Lee Webb collection

Lee Webb was born in Brookline, Mass., in 1941. In 1955, Webb enrolled at Phillips Academy Andover and, upon graduation, matriculated at Boston University, graduating in 1963 with a degree in philosophy. While at Boston University, Webb became involved in the Civil Rights and nuclear disarmament movements. In 1963, Webb joined Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), an activist organization opposed to the Vietnam War, eventually serving as national secretary. Webb, a conscientious objector, also co-directed the Vietnam Summer movement in 1967.

In 1970, Webb accepted a position teaching at Goddard College, and he and his young family moved to Vermont. While living there, Webb became increasingly active in working for change on the policy level. In the mid-1970s, he founded the Conference on Alternative State and Local Policies and the National Center on Policy Alternatives, organizations focused on developing and disseminating innovative local and state policy ideas. In 1984, Webb moved to New York to work for Governor Mario Cuomo, serving first as the Vice President and later the Executive Vice President of the NY Urban Development Corporation. After Cuomo left office, Webb moved to Boston in 1996 to work as Vice President of Real Estate and Facilities at Partners Healthcare. In 1998, he returned to New York to serve as Vice President for Administration and Business Planning at the New School University.

In 2004, Webb moved to Union, Me. He enrolled in the University of Maine’s PhD program in American History and conducted extensive research into Maine’s political history from statehood through the Progressive Era. Webb also served on several boards and as a Senior Fellow at the Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center at the University of Maine, Orono.