Oral history interview with Ellen Lovell, 2000

Biographical Note

Ellen Hilton Lovell was a Gandhian nonviolence activist who participated in the Civil Rights and antiwar movements in both Chicago and Detroit. Lovell was involved with chapters of CORE and the Fellowship of Reconciliation in both cities, and was witness to the Detroit riots of 1943. She was married to Reverend William Lovell for 59 years at the time of her death in 2005

Scope and Contents

Lovell begins this interview by discussing her family background, early education, and first jobs. She explains how she first encountered the civil rights movement while working for the Methodist Church in Detroit. She characterizes her early political influences, which include: her involvement with the Hyde Park Co-op, her mother's respect for people, her high school experience, her time at an ashram in Detroit, and time spent at the University of Chicago. She also discusses her father's commitment to healthy living and his work ethic, which were inspired by his involvement with Bernarr Macfadden's Physical Culture City. She addresses the effects of the Depression and her marriage on her pursuit of an education. Lovell also discusses blockbusting and its effects, her impressions of Jim (James) Farmer, her memories of the Detroit riots of 1943, and her encounters with Bayard Rustin and her admiration of his singing voice. Lovell also details her husband's work as a minister, including her opinions on what makes a good minister and her observations of public reactions to his interracial congregation

Subjects

• Civil rights--Religious aspects--Christianity--History--20th century.
• Civil rights movements--United States--History--20th century.
• Congress of Racial Equality.
• Interviews.
• Lovell, Ellen--Interviews.
• Michaels, Sheila, 1939-2017, interviewer.
• Oral histories.
• United States--Race relations--History--20th century.