WAMM Activists: Kay and Ellen Abbott

by Marie Simpson, WAMM

Women Against Military Madness is fortunate to count among its members Kay and Ellen Abbott, lifelong activists for many peace and justice issues. Kay Abbott, born and nurtured in a small Kansas town near the Missouri border, believes social activism started in her family long before her own began to show itself. Kay's belief in social justice developed while watching her grandmother feed strangers out of the kitchen during the Depression and while watching her mother, a member of the local school board, work to improve the lives of students attending a nearby segregated black school.

Kay cannot remember a time when she did not recognize the injustice suffered by black citizens of her town, compelled to live in poor housing located around the outer edges of the town, while being denied basic community services like mail delivery.

When asked if there was any one life experience that she believes most affected her life, Kay quickly recalls the year, during the 1940s, when she lived in Mississippi. She says that nothing, even the injustices apparent in her small Kansas town, prepared her for the racist realities of Mississippi. After leaving Mississippi, Kay took what may have been one of her first active steps toward standing up for her beliefs. She mailed a letter to a good friend, a white librarian with whom she had spent considerable time while living in Mississippi. Kay mailed the letter with a NAACP stamp. The friend never responded.

Several years after leaving Mississippi, Kay, her husband, and her son moved to Mayville, North Dakota. Kay recalls that as a Unitarian and a Democrat, she did not "fit in" in Mayville. Although the nonpartisan league had its beginning in North Dakota, at that time she felt quite isolated in the larger community. She recalls discussing with college faculty friends her growing concern with the United StatesÕ role in Vietnam and the horrors of Joe McCarthy.

Kay's daughter, Ellen, was born in Mayville. In 1957, the family moved to River Falls, Wisconsin--after the death of Joe McCarthy, Kay is quick to point out. There, Kay became involved in the Committee for Human Survival. She remembers meetings to discuss the nuclear threat. At age three and four, Ellen accompanied her mother in handing out literature door-to-door in River Falls. Social activism was a way of life in the Abbott household.

When Ellen was in first grade, Kay took her out of school during scheduled duck and cover drills. Although Ellen was admonished by her first-grade teacher that all patriotic children participated, by the time she was in second grade, Ellen merely refused to participate, stating that she would not take part because war was wrong.

Due to her mother's leadership roles in various organizations (the League of Women Voters, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Association of American University Women, and the Unitarian Fellowship), Ellen has fond recollections of meeting some of the most influential people of the century: Eleanor Roosevelt, Indira Ghandi, Margaret Burke White, Rumer Godden, Julian Bond, and Benjamin Spock. One of Kay's most cherished mementos is a note from Ms. Roosevelt and a copy of her "My Day" column describing her visit to River Falls.

Ellen continued her activism and, at age thirteen, she became active in the political campaign of Eugene McCarthy. In 1969, with her mother's support, Ellen waged a single-handed, successful protest against an antiquated, illegal dress code imposed only on female students at her high school. In 1970, Ellen persuaded several of her classmates to accompany her when she left the school to join in the first River Falls Earth Day demonstration when it marched past the high school.

One story Ellen tells seems to epitomize what it has meant for her growing up in an environment that supported her personal development and commitment to global justice. While living in River Falls, Ellen and a number of young people decided to call attention to the tragedy of Vietnam by blocking the main intersection in town. They sat in a circle around the main thoroughfare. Kay, who happened to be shopping downtown that afternoon, came out of a store to see Ellen sitting on the street. Although choosing not to participate herself, Kay nevertheless showed her support for her daughter and the protest by laying a flower she had just purchased in the street in front of the protesters.

Today, Ellen and Kay continue their work for social justice. They are both active WAMM members. Kay's current work includes creating and maintaining detailed, comprehensive information files on numerous topics and participating in activities with the Middle East Peace Now Committee. Ellen serves on the WAMM steering committee, WAMM finance committee, and the WAMM fundraising committee.

Another generation of activists may be developing in the Abbott family. Ellen's grandson recently announced that, after thinking about it, he no longer wanted to participate when his third-grade class stands for the Pledge of Allegiance. How reassuring it must be for this young man to know that his family will lovingly nurture his social and justice concerns, and will support his need to act consistently with his beliefs.

Middle East Peace Resources

American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee
4201 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 300
Washington, DC 20008
202-244-2990 (phone)
202-244-3196 (fax)
adc@adc.org
www.adc.org

Bat Shalom of the Jerusalem Link
P.O. Box 8083
Jerusalem 91080
ISRAEL
+972-2-563-2622 (phone)
+972-2-561-7983 (fax)
batshalo@netvision.net.il
www.batshalom.org

B'Tselem
B'HaTa'asiya St. (4th Floor)
Jerusalem 93420 Israel
+972-2-673-5599 (phone)
+972-2-674-9111 (fax)
mail@btselem.org
www.brselem.org

Middle East Children's Alliance (MECA)
905 Parker Street
Berkeley, CA 94710
510-548-0542 (phone)
510-548-0543 (fax)
meca@mecaforpeace.org
www.mecaforpeace.org

Middle East Research and Information Project (MERIP)
1500 Massachusetts Avenue NW
Suite 119
Washington, DC 20005
202-223-3677 (phone)
202-223-3604 (fax)
www.merip.org

New Israel Fund (NIF)
1101 14th Street NW
Sixth Floor
Washington, DC 20005-5639
888-988-FUND (toll free phone)
202-842-0991 (fax)
info@nif.org
www.nif.org

Rabbis for Human Rights
Yitzhak Elhanan 2
Jerusalem 92141
ISRAEL
+972-2-563-7731 (phone)
+972-2-566-2815 (fax)
info@rhr.israel.net
www.rhr.israel.net

Compiled by WAMM member Lisa Albrecht