May 29, 1930

Joseph Henri Biltz was born in Little Rock (Pulaski County). Biltz, a Roman Catholic priest and human rights activist, was a staunch supporter of social and Church reform in Arkansas. His outspoken advocacy for reform brought him into direct confrontation with both religious and civil authorities. In 1983, Biltz made headlines by accompanying anti-nuclear-weapons protestor James Sauder to a Titan II Missile silo, where Blitz prayed while Sauder spread holy water. In 1985, Biltz was arrested with forty-four protestors while protesting apartheid in front of the South African Embassy in Washington DC.