UMass Amherst to Display New Exhibit on Vietnam War

“Waging Peace in Vietnam” features artifacts from little-known anti-war movement
U.S. soldiers and veterans who opposed the war
U.S. soldiers and veterans who opposed the war

AMHERST, Mass. –  An exhibit documenting a divisive and controversial time in United States history, “Waging Peace in Vietnam,” will be on display in the University of Massachusetts Amherst Integrative Learning Center main lobby from Monday, Sept. 23 through Friday, Oct. 11.

The exhibit features photographs, underground newspapers and other artifacts that documents the bold and little-known anti-war dissent of active duty military personnel and veterans during the Vietnam War.

Special events during the two-week exhibit include the following:

  • “Patriotic Dissent,” Friday, Sept. 27, at 4:30 p.m. Room N151 Integrative Learning Center. Panel discussion includes Christian Appy, Vietnam War historian and UMass professor; Ron Carver, exhibit curator and co-editor, Waging Peace in Vietnam; W.D. Ehrhart, Vietnam veteran and distinguished poet/writer; Susan Schnall, former Navy nurse, court-martialed for anti-war activism.
  • “Why We Fight,” film screening of Eugene Jarecki’s 2005 documentary, Wednesday, Oct. 2, at 7 p.m., Room W245, South College.
  • “Combat Obscura,” film screening of Miles Lagoze’s 2018 documentary, plus a Q &A with the director, Friday, Oct. 4 at 7 p.m., room W245, South College.
  • “Moral Injury and the Traumas of War,” panel discussion in room E470, South College, Friday, Oct. 11 at 7 p.m. featuring Khary Polk, Amherst College professor; Doug Anderson, poet and former Vietnam War combat medic; Ross Caputi, Iraq War veteran and UMass history PhD candidate; Robert Meagher, Hampshire College professor and expert on the traumas of war; Karen Skolfield, Army veteran and poet, UMass College of Engineering Junior Writing Program; and Wayne Smith, activist and former Vietnam war combat medic.

The exhibit and events are co-sponsored by the UMass department of history, program in comparative literature; department of languages, literatures and cultures; writing program; Special Collections and University Archives; College of Humanities and Fine Arts; Institute for Holocaust, Genocide and Memory Studies; Center for Justice, Law and Societies and the political science department.