Ellen Thomas | |
Birth Name: | Ellen Thomas |
Birth Date: | 24 January 1947 |
Birth Place: | New York City, New York, US |
Occupation: | Peace activist |
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 opposed to nuclear weapons during her childhood.[1] In protest at the policies of the United States government, she became a tax resister by simply living below the income tax threshold.[2]
On May 6, 1984, Ellen Benjamin married Thomas in a Quaker wedding to become Ellen Thomas.[3] Thomas and her husband protested together for a number of years, until his death in January 2009 of pulmonary disease.[4]
Ellen also heads The Proposition One Non-Radioactive Nuclear Review, a traveling multimedia troupe that educates the public on the dangers of a nuclear future. In 1993 she helped coordinate the successful Washington DC ballot initiative for Nuclear Disarmament and Economic Conversion.[5] Ellen formally served on the Washington Peace Center's board of directors, but has since moved to North Carolina.
The Oracles of Pennsylvania Avenue (2012) by Tim Wilkerson, a documentary commissioned by the Al Jazeera Documentary Channel, recounts the lives of William and Ellen Thomas, Concepción Picciotto and Norman Mayer.[6]