To Abbie With Love

January, 2007 - February, 2007 | Booth Gallery

“Me and the birth control pill were just about the most celebrated things ever to come out of Worcester,” Abbie wrote in his autobiography. “At one time, most folks up there wished the pill had come first.”

In the 1960s, Abbie Hoffman put Worcester on the map in a big way. After spearheading civil rights locally, he captured the national spotlight when he rallied thousands for a counterculture festival and protest outside the Democratic National Convention in 1968 and held it through the Chicago Seven trial that followed. Though only 5’8”, he was a larger-than-life revolutionary of the sixties. He pulled off outrageous acts of defiance, performed guerrilla street theater, and mobilized a generation of young people to protest and be heard—all with a zany sense of humor and an unwavering commitment to principles.