To the great surprise of many, the University of Maryland became a center of student activism in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. What had once been a sleepy conservative all white campus, made headlines with repeated protests against war and racism.

Indeed the entire state of Maryland underwent a dramatic political transformation during that same period. The Civil Rights Movement swept away generations of Jim Crow tradition while the anti-war movement caused many Marylanders to reconsider Cold War foreign policy myths.

Although the clouds of teargas, the snarling police dogs, the riot clubs and flying stones made for exciting news photos, the movement at the University of Maryland was more than just the battles over Route One.

We hope to use this website to investigate the history of activism at the University of Maryland--- and not just student activism. Campus workers were part of this movement as well with AFSCME Local 1072 battling the entrenched racism and plantation mentality that dominated the University’s labor relations. UM faculty played their part too--- in the Faculty Senate and sometimes on the streets facing the police and National Guard.

This web project grew out of a reunion of UM activists held in the summer of 2005 at a College Park watering hole. Old friends came together and decided that we had a history worth passing on....after many rounds of drinks naturally.

This site is and will be, a work-in-progress.  Check back again for updates. Give us your feedback and share your stories. Although the main focus of this website is the 1960’s and 1970’s we welcome contributions from any period of progressive UM activism.

Let’s turn our history into a tool we can use to forge a better future.