Join Us
Join RCI
Rutland County Indivisible is a group of grassroots activists from all walks of life who believe in a vision for America that embraces equality and justice for all. We hold rallies, stage vigils, organize marches, coordinate get-out-the-vote drives, and engage in other actions to preserve our republic and hold politicians accountable
Now that you’ve joined RCI, consider joining one of our teams…
You can be a member of RCI without joining one of our teams, but it is the teams that take the suggestions of the members-at-large (e.g. “Let’s hold a rally!”) and transform them into action— so team members gain a sense of hope and accomplishment because—as we like to say—action is the antidote to despair.
COMMUNICATIONS TEAM
The goals of the Communications Team are to (1) foster communication within RCI, and (2) publicize RCI’s activities to the public at large. To accomplish these goals, we utilize social media, digital media, broadcast media, and the traditional press. Anyone is welcome to join us, especially writers, artists, designers, thinkers, and skiers with free guest passes
For more information, contact David Balfour at drfell55@gmail.com
COMMUNITY BUILDING TEAM
The Community Building Team organizes social gatherings such as potlucks, group poster/postcard writing parties, and other creative political actions that all members of Indivisible as well as those outside RCI can enjoy. If you value connection and enjoy helping others to feel included, this is the team for you!
For more information, contact Kathleen Guinness at kathleenguinness63@gmail.com
DIRECT ACTION TEAM
The Direct Action Team is the boots-on-the-ground part of our organization. When RCI decides to stage an event, our team ensures success by planning every facet—from start to finish—including speeches, music, safety, peacekeeping, cooperation with law enforcement, special communications systems, etc. We also work with other groups outside of our region to coordinate larger state-wide events.
For more information, contact Dave Coppock at dscoppock@gmail.com or Rod Munroe at rodneymunroe7@gmail.com
EDUCATION TEAM
For more information, contact Marsha Cassel at casselmarsha@gmail.com
OUTREACH TEAM
The Outreach Team works to invite and orient new members to RCI and build our membership by connecting with individuals and organizations throughout Rutland County. If you like networking, and want to help expand the reach of RCI in the community and grow the impact of the national movement to protect our democracy, please join us!
For more information, contact Charlotte Gerstein at charlotte.gerstein@gmail.com or Eva Zivitz at eziv@vermontel.net
POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE (PAC)
The PAC focuses on tracking national, state, and local legislation. The members make phone calls to our congressional, state, and local representatives on issues of concern. We also write Letters to the Editor in response to current political events. During elections, our priority is searching for candidates to represent Rutland County and supporting those candidates through Get out the Vote (GOTV) actions and postcard campaigns. PAC meets via Zoom the 2nd Monday of every month. New members are welcome!
For more information, contact Pat Schroeder at topsun@comcast.net or Jean Ray at jeanray75@gmail.com
A Brave Little State
In 1928, President Calvin Coolidge (who was born and raised 15 miles east of Rutland) said of his home state: “If the spirit of liberty should vanish in other parts of the union and support of our institutions should languish, it could all be replenished from the generous store held by the people of this brave little state of Vermont.” It was a prescient observation. Herewith are 25 instances where Vermonters bravely resisted tyranny and expanded liberty:
1600s
1. Vermont’s Native Americans launched or participated in a series of wars, including King Philip’s War (1675-77) and King William’s War (1689-97), to defend their way of life against European imperialism
1700s
2. Native Americans continued to resist colonialism by fighting bravely in Queen Anne’s War (1702-13), Grey Lock’s War (1723-27), King George’s War (1744-48), and the French & Indian War (1754-63)
3. Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys daringly captured the “impregnable” Fort Ticonderoga, the first offensive victory for American forces in the Revolutionary War (1775)
4. Before joining the Union, Vermont existed as an independent republic for 14 years (1777-91)
5. Vermont’s constitution was the first in North America to outlaw slavery (1777)
6. Vermont’s constitution was the first in America to grant voting rights to all adult males (not just property owners) (1777)
7. Vermont’s constitution broke ground by being the first to mandate free public education for all (1777)
8. Feisty Congressman Matthew Lyon (of Fair Haven) was jailed for violating the Alien and Sedition Acts (1798). His crime? He declared that the President of the United States (John Adams) had an “unbounded thirst for ridiculous pomp, foolish adulation, and selfish avarice” (some things never change). The voters of Vermont defied the regime by enthusiastically re-electing Lyon to Congress— even though he was still locked up in jail.
1800s
9. Pioneering women’s rights advocate Emma Willard challenged the patriarchy by founding the Middlebury Female Seminary, where women could learn subjects—math, history, science, philosophy—heretofore reserved for men (1814)
10. Alexander Twilight advanced the cause of racial equality by becoming the first African American to earn a bachelor’s degree in the United States (from Middlebury College in 1823). Later, he was the first African American ever elected to a state legislature (1836).
11. Vermonters William Lloyd Garrison, Thaddeus Stevens (born in Rutland County), and Horace Greeley (resided in Rutland County) were important leaders of the abolitionist movement (1830s-1860s)
12. Vermont sent more soldiers per capita than any other state to defeat the slaveocracy in the Civil War (1861-65)
13. Because of the Vermonters’ reputation for valor, when Union General John Sedgwick approached the battlefield at Gettysburg (1863) he gave the order to “Put the Vermonters ahead!” That was a prophetic command, as it was the 2nd Vermont Brigade that wiped out Pickett’s Charge at Cemetery Ridge and thereby broke the back of the Confederacy forever.
14. Saving the Union and ending slavery came at a grievous cost: Vermont suffered more casualties per capita than any other state in the Civil War.
15. Senator Justin Morrill authored the momentous Morrill Land Grant Act (1862) that reflected Vermonters’ commitment to public education by providing federal funding for public colleges and universities. The Act was the cornerstone of the American higher education system, as eventually 106 colleges and universities (e.g. Ohio State, MIT, University of Florida, Texas A&M, University of Wisconsin, Michigan State, University of Arizona, Cornell, University of Georgia, UConn, Penn State, University of Illinois, Clemson, University of Kentucky, Purdue, University of Maryland, Berkeley, and UVM) were established from coast to coast. Many of these institutions have a building named in honor of Senator Morrill.
1900s
16. The Von Trapp family found a congenial home in Vermont (1941) after fleeing Austria to escape the Nazis
17. Senator Ralph Flanders, a conservative Republican, defied his party and courageously introduced the motion in the Senate that censured Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy, officially bringing McCarthyism to an end (1954)
18. Vermonters—including Republican Senator George Aiken—played a notable role in the anti-war movement of the Sixties
19. Nobel Prize-winning author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, a significant voice for freedom, decided to settle in Vermont (1976) after being expelled from the Soviet Union
20. Vermonters led the Nuclear Freeze Movement of the 1980s. In 1982, Vermont made headlines world-wide when 88% of town meetings called for a nuclear weapons freeze.
21. Prominent environmentalist Bill McKibben first alerted Americans to the threat of climate change in his book The End of Nature (1989)
22. Human rights activist Jody Williams (from Rutland) was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize (just the third American woman to win the prize) for her work advocating the clearing and banning of anti-personnel mines (1997)
23. General Martha Rainville was the first woman in U.S. history to serve as head of a state’s National Guard (1997)
2000s
24. Vermont was the first state to legalize civil unions, a groundbreaking advance that granted same-sex couples all the rights and privileges of marriage (2000)
25. Bernie Sanders, one of the most influential and popular progressives in the country, was the first socialist elected to the U.S. Senate (2006)
Given this history, do you really think we’re gonna let a befuddled schoolyard bully like Donny 2 Dolls intimidate us?
Ethan Allen of the Green Mountain Boys
Brianlokelly, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
RCI strives to build a loving and inclusive community
