For over a decade, the radical United Freedom Front waged a concerted revolutionary campaign, confronting U.S. imperialism in Central America, apartheid, and other issues. Led by Raymond Luc Levasseur (b. 1940), the UFF carried out a string of bank robberies and bombings in the northeast, usually providing forewarning to avoid casualties. On November 4, 1984, following an intense nationwide manhunt, the FBI succeeded in apprehending Levasseur and his wife Patricia Gros near Deerfield, Ohio, and within a year, most of the remaining members of the UFF were under arrest. Levasseur and six of his comrades were eventually sentenced to long terms for the robberies and bombings and (two of them) for the death of a New Jersey state trooper. The government’s attempt in 1989 to bring charges of seditious conspiracy and violations of the RICO act, however, ended in an acquittal on most charges and a hung jury on the rest. Having served nearly half of his 45 year sentence, Levasseur was released from prison in November 2004.

The Levasseur Collection consists of the complete transcripts of the 1989 sedition trial of the “Ohio Seven” (US v. Levasseur).

William Manchester was a journalist, educator, and author, best known for his biographies of President John F. Kennedy, Douglas MacArthur and Winston Churchill. This collection consists primarily of letters from Manchester to his mother written during his service with the 29th Marines in World War II. Manchester later described his war-time experiences in a memoir entitled Goodbye, Darkness.

Raymond Mungo, 1967

Born in a “howling blizzard” in February 1946, Raymond Mungo became one of the most evocative writers of the 1960s counterculture. Through more than fifteen books and hundreds of articles, Mungo has brought a wry sense of humor and radical sensibility to explorations of the minds and experiences of the generation that came of age against a backdrop of the struggles for civil rights and economic justice, of student revolts, Black Power, resistance to war, and experimentation in communal living.

Consisting of the original typescripts and manuscripts of ten of Raymond Mungo’s books, along with corrected and uncorrected galleys and a small number of letters from publishers. Among the other materials in the collection are thirteen photographs of Mungo taken by Clif Garboden and Peter Simon during and immediately after his undergraduate years at Boston University; a DVD containing motion pictures of life at Packer Corners in 1969 and 1977; and an irate letter from a writer regarding the status of poems he had submitted to Liberation News Service.

The collection includes publications, ephemera, periodicals, and other communications from a range of radical groups. Much of the collection relates to the sedition trial of Raymond Luc Levasseur and the Ohio Seven, but ranges into related topics, including political prisoners, Communist and revolutionary action, Puerto Rican independence, African liberation movements, and anti-Klan and antiracist activity. It is organized into six series: Ohio Seven (3 boxes), Political Prisoners (2 boxes), John Brown Anti-Klan Committee (1 box), Subject Files (5 boxes), and Radical Periodicals (4 boxes).

Generations of the Bates and Church families based in North Amherst and Ashfield, Massachusetts. Papers include deeds, a will, correspondence, account books (recording day-to-day expenditures on food, clothing, postage, housekeeping supplies, and laborer’s wages), diaries, an oral history, photographs, genealogical notes, and memorabilia related to the family.

Broadside 6

A significant African American poet of the generation of the 1960s, Dudley Randall was an even more significant publisher of emerging African American poets and writers. Publishing works by important writers from Gwendolyn Brooks to Haki Madhubuti, Alice Walker, Etheridge Knight, Audre Lorde, Amiri Baraka, Nikki Giovanni, and Sonia Sanchez, his Broadside Press in Detroit became an important contributor to the Black Arts Movement.

The Broadside Press Collection includes approximately 200 titles published by Randall’s press during its first decade of operation, the period of its most profound cultural influence. The printed works are divided into five series, Broadside poets (including chapbooks, books of poetry, and posters), anthologies, children’s books, the Broadside Critics Series (works of literary criticism by African American authors), and the Broadsides Series. . The collection also includes a selection of items used in promoting Broadside Press publications, including a broken run of the irregularly published Broadside News, press releases, catalogs, and fliers and advertising cards.

Brotherhood of the Spirit, 1968-1973

	Michael Metelica at the treehouse: Leyden, Mass., 1968. (Ref. no. car1)
	The treehouse: Blueberry Hill, Leyden, 1968. (Ref. no. car2)
	The Treehouse Gang, Leyden 1968: (L – R) top: Dale Sluter, Chris Garland, Doug Edson, Jim Kolokowski, Eddie Evans, Brian Smith on shoulders, Jim Sullivan. Bottom: Wayne Duda, Gene Lewis (Cricket), Tom Howes. (Ref. no. car3)
	The Founding Mothers, 1969: Micky Shean (?) and baby, Heidi Bushell, Laurel Artus holding Leah Artus, Wendy Crowell. (Ref. no. car4)
	Meditation at Beth Hapgood’ s home at 88 Main St, Northfield, Mass. 1969. (Ref. no. car5)
	Elwood Babbitt, 1970. (Ref. no. car6) Photo by: Gary Cohen
	Heidi Bushell and Michael Metelica reading Lopsang Rampa, early source of spiritual inspiration. Leyden, 1968. (Ref. no. car7)
	Winter scene. Chris Garland, Michael Metelica, unidentified, Dale Sluter, Jim Kolokowski. Heath, 1969. (Ref. no. car8)
	Maple sugaring, Charlemont, Mass. 1969. Gene (Cricket) Lewis, Eddie, Michael. (Ref. no. car9)
	Maple sugaring, Charlemont, 1969. Various visitors and members. (Ref. no. car10)
	Heath, Mass. 1969,. Far left, Nate Tilton and Steve Wolfson. Band is early forerunner to in Flesh. (Ref. no. car11)
	Warwick, Mass. Summer of 1970, photo from Greenfield Recorder newspaper in foreground is Susan Meyer and Jeff Lister. (Ref. no. car12)
	Warwick group shot, summer 1970. Publication unknown. (Ref. no. car13)
	“LOOK” magazine photo. Taken July 1970, published December 1970. (Ref. no. car14)
	Spiritual Graffiti, Warwick main house, 1970-71. Such spontaneously inspired writingswere common during the Warwick era. (Ref. no. car15)
	Concert at St. James Church, Greenfield, Mass. 1970. Robert Hincks and Michael Metelica. This church was one of the few local ones that was welcoming to the Brotherhood and hosted many events and weddings during this period. (Ref. no. car16)
	Members listening to Spirit in Flesh rehearse at Warwick Studio. Note looks of ecstasy on individual faces. Top; Vicki Locatelli, unidentified, Steve Abrahamson, John Pollard, unidentified. Middle; Jacquie Metelica, Mark Alvin, Brian McCue. Bottom; Jackie Odess, Annette Laufe. (Ref. no. car17) Photo by: Gary Cohen
	Summer invasion of visitors, sometimes several hundred a day. Summer of 1970, Warwick. Garden between house and future Dorm. (Ref. no. car18)
	the “PM Tent”. Warwick, summer 1970. This huge plastic tent housed “Prospective Members” who went through a two-week trial period before begin voted on for membership. The PM tent was also notorious for forbidden (and frequent) amorous activity between members and PM’s. (Ref. no. car19)
	Temporary Encampment, Guilford, VT. Summer 1970. Overwhelmed by visitors, long-term members set up a temporary retreat in the wilds of Guilford, near the Johnson’s Pasture commune. (Ref. no. car20)
	Wedding at Warwick, July 1970, Michael playing guitar with Donna Braden (R). (Ref. no. car21)
	“Commune Gothic” Summer 1970. Heidi Bushell and Mike McCarty. (Ref. no. car22)
	The Logging Crew, Winter 1970-71. Carol and Eddie Evans, Mitch Sieser, Greg Fitzgerald, Nate Tilton in back. Crew leader, Geoff, “Gurf” Nuckols in front. (Ref. no. car23)
	Warwick Kitchen, 1972. Meg, “Nutmeg” Rich stirring dinner, probably brown rice, squash or mashed potatoes. (Ref. no. car24)
	Breakfast in Warwick 1971. Mark Alvin (foreground) shares a moment with Rita Raymond. Deborah Starobin looks on. (Ref. no. car25)

Steve Diamond, Ray Mungo, and
Susan Dalsimer, ca.1969

Famous Long Ago launched the literary career of Raymond Mungo with a splash, but even before the book had reached the shelves, he turned to his next project. In October 1969, Mungo began planning for a memoir of his life at the Packer Corners commune. Soon entitled Total Loss Farm, the book would become a classic in the literature of the 1960s counterculture. Signing a contract in November with E.P. Dutton, he worked with a young and sympathetic editor, Susan Stern (later Susan Dalsimer).

This small, but rich collection consists of a series of letters between Raymond Mungo and his editor at E.P. Dutton, Susan Stern, regarding his ideas on writing and life. Beginning in October 1969 with editorial commentary on Famous Long Ago and Mungo’s additions, the Dalsimer Papers offer insight into the development of Total Loss Farm from concept to printed page.

Steve Diamond and border collie
at Montague Farm, ca.1980

An author and activist, Steve Diamond worked for the newly formed Liberation News Service in 1968 covering stories like the student strike at Columbia University. After more than a year of internal strife resulting from ideological differences, the alternative news service split into two factions, with Marshall Bloom and Raymond Mungo leading a new division of LNS in rural New England. Diamond, among those who left for New England, settled into life in a commune on old Ripley Farm in Montague, Massachusetts. His experiences during the first year on the farm are recorded in his book, What the Trees Said. Diamond later worked as a writer and consultant for Green Mountain Post Films, editor of the Valley Advocate and Boston Phoenix, and as a contributor for The Atlantic Monthly, San Francisco Chronicle, and the Village Voice.

This collection consists chiefly of Diamond’s correspondence and writing, including drafts of his stories and articles, research notes, and diary entries. The collection also contains printed articles by and about Diamond, digital images, and audio recordings.

The barn, Montague Farm
Photo by Roy Finestone, Oct. 1976

Ray Mungo’s Famous Long Ago (1970) and Steve Diamond’s What the Trees Said (1971) are classic visions of late 1960s counterculture and of life in New England communes. The communes on which Mungo and Diamond settled, Packer Corner and the Montague Farm, became the center of what might be considered a single extended community, embracing the Wendell Farm and Johnson Pasture and Tree Frog Farm in Vermont. The Farmers themselves were, and remain, a diverse group, including photographers, novelists, and poets, artists, actors, and activists.

An umbrella collection, the Famous Long Ago Archive contains a growing number of collections relating to the communes at Montague Farm, Packer Corners, Johnson Pasture, Wendell Farm, and Tree Frog Farm. These range from the papers of Steve Diamond, Raymond Mungo, and Jonathan Maslow to Randy Kehler and Betsy Corner (the latter of whom lived at Montague Farm), the records of the Liberation News Service, the Alternative Energy Coalition, and Musicians United for Safe Energy, to the photographic collections of Roy Finestone and Stephen Josephs. View all the Famous Long Ago Collections.