Daniel Ellsberg, the war analyst who in 1971 leaked the so-called Pentagon Papers that publicly exposed government deception and mistakes during the war in Vietnam, received an honorary degree Saturday from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, the institution that has housed his archive of documents since 2019, officials said.
In a ceremony in San Francisco, UMass Amherst Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy praised Ellsberg for his devotion to public service, the university said in a statement.
“We honor you for a lifetime of truth-telling that demonstrates how dissent can be the highest form of patriotism and citizenship,” Subbaswamy said, according to the statement. “We thank you for inspiring others to follow your example.”
Ellsberg was working for Rand Corp., a nonprofit research institution, when he copied the 7,000-page, top-secret report on Vietnam, the details of which later appeared in a bombshell New York Times report published on June 13, 1971.
The university acquired Ellsberg’s massive trove of historical documents — about 500 boxes in all — for $2.2 million, most of which was provided by an anonymous donor. The papers document decades of Ellsberg’s life, including his assessments of the Vietnam war, his trial for releasing the Pentagon Papers, his work in the antiwar and antinuclear movements, and his advocacy for freedom of the press and First Amendment rights.
Since receiving the Ellsberg documents, the university has honored his life and legacy through a ...
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