weapons. She was arrested and later placed under

house arrest House arrest (also called home confinement, or nowadays electronic monitoring) is a legal measure where a person is required to remain at their residence under supervision, typically as an alternative to imprisonment. The person is confined b ...

in late May 2018 with an electronic monitoring bracelet strapped to her left ankle. On November 13, 2020, she was sentenced to 10 months in prison. As an extension of the Plowshares witness she blurbed a book about Plowshares, ''ARISE AND WITNESS: Poems by

Anne Montgomery, RSCJ Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female name Anna (name), Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah (given name), Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie (given name), Annie a ...

, About Faith, Prison, War Zones and Nonviolent Resistance,'' published in 2024.

Personal life

Hennessy is married to Steven Melanson, a carpenter and photographer. They have been married for 40 years. She is a grandmother of eight. She lives on her family farm in Vermont and at Maryhouse Catholic Worker in New York City.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hennessy, Martha 1955 births Living people American Christian pacifists Anti–nuclear weapons movement Catholic pacifists Catholic Worker Movement Civil disobedience in the United States Occupational therapists Peace movements People from Weathersfield, Vermont Catholic Workers