/internal/media/dispatcher/73403/fullEllen Dionna Oral History01/28/2015Duration: 65 MinutesBorn digital (.wav file)Oral History Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza2015.001.00230Recorded audio-only oral history interview with Ellen Dionna. A 1960 Kennedy campaign volunteer, Dionna was an early civil rights and peace movement activist. She participated in the March on Washington on August 28, 1963. Her late father, Sherrod East, was a longtime employee of the National Archives and was wrongfully accused of being a Communist during the McCarthy era.
Interview conducted on January 28, 2015 by Associate Curator Stephen Fagin. The interview is [1 hour and 6 minutes long.
The video attached to this record is an excerpt. The entire interview is available in our Reading Room to on-site researchers or by submitting a Rights & Reproductions Request Form.Oral Histories655720E-100E-1043758Oral history0E-10Audio oral history interview with Ellen Dionna. A 1960 Kennedy campaign volunteer, Dionna was an early civil rights and peace movement activist. She participated in the March on Washington on August 28, 1963. Her late father, Sherrod E. East, was a longtime archivist and administrator at the National Archives and was wrongfully accused of being a Communist in the 1950s during the Joseph McCarthy era.
Interview conducted by telephone on January 28, 2015 by Stephen Fagin. The interview is one hour and five minutes long.Oral historiesKennedy supporter1960 presidential election1960sCivil rightsPeaceProtestsCommunismKennedy campaignPresidential campaignMarch on WashingtonMcCarthy, JosephNational Archives and Records AdministrationWashington, D.C.1960 Campaign (OHC)Dallas and 1960s History and Culture (OHC)Civil Rights and Social Activism (OHC)White House and State Officials (OHC)Cold War and Communism (OHC)Vietnam (OHC)Ellen Dionna's late father, Sherrod E. East (1910-1999), retired in 1966 from the National Archives as the assistant archivist of the United States for military archives. In 1976, he participated in the National Archives Oral History Project. A thirteen-page transcript of his interview may be found here: Sherrod East Statement (archives.gov). -- Stephen Fagin, Curator