Sammie Abbott Collection of ECTC Ephemera

Scope and Contents

Sammie Abbott Collection of the Emergency Committee on the Transportation Crisis (ECTC) ephemera dates from 1965 to 1991 and measures 3.5 linear feet. The collection documents Abbott's role within the committee which successfully opposed the construction of the North-Central Freeway within Washington, DC and Takoma Park, Maryland. Materials include flyers, newspapers, posters, and Congressional reports.

Biographical / Historical

Sammie Abbot was born in Ithaca, New York in 1908 to Syrian Christian immigrant parents. He attended Cornell University to study architecture, but left before earning his degree to do labor organizing work across upstate New York during the Great Depression. He moved with his wife, Ruth Abbott, to the Washington, DC area in 1940, eventually building his family home with his father-in-law in Takoma Park, MD. He served in World War II as Staff Sergeant in intelligence, 391st Fighter Squadron of 366th Fighter Group, 9th Air Force, receiving a Bronze Star medal. After the war, he became a peace and civil rights activist, for which he was called before the House Committee on Un-American Activities. He refused to comply with their requests and was fired from his job as a commercial artist. In the 1960s and '70s, he was a founder and leader of the Emergency Committee on the Transportation Crisis (ECTC) which successfully fought the construction of a proposed freeway in Washington, DC that would have required the demolition of many homes and small businesses. Abbott was elected and served as mayor of Takoma Park, MD from 1980 to 1985.

Sammie Abdullah Abbott died on December 15, 1990 at his Takoma Park, Maryland home.