Daniel Ellsberg to Speak at Friends of the Libraries’ Fall Event Oct. 30

Daniel Ellsberg
The life work of Daniel Ellsberg, as documented in an extraordinary collection of papers, annotated books and photographs, has been acquired by UMass Amherst.

Daniel Ellsberg, Distinguished Researcher at the Du Bois Library and Distinguished Research Fellow at the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI), and one of the nation’s foremost political activists and whistleblowers, will speak at the Friends of the Libraries' 21st Annual Fall Reception, Wednesday, Oct. 30, at 6 p.m. in the Campus Center Auditorium.

The reception celebrates the university's recent acquisition of Ellsberg's personal papers, which join other highly regarded collections in Special Collections and University Archives documenting the history of social unrest and change in the U.S. Following a decade as a high-level government official, researcher and consultant, Ellsberg distributed the top-secret Pentagon Papers in 1971, exposing decades of deceit by American policymakers during the Vietnam War.

Space is limited, so RSVPs are requested by Monday, Oct. 28. For more information, contact the Office of External Relations and University Events at events@umass.edu or 413-577-1101.

Series of Special Events in Boston and in Amherst

Ellsberg will travel from his home in California this month to spend a week in Massachusetts as part of his official welcome to the UMass community. He will be the featured guest at two events hosted by PERI on Monday, Oct. 28 and Tuesday, Oct. 29, and he will begin his visit with a special event in Boston.

On Wednesday, Oct. 23 in Boston, UMass and WGBH will host “A Conversation with Daniel Ellsberg and Charles Sennott ’84” at 6 p.m. at the WGBH Studios. Sennott is the founder, CEO and editor of the GroundTruth Project based at WGBH. A non-profit news organization dedicated to restoring journalism from the ground up, GroundTruth’s newest initiative supports local reporters across the country. Sennott is an award-winning correspondent, best-selling author and editor with 30 years in international, national and local journalism.

Some tickets remain available. Please reply to danielellsberg.eventbrite.com. Free parking is available for the event at One Guest Street, Boston.