Activist nun Ardeth Platte dies at 84

Ardeth Platte, a Dominican sister who fought for nuclear disarmament, died in her sleep at the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker House in Washington, DC, on September 30.

Platte, 84, spent years in prison for nonviolent civil disobedience in opposition to nuclear weapons and war. In recent years, the brunt of her work was speaking in support of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

Platte was born in Lansing, Michigan, and began her work for the Dominicans as a teacher. In the 1960s and ’70s, she served as principal and director of alternative education at the former St. Joseph’s Educational Center in Saginaw, Michigan. Her work as an educator impressed many in the community, and Platte was urged to run for the Saginaw City Council. She won, serving as councilwoman from 1973 to 1985.