30 Days in May: Reflections on the Antiwar Movement at UMD - May 3, 2023 Time: 4:00PM - 6:00PM

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Join the UMD Libraries for "30 Days in May" to acknowledge 53 years since the antiwar protests at the University of Maryland. May 1970 served as the crescendo in a series of events marking students' involvement in protesting the Vietnam War. University of Maryland Libraries will host a panel discussion on May 3, 2023, from 4-6 p.m. in Hornbake Library, Room 3210. Attendees will hear from UMD alums who participated in this critical period in American history. The commemoration will also include a pop-up exhibition in the lobby that will run from May 2 through May 5, highlighting the protests on Route 1 during the 30 days in May.

Registration required. Open to the public.

Light refreshments will be provided. 

Accessibility
This event is free and open to the public. UMD Libraries welcomes individuals with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities. If you have questions about the access provided or you would like to request specific accommodations, please contact libadmin@umd.edu at least two weeks in advance of your participation.

Code of Conduct
Ensuring a pleasant and productive environment for all requires that each user follow the Libraries Code of Conduct.

Date:

Wednesday, May 3, 2023

Time:

4:00PM - 6:00PM

Location:

Hornbake Library, Room 3210

Barbara Myers graduated in 1971 from UMD/College Park with a degree in sociology. While on campus, she was involved in efforts to bring an end to the war in Vietnam and oppose other U.S. policies that contributed to injustice at home and abroad. She was one of 87 students arrested during the 1970 sit-in at Skinner Hall protesting the firing of two professors. She subsequently played an active role in the student strike protesting the U.S. invasion of Cambodia. After graduating, Barbara continued her activism and worked at several Washington policy research centers. She earned an MA in economics from American University, and had a long career in international development including 13 years living in Latin America. She currently works with several local and international nonprofits to offer expanded opportunities for at risk youth and support the rights of immigrants.

Mark Woodard was president of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and a leader in the anti-war movement at the University of Maryland in 1970 during the student-faculty strike following the expansion of the Vietnam War into Cambodia. He was one of the defendants in what became known as the Maryland 10. He and two other students organized a demonstration outside the courthouse and put on a political defense and were acquitted of all charges. Thereafter he became a history teacher in Baltimore City, a practicing attorney, and a lobbyist on behalf of education and health care organizations before the state government in Maryland. He is divorced with two stepchildren and lives in Silver Spring.

Richard Fox was born in Pittsburgh, PA in 1949 and grew up in the Squirrel Hill section of the city in a secular Jewish family with deep roots in New Deal politics. His political views were shaped initially by the civil rights movement and the murders of civil rights workers of the 1960's contrasted with the hypocrisy of a country that preached equality. He arrived on the University of Maryland campus in September 1967 on an athletic swimming scholarship. He was well aware of the racist reputation of the South but unprepared for when he came to College Park to see Confederate flags hanging from fraternity houses and being confronted by blatant anti Semitism from his dorm room mate and his friends.  He joined the Students for a Democratic Society in the early weeks of that first semester where he felt comfortable discussing Vietnam and American racism. His transformation from competitive swimmer to militant Revolutionary Youth Movement Maoist occurred as he went to meetings, rallies and protests, including the 1970 student strike, and became a Maryland public enemy with multiple arrests and a 90-day jail sentence.  Along the way and to this day he learned to think and act for himself, regardless of consequence. Although at the age of 73 he says he takes fewer chances! but is still very proud of what he believe was accomplished at UMD when students stood up to resist the endless war in Vietnam and the institutional racism that was so much a part of the country and the campus.

Linda Zwobota grew up in Baltimore, MD and Harpers Ferry, WV. She attended the University of Maryland from 1969 through 1974, majoring in Spanish with a focus on the history and culture of Latin America. She nearly completed a second  major  in Modern Dance. After moving to California, she was specially certified to teach Modern Dance in the state of California, and she obtained a part time position at Mendocino College in Ukiah, California. In the 1980’s, she returned to Maryland where a temporary job led to a full time career in accounting that lasted until her retirement in 2019. She sat for the CPA exam in 1991 after obtaining 52  college credits in one year, some at the University of Maryland. In 1999, she sat for the CIA (Certified Internal Auditor) exam. She worked principally in corporate accounting and consulting. She retired at age 68 when she was CFO of Lightbridge Corporation, a publicly traded US corporation. She now lives with her dog, Lady, on a mountain outside of  Harpers Ferry, WV, close to many dear friends, and she vacations at her bungalow in Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica.

Craig Simpson grew up in Glenmont and White Oak, Maryland and was a freshman at University of Maryland during the 1970 student strike. He was already a veteran antiwar activist at that time, having attended his first mass protest at the Pentagon in October 1967 and hundreds of protests thereafter continuing his anti-Vietnam War activism until that country was reunified in 1975. After leaving UMD, he was employed as a bus operator and became active in the transit union eventually retiring as secretary-treasurer of the union. In a second career he obtained his B.A. in labor studies and did contract work for local labor unions, then capped his career as executive director of United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 400 that represented 35,000 workers in seven states. He currently writes for and administrates the Washington Area Spark Flickr page and website and lives in North Carolina.