EXHIBIT
1980s Anti-Imperialist Student Activism at UMass Amherst
On Display April 3–30, M–F 9am–6pm
Exhibit Opening Thursday, April 3, 12pm
UMass Bromery Center for the Arts Lobby
Curated by students in the fall 2024 graduate class, History 691: Exhibit Design Practicum on Student Activism, this exhibit will explore the rich history of student activism at the University of Massachusetts, with a focus on anti-imperialist organizing during the 1980s. In that decade, the United States funded military regimes and death squads in Nicaragua, Guatemala, and El Salvador to destroy revolutionary movements that threatened capitalism. Between 1960 and 1996, the U.S. and its allies were overwhelmingly responsible for the killing or forced disappearance of over 300,000 civilians. Millions more were wounded, tortured, orphaned, and displaced1.
UMass students joined forces with the broader Central America solidarity movement in Massachusetts and across the country to end U.S. military aid to authoritarian regimes. Students confronted university administrators, demanding that the Central Intelligence Agency and other organizations responsible for crimes against humanity stop recruiting on campus. Students led teach-ins and marches, and occupied buildings. In response, the university arrested dozens of students. With the help of Abbie Hoffman, a famous 1960s activist, Amy Carter, daughter of President Jimmy Carter, historian Howard Zinn, and whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg, UMass students mounted a political necessity defense at their trial. They effectively put the CIA itself on trial—and won.
- John Coatsworth, The Cold War in Central America, 1975-1991, (Cambridge University Press, 2010), 221. ↩︎
The Feinberg Series
The 2024-25 Feinberg Series explores the historical roots of present-day political, economic, and ethical crises in higher education. It is presented by the UMass Amherst Department of History in partnership with numerous co-sponsors. The Feinberg Family Distinguished Lecture Series is made possible thanks to the generosity of UMass Amherst history department alumnus Kenneth R. Feinberg ’67 and associates.
Read the history department statement on the sponsorship of events.
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