Oughton, Diana (1942–1970)

views updated

Oughton, Diana (1942–1970)

American radical terrorist. Born Jan 26, 1942, in Dwight, IL; died Mar 6, 1970, in Greenwich Village, NY; dau. of James Oughton (served in Illinois State legislature) and Jane Oughton; attended Bryn Mawr College.

Radicalized while witnessing poverty during work for American Friends Service Committee in Guatemala; taught children in a radical, free children's school in Michigan (1966); joined Students for a Democratic Society (SDS); joined Weather Underground (WU), a militant split-off group from SDS; died with 2 other members of WU (Ted Gold and Terry Robins) in an accidental explosion at a Greenwich Village home that had been turned into a bomb-making factory (1970).

See also Thomas Powers, Diana: The Making of a Terrorist (1971); Bill Ayers, Fugitive Days (2001); (film) The Weather Underground (2004).