AMHERST — The University of Massachusetts has opened a new exhibit, available for both in-person and online viewing, on the life of Daniel Ellsberg, the famous peace activist and whistleblower who leaked government papers about the Vietnam War to the press in 1971.
“Daniel Ellsberg: A Life in Truth,” which can be viewed in person at the W.E.B. Du Bois Library, is based on a huge trove of documents, photographs, letters and other personal materials — 500 boxes worth — that the university acquired from Ellsberg, who’s now 90, in 2019.
The project is designed to offer a comprehensive look at Ellsberg’s multifaceted life, in which the Harvard graduate served as a Marine, a U.S. Department of Defense analyst and a government contractor, and later as a writer, teacher, peace activist and public speaker.
Jeremy Smith, the archivist for the university’s Ellsberg collection, is the primary organizer of the exhibit, but he says UMass students Andrew Bettencourt, Talya Torres and Maia Fudala have selected most of the items. All three were part of a special class on Ellsberg taught last year by history professor Christian Appy.
The exhibit also follows an online conference UMass hosted last spring on Ellsberg’s legacy that featured over two dozen speakers — historians, journalists, former policymakers and activists, whistleblower Edward Snowden — and Ellsberg himself.
Ellsberg became famous in 1971 when, deeply disillusioned with the country’s involvement in Vietnam and the...
A California lawmaker is suing Sacramento police for falsely accusing her of driving under the influence, saying the case may have been motivated by her tough-on-cops legislation or possibly becaus...