MDI Historical: The Mount Desert Island Committee for Peace (1962-1966) In-Person / Online

Join us for a discussion with University of Maine lecturer and MDI Historical Society Collections Manager Patrick Callaway about his 2024 Chebacco article The Mount Desert Island Committee for Peace, 1962-1966.

Historian David Farber wrote “images of the 1960s still haunt us, still anger us, still entrance us, still puzzle us. Even those who came of age long after the “sixties” share the collective memories….” 

The 1960s represented a fundamental reassessment of what the contours of American civil society could- or should- become. Issues of war and peace represented by the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union and the war in Vietnam competed for attention with the Civil Rights movement which compelled people to re-examine American society in uncomfortable ways. Organizations formed to manage these efforts, and to collaborate between communities, states, and regions. The Committee for Peace on Mount Desert Island was one such example of a trend taking place in communities across the country, attempting to resolve these issues with calls for peace and understanding. 

Geographically distant and socially isolated are not synonymous terms. Although Mount Desert Island is far distant from Vietnam or the more famous scenes of the Civil Rights movement, islanders were deeply engaged with the broader social conversation. Part of this engagement was encouraging education, debate, and advocating for change. The Mount Desert Island Committee for Peace represents the culmination of these organizational efforts. The Mount Desert Island Committee for Peace reflected the challenges and opportunities of the 1960s. The great social movements of the era, and the ever present potential for world war provided opportunities for citizen groups to voice their support (or lack of support) for causes far beyond their local area.

Dr. Patrick Callaway is a lecturer in the Department of History at the University of Maine and the Collections Manager at the MDI Historical Society.  He earned his Ph.D. in Canadian-American history at the University of Maine, and was a Fulbright exchange student to Dalhousie University in Halifax. His research focuses on the economic connections between the United States and British North America in the late 1700s-early 1800s.

This program is brought to you by a collaboration of the MDI Historical Society and the Northeast Harbor Library. If you do not receive a registration confirmation email, please check your spam or junk folder.

Image:  Dr. George and Rhoda Snell, 1980. Mount Desert Island Historical Society, Album 5, Page 75