v28-4 Chicago History Book Club

By Bob Remer

Chicago Conspiracy Trial

The book club had a very special morning in October 14th discussing John Schultz’s The Chicago Conspiracy Trial about the “turbulent trial of the eight men charged with inciting anti-war riots at the 1968 Democratic National Convention” in Chicago. We were joined by Edgewater resident and EHS volunteer Margie Fritz-Birch, whose mother was a key dissenting member of the jury whose testimony at the appeal hearing helped overturn the convictions.

Margie had materials and articles about the trial, including her mother’s diary. She told us poignant stories about how the trial affected her whole family, who were under constant and tense scrutiny, and how her mother had been sequestered for months in almost prison like confinement. It was a very moving and informative morning.