New Orleans-Southeast Regional Office of the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador

Collection — Multiple Containers

Identifier: Collection 47

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The papers of the New Orleans-Southeast Regional CISPES chapter include correspondence, periodicals, reports, journals, newsletters, press clippings, publications, writings, and other printed material. The collection provides considerable information about CISPES in New Orleans and the U.S. from 1980-1996, with the bulk of materials from 1980-1987.

Dates

Created: 1964-1996
Other: Majority of material found in 1980-1987
Other: Date acquired: 04/10/1997

Creator

Ishee, LeVaun (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research use.

Conditions Governing Use

Physical rights are retained by the J. Edgar and Louis S. Monroe Library, Loyola University New Orleans. Copyright is retained in accordance with U.S. Copyright Laws.

Biographical or Historical Information

LaVaun Ishee was born in Glendive, Montana. In 1980 she and her husband Carroll Ishee moved from Western Canada to New Orleans. LaVaun Ishee was a member of the Liberation Support Movement, the New Orleans Rainbow Coalition, and secretary for the People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond. She was a registered nurse at Mercy Hospital in New Orleans from 1980-1994, and served as Coordinator of the New Orleans-Southeast Regional chapter of the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador from 1982-1983 and 1984-1986. In 1981, LaVaun’s husband Carroll left New Orleans and his studies at the Tulane School of Architecture to join the opposition to the U.S. backed Salvador government and its military in the El Salvador Civil War. In 1983, Carroll Ishee died in a helicopter attack on his camp. A decade later, LaVaun Ishee served on a medical-aid mission to El Salvador she coordinated with the assistance of Mercy Hospital. Ms. Ishee died in 1996.

Note written by Horn, Christine P.

Extent

15.00 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

The Committee in Solidarity with the People of EL Salvador was founded in 1980 in response to the Civil War in EL Salvador (1980-1992). The U.S. government during the Reagan Administration supported the Salvadoran government and its military. CISPES was founded in support of oppositional guerrilla groups, particularly the Farabundi Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN), and its political representation, the Democratic Revolutionary Front (FDR). The 1985 Directory of Central American Organizations describes the CISPES SE Regional New Orleans office’s purpose: “to educate the American people about the U.S. government’s intervention in the Central American region and to work in solidarity with Central Americans for their right to self-determination.” SE Regional CISPES listed refugee support, political organizing and lobbying, community education, solidarity, church liaison, direct assistance, research, speakers, and travel as its activities. The New Orleans chapter worked on many regional and national campaigns until it’s eventual dissolution about a year after LaVaun Ishee’s resignation as coordinator in 1986. Over the years, CISPES formed coalitions in solidarity with other Central American groups, both secular and religious. Many publications of solidarity organizations are found in this collection, particularly as relates to US policy in El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Honduras. Also of note are numerous FBI documents on both the New Orleans and the National CISPES office in Washington D.C., obtained by Ms. Ishee via the Freedom of Information Act.

Arrangement Note

This collection has been organized into three series, the first of which has been divided into three subseries. The majority of the original folder titles and contents have been preserved. Some folders have been given titles based on their contents or location within a larger file. The arrangement scheme for the collection was imposed during processing in the absence of a usable original order.

Source of Acquisition

Ishee, LeVaun

Method of Acquisition

Gift, 1997.01

Existence and Location of Originals

multi-part note content

Related Materials

multi-part note content

Subjects

Classifications

- AM. Archives & Manuscripts

Related Names

Creator

Ishee, LeVaun (Person)

Finding Aid & Administrative Information

Title: New Orleans-Southeast Regional Office of the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES) Papers
Status: Completed
Author: Horn, Christine P.
Date: 11/30/2012
Description rules: Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description: Undetermined
Script of description: Code for undetermined script
Language of description note: English