Social Reformer. A radical pacifist and social change activist, he is best remembered for his role as one of the Chicago Eight (later changed to the Chicago Seven) during the 1968 Chicago Democratic National Convention riots, which led to his being convicted of encouraging the riots. Born to a well-to-do family in Wakefield, Massachusetts, where his father was a lawyer and prominent Republican, Dellinger attended Yale and Oxford Universities. Rejecting his parents' affluent background, upon graduation from Yale during the Great Depression he went to live with the homeless, protesting the lack of support given them by the government. When World War II broke out, he was studying theology at Union Theological Seminary, and could have registered for a deferment as a seminary student, however, he refused to register for the draft, and despite his conscientious objection to war, he was sentenced to three years in prison. In the 1950s and 1960s, he opposed the Korean War, joined Freedom Marches in the South, and opposed the Bay of Pigs Invasion, leading several hunger strikes that resulted in his being arrested and jailed. When the US entered the Vietnam War, he became active in opposing that war. In 1968, during the election campaigns and at the height of the Vietnam War, he went to Chicago to protest at the Democratic National Convention. When rioting broke out near the convention center, he was arrested and charged with conspiracy to start a riot, and with crossing state lines to incite a riot. Eight persons were charged: Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, Rennie Davis, Tom Hayden, John Froines, Lee Weiner, Bobby Seale and David Dellinger, and the group became known as the Chicago Eight (when Seale was removed from the case, the group became known as the Chicago Seven). Five of the men, including Dellinger, were convicted of conspiracy, although the convictions were later overturned on appeal. A pacifist who meant business, he continued to protest what he considered social injustice, contending that capitalism lead to imperialism and to violence. In later years, he rallied against "the Drug War" believing it was racist, and marched to support changing the Columbus Day holiday to a "Native American Day." In 2001, he traveled to Quebec City in Canada to protest the creation of a free trade zone in the Western Hemisphere, stating, "Three percent of the richest people in the world control more wealth than 49 undeveloped countries. The trade agreement (i.e. NAFTA) is going to extend that kind of system."