A Day At The White House Peace Vigil

Established by William Thomas in 1981, the White House Peace Vigil is the longest running uninterrupted anti-war protest in the United States. The... more

by Cora Wandel

Title

A Day At The White House Peace Vigil

Artist

Cora Wandel

Medium

Photograph

Description

Established by William Thomas in 1981, the White House Peace Vigil is the longest running uninterrupted anti-war protest in the United States. The plastic tent with its many flyers to be given out, and billboards of posters for various causes in addition to anti-nuclear war, sits directly across the street (Pennsylvania Avenue) from the White House in Washington, DC. The Peace Vigil must have a person manning it 24 hours a day, seven days a week, or the U.S. Park Service, which is responsible for the land it is on (Lafayette Park), will dismantle the site. Thomas and Concepcion Picciotto were the primary attendants of the Peace Vigil for nearly thirty years until Thomas died in 2009, then Picciotto increased her already long hours with the assistance of Philipos Melaku-Bello until her death in 2015. Melaku-Bello then became the primary face of the vigil. Whenever I walk by, Melaku-Bello is talking to someone about the Peace Vigil's causes -- at times there are large groups, oftentimes it is students visiting the capital on school trips, and other times it is just one or two people, as was the case on the day this photograph was taken.

Uploaded

March 8th, 2017