Although it is still being processed and is not fully accessible to the public, Daniel Ellsberg’s archive at UMass-Amherst is already in active use. The university’s recent acquisition of the Ellsberg papers, together with the pending Pentagon Papers 50th anniversary, informed the recent Truth and Dissent conference, a yearlong graduate course, a new archive web resource, and a 5-part podcast by GroundTruth.
—The University of Massachusetts-Amherst recently hosted Truth, Dissent & the Legacy of Daniel Ellsberg, a two-day online conference marking the 50th anniversary of the release of the Pentagon Papers. Ellsberg’s keynote address plus seven roundtable discussions explored the major issues that have engaged his life: the Vietnam War, nuclear weapons, antiwar resistance, the Pentagon Papers, Watergate, whistleblowing, and the wars of the 21st century. Videos of all of the sessions can be viewed here.
—In a related project, GroundTruth launched The Whistleblower. This five-part podcast series explores Ellsberg’s life story through exclusive interviews as well as archival materials.
—For the 2020-2021 school year, a graduate seminar at UMass-Amherst took a deep dive into Ellsberg’s life and work through hands-on archival research. Guest speakers brought history to life, including Ellsberg who met with the class several times. At the Truth and Dissent Ellsberg conference, students from the seminar discussed their key learnings. An article in the campus newspaper summarizes the students’ experience.
—The students chose documents from their research to showcase on the Ellsberg Archive Project website, curated with their explanations of the documents’ significance to them and to history. In addition to these documents, this website has the Truth and Dissent conference recordings, speaker bios, and a timeline of significant periods in Ellsberg’s life and work.
In relative terms, the Ellsberg Archive Project displays just a tiny sample of the collection. When fully processed, the Daniel Ellsberg papers will be accessible via Special Collections & University Archives at the W.E.B. Du Bois Library, UMass-Amherst. For research-related questions in the interim, contact Jeremy Smith, Ellsberg Archivist, at Special Collections.