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‘Acres of Clams’- New documentary tells story of the Clamshell Alliance

“Acres of Clams” can be viewed, free of charge, on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPuE9oKh6-I&t=198s.

by Anne Alpert, InDepthNH.org

For two weeks in the spring of 1977, New Hampshire was at the center of national attention.  No, it had nothing to do with the first-in-the-nation primary.  The matter that grabbed headlines was the arrest of 1415 people who had peacefully taken over the construction site of a proposed nuclear power plant in Seabrook.  After being taken away on buses and National Guard trucks and processed at the Portsmouth Armory, the protesters were delivered to four other armories, where, refusing to pay bail, they engaged in a battle of wills with the stubbornly pro-nuclear governor, Meldrim Thomson. 

The group behind the protest was a ragtag New England-wide coalition that called itself the Clamshell Alliance, members of which called themselves “Clams.”  How it was able to take on a governor and a powerful industry through nonviolent protest, music, and well-deployed humor is the story told in “Acres of Clams,” a new documentary written, produced and narrated by Eric Wolfe.

“You might find this story hard to believe.  Hell, I was there, and I hardly believe it myself,” Wolfe says at the outset.  He weaves his story from personal memories, archival photos and footage, and a series of oral history videos captured by Steve Thornton at Clamshell reunions held a few decades later. …………………………………………………..

The Clams were deadly serious about the importance of stopping the spread of technology which would threaten to spew radiation across a heavily populated region.  But Clamshell was also a good-natured movement, which Wolfe points out stood in marked contrast to angry anti-war protests in which he had participated just a few years earlier.

…………………………………………………………… But this was not a group of terrorists.  All of them had been trained in nonviolence and agreed to what were called, “the guidelines,” in essence a code of discipline for participants, including no use of illegal drugs, no weapons, no running, no dogs, and no damage to the property at the construction site.   Everyone knew they would probably get arrested.

………………………………………………………………………….“Acres of Clams” is not a documentary about nuclear power, still a controversial way to generate electricity, and one which the Clams I know still passionately oppose.  If you’re interested in up-to-date information on why nukes aren’t the answer to climate catastrophe any more than they were the answer to oil imports in the 1970s, check out Beyond Nuclear, a group co-founded by Paul Gunter, who never stopped fighting nukes.  And check out ClamshellAlliance.com, a relatively new website created to keep the group’s legacy alive and foster ongoing activism.  What Wolfe set out to do, and succeeded, was to tell the story of a movement that flourished for several years and made history. 

……………………………………… I think Wolfe has done a great job showing that disciplined nonviolence, humor, cultural expression, smart political judgment, good timing, and a certain amount of luck could produce what might appear to be magic:  a grassroots social movement that can take on and defeat a multi-billion-dollar industry backed by the state and federal governments.  And that’s a story that’s not just about nuclear dangers.  

“Acres of Clams” can be viewed, free of charge, on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPuE9oKh6-I&t=198s.

Arnie Alpert spent decades as a community organizer/educator in NH movements for social justice and peace.  Officially retired since 2020, he keeps his hands (and feet) in the activist world while writing about past and present social movements.

January 27, 2025 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | media, USA