Concepción Picciotto (born María de la Inmaculada Concepción Martín; 15 January 1936 – 25 January 2016), also known as Conchita or Connie, was a Spanish-born, United States–based peace activist. She lived in

Lafayette Square, Washington, D.C. Lafayette Square is a seven-acre (28,327 m2) public park located within President's Park in Washington, D.C., directly north of the White House on H Street, bounded by Jackson Place on the west, Madison Place on the east and Pennsylvania Avenu ...

, on the 1600 block of

Pennsylvania Avenue Pennsylvania Avenue is a primarily diagonal street in Washington, D.C. that connects the United States Capitol with the White House and then crosses northwest Washington, D.C. to Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown. Traveling through So ...

, in a

peace camp Peace camps are a form of physical protest camp that is focused on anti-war and anti-nuclear activity. They are set up outside military military base, bases by members of the peace movement who oppose either the existence of the military bases the ...

across from the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

, from 1 August 1981 in protest of nuclear arms until her death. Picciotto carried on the longest continuous act of political protest in the United States, with her camp having been nicknamed by her supporters as "1601 Pennsylvania Avenue".

Eleanor Holmes Norton Eleanor Holmes Norton (born June 13, 1937) is an American politician, lawyer, and human rights activist. Norton is a congressional delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives, where she has represented the District of Columbia since 1991 as ...

, D.C.'s delegate to the House of Representatives, noted that many of Picciotto's goals were accomplished during her protest, including a reduction in atomic proliferation.

Life

Picciotto claimed to have been orphaned in Spain and raised by a grandmother. After emigrating to the United States in 1960, she worked as a receptionist for a Spanish government commercial attaché in New York. She married an Italian immigrant (whose forename is unknown) and lived in the Gravesend section of

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

. She reportedly adopted an infant daughter, Olga, in Argentina in 1973. Picciotto was inspired by fellow activist William Thomas (died 23 January 2009), who originally began the

White House Peace Vigil The White House Peace Vigil is an anti-nuclear weapons peace vigil started by William Thomas in 1981. Thomas believed it to be the longest running uninterrupted anti-war protest in U.S. history. After Thomas's death in 2009, it was maintained ...

on 3 June 1981. They began protesting on the sidewalk by the White House fence. National Park Service rules moved them across Pennsylvania Avenue. She was sentenced to 90 days for violating rules. They are moved for inaugural parades. During her life she was assisted by members of Occupy Peace House where she resided. She was reported to be in discussions with

Ellen Thomas Ellen Thomas (born January 24, 1947) is an American peace activist. She first became involved with the White House Peace Vigil on April 13, 1984. The daughter of a US Marine, Thomas was born in Brooklyn and grew up in California. She became oppo ...

to remain in the Peace House, a house in Washington D.C. which Thomas had inherited from her husband, William Thomas.

Death

Picciotto died on 25 January 2016, 10 days after her 80th birthday, at N Street Village, a non-profit organization that supports homeless women in Washington. The cause of death was not immediately known but she experienced a fall moments before her death.

Appearances

Picciotto was featured in

Michael Moore Michael Francis Moore is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and author. Moore's work frequently addresses various Social issue, social, political, and economic topics. He first became publicly known for his award-winning debut ...

's 2004 film, ''

Fahrenheit 9/11 ''Fahrenheit 9/11'' is a 2004 American documentary film directed, written by, and starring Michael Moore. The subjects of the film are the presidency of George W. Bush, the Iraq War, and the media's coverage of the war. In the film, Moore state ...

''. ''The Oracles of Pennsylvania Avenue'' (2012) by Tim Wilkerson, a documentary commissioned by the

Al Jazeera Documentary Channel Al Jazeera Media Network (AJMN; , ) is a private-media conglomerate headquartered in Wadi Al Sail, Doha, funded in part by the government of Qatar. The network's flagship channels include Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Jazeera English, which prov ...

, recounts the life of Picciotto, William and Ellen Thomas, and

Norman Mayer Norman David Mayer (March 31, 1916 – December 9, 1982) was an American anti-nuclear weapons activist who was shot and killed by the United States Park Police after threatening to blow up the Washington Monument. Early life Mayer was born in El ...

References

External links

Interview with Concepción Picciotto
dcist.com; accessed 27 January 2016
"Connie Picciotto has kept vigil near the White House for 32 years. Why and at what cost?"
''Washington Post'', 2 May 2013
FBI File of Concepción Picciotto

Concepción Picciotto Papers
at the Swarthmore College Peace Collection {{DEFAULTSORT:Picciotto, Concepcion 1936 births 2016 deaths American anti–nuclear weapons activists People from Vigo Spanish emigrants to the United States People from Gravesend, Brooklyn

Life

Death

Appearances

See also

References

External links