Carl Wittman (February 23, 1943 – January 22, 1986) was a member of the national council of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and later an activist for LGBT rights.
Wittman declined hospital treatment for AIDS and died by suicide by drug overdose at home in North Carolina.
Wittman spent summers doing civil rights work in the South, and joined the national council of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS).
Wittman, while self-identified as gay since the age of 14, remained closeted until coming out in the late 1960s in an article, "Waves of Resistance," published in the November, 1968 issue of the antiwar magazine, Liberation.
The posthumous recognition was bestowed upon 29 individuals "whose dedication, accomplishments and passion have helped shape Durham in important ways.