Lou and Pat Hammann honored for DFA service

While some looked toward centennial events in October 1999, Patricia Hammann was anticipating a trial after being jailed in our nation’s capital at the age of 69. Her blue eyes were steady as she described her first arrest for demonstrating in the Capitol rotunda; “They hand-cuffed us and put us in a paddy wagon.” In jail, the head of the Capitol police asked how she was, and she said “Transcendent!  Happy as a lark!”  She clarified that “it wasn’t that I wanted to be arrested, but that I was willing to be arrested to help the cause of political campaign reform”. 

That was her first arrest of three. By the new year, Patricia’s husband, Lou Hammann, of Orrtanna, had joined her.  The two were arrested on January 31, 2000, both 70 years of age.  Lou was arrested 6 times for demonstrating non-violently in the Capitol rotunda. Money in politics was the issue. Pat and Lou were part of a national organization that was working to end the private-money system of campaign financing. Lou suffered a severe fall with a head injury while getting into a police van, handcuffed, during his 6th arrest. He was manacled and held in a “cage” in the D.C. hospital. As Lou and Pat spoke with us, they held up newspaper accounts, arrest and court documents, tee shirts and protest signs to help bring their story to life. 

The retired special education teacher and professor of religious studies/ordained minister have a long history of interest in social issues. Lou and Pat met while working summer jobs at a Howard Johnson’s Restaurant in Baltimore. As they began dating, Lou noticed something tantalizingly different about Patricia’s family. Lou’s own father was a fish dealer in Baltimore, and their close-knit family get-togethers revolved around pinochle games, bologna sandwiches and American Beer. Those with different backgrounds were seldom considered, much less invited into their social circle, and Lou was the first in his family to attend college. Lou noticed Pat’s parents holding long, ardent discussions about social class, economic justice and the rights of citizens. 

Her father was quite aware, as an orphan, of the hardships of farming without electricity. Towns usually had electricity, but not the rural areas. President Roosevelt appointed her father to organize rural electrification in a three-state area in the 1930’s. He did this amid strong opposition from the power companies, who wanted to restrict progress that might limit profits, and they managed to cut off her father’s pay. Her father kept right on working “bringing in the lights” for six years. These were depression years, and this made a strong impression on Patricia, and on Lou, as well. Lou found in him a strong role model.  “I loved that man. Marrying Patricia was like marrying a history I knew nothing about - my world expanded through my association with Patricia and her family. I found that what I wanted most in life was to be like her father - I carry his memory with me.” As Lou spoke, you could feel the pride Patricia feels toward her father, and his inspiration for her, as well.

In the summers of 1950-51, Lou went on to enroll in two summer internships with projects sponsored by a Quaker organization; American Friends Service Society.  The “Interns in Industry” program put Lou to work in a factory, manufacturing roof tiles – hard, back-breaking work. He worked alongside other interns that had different ethnic/racial background and experiences. In the evenings, they listened to talks by union leaders and economists. He found himself becoming fast friends with diverse people. Gaining his PhD in religious studies, he later found that the diverse religious training and world view he had acquired provided a great background for teaching others about religious differences and tolerance.  Through these experiences, Lou “discovered the difference between just living in the world vs. being active in it”. 

One of the most inspiring heroes for Lou and Pat was Granny D (Doris Haddock) from New Hampshire. On January 1st, 1999, after her husband died from Alzheimer’s, she walked across the country from Pasadena, CA to Washington, D.C. at age 88, championing the cause of campaign finance reform. She reached the capitol on February 29, 2000 - one year and two birthdays later, at age 90. 

Also inspirational to the Hammanns was Texas journalist, Ronnie Dugger, founder of a national grassroots organization, The Alliance for Democracy. Lou and Pat joined and held high office in the Alliance. During the 1999 Annual National Conference in Boulder, CO, plans were initiated for demonstrations at the DC Capitol for the fall. Pat volunteered to be part of the “First Brigade”, along with 8 others, and was trained in nonviolent protest by Randy Kehler of Massachusetts. (Kehler’s resistance to paying war taxes gave inspiration to Daniel Ellsburgh in smuggling the Pentagon Papers, without regard to the personal cost.) The first demonstration by the Alliance was October 26, 1999.   The nine participants included many national grassroots leaders with Ronnie Dugger, who read his “Citizen’s Address to Congress” in the Capitol rotunda.  They also unfurled a 25-foot black banner that read “Stop Crimes Against Democracy: End Campaign Finance Corruption Now”. All 9 were arrested by the Capitol Police, hauled to jail and charged with demonstrating in the Capitol building. 

At the hearing in November, 6 participants pleaded guilty and were charged with misdemeanors. Pat and two others, defending their first amendment rights, refused to plead guilty, and faced trial. 

Granny D and the actions of the Alliance had a positive effect on passing the bipartisan McCain-Feingold bill into law in 2002, which regulated political campaign finances. Pat and Lou were sitting in the balcony of Congress, along with their friend, Granny D, when the bill passed. This law held for 8 years until the Supreme Court ruled in the Citizen United decision, January 2010, which undid McCain-Feingold by allowing corporations and unions to spend freely in political campaigns.

Honored for their service at the Gettysburg DFA meeting in December, the Hammanns have been active in many grassroots issues, including saving our environment, healthcare as a human right and other just causes. Locally, they participated in the 2005 formation of Gettysburg Democracy for America and have taken part in many demonstrations for healthcare and immigrants’ rights!

Patricia says that “when one cause is over, the way the world is put together, there will be other causes. It’s a job that every generation has to do, but it is never complete”. Retirement has given Lou and Pat a chance to start over and pursue other political causes while continuing to promote their sustainable neighborhood. 

Sandy Busche and Rayna Cooper are members of Gettysburg DFA.