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White (Don) Committee in Solidarity with the People of El
Salvador (CISPES) Collection
URB.CISPES
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Contributing Institution:
Special Collections & Archives
Title: Don White Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES)
Collection
Creator:
White, Don, 1937-2008
Identifier/Call Number: URB.CISPES
Physical Description:
14.46 linear feet
Date (inclusive): 1980-2007
Abstract: Don White was a board member and leader
of the activist organization, the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador
(CISPES) in Los Angeles, where he coordinated and participated in numerous rallies,
demonstrations, fund-raisers, delegations, congressional visits and civil disobedience
actions demanding an end to U.S. intervention in El Salvador and Central America. The
collection consists mainly of CISPES administrative and program records from national,
regional and local levels. Also included is information collected by White on El Salvador,
Central America, and other activist and community organizations focused on Central American
and Salvadoran issues.
Language of Material: Spanish; Castilian,
English
Don White was born and raised in Mount Vernon, Washington on April 18, 1937. He attended
the College of the Pacific with a degree in Political Science, and attended post graduate
classes at American University.
White moved to Los Angeles in 1963, where he taught history at Irving Junior High School
until his retirement in 1997. He was heavily involved in activism for educational and
international causes, including the United Teachers of Los Angeles, the National Lawyers
Guild Legal Observers, and the Southern California Fair Trade Network. He became interested
in Central American causes in 1976, when he traveled to Guatemala for a month to perform
relief work in the wake of a devastating earthquake. This was the first of many trips to
Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and El Salvador, where he participated in fact-finding
missions and delivering material aid where needed.
White joined the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES) shortly
after its founding in 1980, leading the Echo Park Chapter and serving as an organizer and
Board Member of the Los Angeles Subregion. In these roles White coordinated and participated
in protests, rallies, and other civil disobedience actions in addition to raising money and
material aid for those affected by the conflicts in Central America. He was heavily involved
in the sanctuary movement to provide refuge to undocumented migrants from Central America,
establishing fair trade with Central American countries, and supporting peace efforts for
all countries.
CISPES is a national grassroots solidarity organization, founded in 1980 by conventions in
Los Angeles and Washington, DC to oppose U.S. government intervention and aid in the
Salvadoran Civil War and to support the revolutionary forces of the Farabundo Martí National
Liberation Front (FMLN). CISPES worked to achieve this goal through campaigns and protests
aimed at raising public awareness in America of the civil war in El Salvador, pressuring
Congress to end military aid, raising funds to send material aid to people in El Salvador,
and promoting Salvadoran worker's rights. CISPES continues today in their mission, through
promoting the economic rights of underdeveloped countries around the world.
The
Don White Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador
(CISPES) Collection
mainly consists of organizational records and other items
related to Don White's work as an organizer, board member, and chapter leader for the
Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES). Also included in the
collection are materials collected by White that document other activist groups and
movements related to El Salvador and Central America, as well as information about important
historical and cultural issues in El Salvador. Materials in the collection are written in
both English and Spanish. The collection is divided into four series:
Administrative Records (1980-2006),
Program and Event
Files
(1981-2007),
Research Files (1980-2007), and
Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) (1980-2006).
Series I,
Administrative Records, consists of materials that
document the operation and administration of CISPES on a national, regional and local level.
The series is arranged in two subseries:
Los Angeles Subregion
(1981-2006), and
National, Regional, and Other Chapters
(1980-2004). Subseries A,
Los Angeles Subregion, contains the
administrative records of the Los Angeles Chapter of CISPES, which also served as a
subregion of the national organization. Items in the subseries include meeting minutes,
correspondence, fundraising materials, financial documents, and essays written by Don White
for the Los Angeles Chapter on various topical issues. Subseries B,
National, Regional, and Other Chapters,
consists of administrative records from the
national office of CISPES, regional offices, and various local CISPES chapters. Items in the
subseries include annual reports, bylaws and articles of incorporation for CISPES,
information on the organization and structure of CISPES, correspondence, fundraising
materials, staff training materials, various publications produced by CISPES, meeting
minutes, press releases, media packets, informational mailings sent out to chapters, files
from legal cases, security information, and items from national and regional CISPES
committees. Files in the series are arranged alphabetically by topic.
Series II,
Program and Event Files, consists of items
documenting local and national campaigns, conferences, protests, and other events and
efforts produced or endorsed by CISPES. Files in this series include national and regional
conference proceedings, protest planning materials, event fliers, petitions and lobbying
materials for Congressional bills related to El Salvador, photographs, and planning
information for large-scale organizational efforts such as delegations to El Salvador,
speaking tours, documentaries, and national campaigns. Files in the series are arranged
alphabetically by topic.
Series III,
Research Files, consists of items collected by Don
White that relate to the history and politics of Central America as well as other activist
and community organizations focused on Central American and Salvadoran issues. Items in the
series include event fliers, correspondence, newspaper and magazine articles, activist
organization newsletters, information on El Salvador and other countries, posters, press
releases, ephemera, and audiovisual recordings. Files in the series are arranged
alphabetically by topic.
Series IV,
Farabundo Martí
National Liberation Front (FMLN), consists of items produced by
the FMLN, a coalition of five guerilla organizations supported by CISPES that fought as
revolutionaries against the Salvadoran goverment and evolved into a legitimate political
party in El Salvador. Items in the series include correspondence, bulletins and newsletters,
press releases, brochures, interviews with commanders and other members, conference
proceedings, information on FMLN radio stations, ephemera and photographs. Files in the
series are arranged alphabetically by topic.
Series I: Administrative Records, 1980-2006
Subseries A: Los Angeles Subregion, 1981-2006
Subseries B: National, Regional, and Other Chapters, 1980-2004
Series II: Program and Event Files, 1981-2007
Series III: Research Files, 1980-2007
Series IV: Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), 1980-2006
The collection is open for research use.
Copyright for unpublished materials authored or otherwise produced by the creator(s) of
this collection has not been transferred to California State University, Northridge.
Copyright status for other materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials
protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires
the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be
commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any
use rests exclusively with the user.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Alexis Stoumbelis, 2010
For information about citing items in this collection consult the appropriate style manual,
or see the
Citing Archival Materials
guide.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Documents
Photographs
Audiovisual materials