Montgomery County Citizens Concerned About Central America Collected Records

The Montgomery County Citizens Concerned About Central America (MCCACA) began its tenure in September 1984. Founding members of this Pennsylvania organization joined a nationwide effort to educate and mobilize citizens to challenge the United States government's foreign policy stance and actions in Central America. Durings its time of operation, the group focused more particularly on the fight against federal funding for the Contras, anti-guerilla forces in Nicaragua. The group's membership ranged from 75 to 130 during its lifetime.

The activities of the MCCCACA included letter-writing and petition campaigns, community forums and educational hearings, and sponsorship of relevant speakers and films, as well as controversial public demonstrations and protests. Lobbying efforts made extensive use of the media to influence Congress (notably Lawrence Coughlin) and local leaders. Publicized events included a biannual "mock funeral," which symbolized the casualties of the ongoing conflict in Central America. In September 1985, the group sponsored an evening with the parents of Jean Donovan, one of four nuns slain in El Salvador. In October 1986, an important event featured Edgar Chamorro and David MacMichael; the former, a native of Nicaragua, had been a contra leader and past director of the CIA-backed Anti-Sandinista Democratic Force, while MacMichael was a former CIA analyst.

By March 1993 the group's activity had waned. Longtime leaders Sylvia Metzler, Judith Palmer and Jerilyn Bowen announced the decision to disband at that time.