Truth, Dissent & the Legacy of Daniel Ellsberg: A 50th Anniversary Conference Commemorating the Release of the Pentagon Papers

posted April 12, 2021

APRIL 30 – MAY 1, 2021 | FREE. ONLINE. OPEN TO ALL.

Inspired by the recent acquisition of Daniel Ellsberg’s vast collection of personal papers by UMass Amherst Libraries’ Special Collections and University Archives, this free online conference brings together more than two dozen distinguished historians, journalists, activists, whistleblowers, and former policymakers on the eve of the 50th anniversary of Ellsberg’s leak of the Pentagon Papers. The conference will include a keynote address by Daniel Ellsberg as well as and seven roundtable discussions, in which presenters will explore the major issues that have engaged Ellsberg’s life: the Vietnam War, nuclear weapons, antiwar resistance, the Pentagon Papers, Watergate, whistleblowing, and the wars of the 21st century.

This conference is the culmination of a year-long course taught by UMass Amherst historian Christian Appy and journalism professor Kathy Roberts Forde in collaboration with UMass alumnus Charles Sennott ’84, founder of The GroundTruth Project, and fellow alumnus Jeremy Smith ’94, the Daniel Ellsberg Archivist in Special Collections and University Archives , UMass Amherst Libraries, the repository for Ellsberg’s papers.

In addition to the conference, a website titled the Ellsberg Archive Project, will house conference materials, as well as items from Ellsberg’s papers selected by the students of professors Appy and Forde, and a five-part podcast series called The Whistleblower: Truth, Dissent & the Legacy of Daniel Ellsberg produced by GroundTruth in collaboration with GBH.

The conference was collectively organized by the UMass Amherst Departments of History and Journalism; UMass Special Collections and University Archives, UMass Amherst Libraries; the UMass Amherst College of Humanities and Fine Arts; and The GroundTruth Project, with generous support from the Office of the Chancellor.