Ferber, Michael, 1944-

Michael Ferber is also known for his involvement in the Vietnam War resistance movement and the Boston Five. In 1967 he helped organize and publicize a ceremony at the Arlington Street Church in Boston, where draft-age men turned in their draft cards and pledged to refuse induction and go to prison. He then traveled to Washington D.C. to turn the draft cards over to the U.S. Department of Justice. He was indicted, along with the other members of the Boston Five, Dr. Benjamin Spock, Rev. William Sloane Coffin Jr., Mitchell Goodman, and Marcus Raskin. He was sentenced to two years in prison for conspiring to aid and abet young men to violate the draft law, but an appeals court overturned the verdict.

The collection contains attorney John E. Wall's legal papers pertaining to the trial of the Boston Five. Wall was an Assistant United States Attorney who prosecuted Benjamin Spock, William Sloane Coffin, Michael Ferber, Marcus Raskin, and Mitchell Goodman for "conspiracy to counsel, aid, and abet" disobedience of the Selective Service Act during the Vietnam War. The greater portion of the collection consists of daily transcripts of Federal District Court and United States Court of Appeals proceedings. The remainder of the collection consists of materials that John Wall used to prepare his case for trial. It includes notes and correspondence, typescript memoranda and reports, photographs, newspaper clippings, and magazine articles.