Ardeth Platte, O.P., (10 April 1936 – 30 September 2020) was an American Dominican

religious sister A religious sister (abbreviated ''Sr.'' or Sist.) in the Catholic Church is a woman who has taken public vows in a religious institute dedicated to apostolic works, as distinguished from a nun who lives a cloistered monastic life dedicated to pr ...

and

anti-nuclear activist The anti-nuclear movement is a social movement that opposes various nuclear technologies. Some direct action groups, environmental movements, and professional organisations have identified themselves with the movement at the local, nationa ...

. She was inducted into the

Michigan Women's Hall of Fame The Michigan Women's Hall of Fame (MWHOF) honors distinguished women, both historical and contemporary, who have been associated with the U.S. state of Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regi ...

in 1999.

Early life

Platte was born in

Lansing, Michigan Lansing () is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is mostly in Ingham County, although portions of the city extend west into Eaton County and north into Clinton County. The 2020 census placed the city's population at 112,644, making ...

in 1936 and grew up in Westphalia, Michigan, graduating from St. Mary's High School in Westphalia in 1953 as its valedictorian. She entered the Dominican Sisters of Grand Rapids in 1954, at the age of 18, and after her

novitiate The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether ...

studied at

Aquinas College :''See also List of institutions named after Thomas Aquinas'' Aquinas College may refer to any one of several educational institutions: In Australia *Aquinas College, Perth, Roman Catholic boys' R–12 school *Aquinas College, Adelaide, residenti ...

operated by them in

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the List of municipalities in Mi ...

to train as a schoolteacher. In 1967, she founded the St. Joseph Alternative Education Center in

Saginaw, Michigan Saginaw () is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the seat of Saginaw County. The city of Saginaw and Saginaw County are both in the area known as Mid-Michigan. Saginaw is adjacent to Saginaw Charter Township and considered part of Greater ...

, a school for children who had been denied access to other institutions. In 1995, Platte moved to

Jonah House Jonah House is a faith-based community centered on the concept of "Nonviolence, resistance and community". Founded in 1973 by a group that included Philip Berrigan, then a Catholic priest, and Elizabeth McAlister, formerly a Catholic nun, Jonah Hou ...

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, where she took part in Plowshares actions. Platte served on the Saginaw City Council from 1977 to 1985.

Activism

In 2000, Platte, along with two other members of her

religious congregation A religious congregation is a type of religious institute in the Catholic Church. They are legally distinguished from religious orders – the other major type of religious institute – in that members take simple vows, whereas members of religio ...

, Sisters Jackie Hudson, O.P., and Carol Gilbert, O.P., illegally entered Peterson Air Force Base and sprayed a fighter plane with their own

blood Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells, and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells. Blood in the c ...

. The three women were arrested and held in prison until the charges were dropped. In 2002, the same trio entered a

Minuteman III The LGM-30 Minuteman is an American land-based intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in service with the Air Force Global Strike Command. , the LGM-30G Minuteman III version is the only land-based ICBM in service in the United States and re ...

missile silo in Colorado. They wore white jump suits bearing the words "Citizen Weapon Inspection Team", and proceeded to pray in front of the silo as they poured their own blood on it in the shape of a cross. The sisters were arrested and had to wait lying on the ground for hours. They continued protesting into their pre-trial hearing; wearing full

religious habit A religious habit is a distinctive set of religious clothing worn by members of a religious order. Traditionally some plain garb recognizable as a religious habit has also been worn by those leading the religious eremitic and anchoritic life, ...

s, the Sisters answered the judge by nodding without speaking. At the start of their trial,

Robert E. Blackburn Robert Edward Blackburn (born April 12, 1950) is a United States federal judge, senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Colorado. Personal life and education Blackburn was born in Lakewood, C ...

, the presiding judge, granted an ''

in limine IN, In or in may refer to: Places * India (country code IN) * Indiana, United States (postal code IN) * Ingolstadt, Germany (license plate code IN) * In, Russia, a town in the Jewish Autonomous Oblast Businesses and organizations * Independ ...

'' motion to the prosecutor, which prevented the sisters from arguing that their actions were legal under international law and the Nuremberg defense. They were sentenced to between 30 and 41 months in

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correc ...

. Platte was released from prison on December 22, 2005. She was not due to be released until May 31 of the next year, but a judge took into consideration the time she had already served, according to the

Federal Bureau of Prisons The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is a United States federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Justice that is responsible for the care, custody, and control of incarcerated individuals who have committed federal crimes; that i ...

. She then served three more years of probation. She is considered a terrorist by the Maryland State Police. Platte, like other residents of Jonah House, donated a collection of materials documenting her peace activism to

DePaul University DePaul University is a private university, private, Catholic higher education, Catholic research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by the Congregation of the Mission, Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from the 17th-centu ...

Special Collections and Archives. The Ardeth Platte Papers are part of the Collection on Peace Activism.

In popular culture

Platte was the inspiration for the character of Sister Jane Ingalls (played by Beth Fowler) on the television show ''

Orange Is the New Black ''Orange Is the New Black'' (sometimes abbreviated to ''OITNB'') is an American comedy-drama streaming television series created by Jenji Kohan for Netflix. The series is based on Piper Kerman's memoir '' Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Wo ...

''. The book ''Transform Now Plowshares: Megan Rice, Gregory Boertje-Obed, and Michael Walli'' (Liturgical Press 2022) is dedicated to her, and features many of the antinuclear actions she did with sisters Gilbert, Hudson, and others.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Platte, Ardeth 1936 births American anti–nuclear weapons activists DePaul University Special Collections and Archives holdings Dominican Sisters 2020 deaths Politicians from Lansing, Michigan Politicians from Saginaw, Michigan Michigan city council members Women city councillors in Michigan Roman Catholic activists 20th-century American Roman Catholic nuns Catholics from Michigan Schoolteachers from Michigan American women educators 21st-century American Roman Catholic nuns Michigan Women's Hall of Fame inductees