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Interviewer
Krochmal, Max
Contributor
Delgadillo, Rafael
Date of Interview
2026
Publication Date
8-28-2026
Narrator Birth Year
1948
Description
Ms. Viola Washington is a veteran community organizer and activist based in New Orleans. Born in Tunica, Mississippi, in 1948 and raised in Memphis, Tennessee, her activism began as a teenager when she participated in marches with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during the sanitation strike. After moving to New Orleans in 1971, she became a formidable organizer focused on housing rights, welfare rights, and anti-racism education. She was a leader in the Treme community organization, the Welfare Rights Organization, and the People's Institute for Survival and Beyond. She founded the "Still I Rise" program and was a central figure in grassroots efforts to secure a just recovery for residents after Hurricane Katrina.
Disciplines
Oral History
Geographic Coverage
New Orleans, LA
Time Periods
1980s to Present
Duration
01:38:26
File Size
3.83 GB
Format
mp4
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Washington, Viola and Krochmal, Max, "Oral History Interview with Viola Washington" (2026). Economic Justice Research Lab Oral History Project. 44.
https://scholarworks.uno.edu/ejrloh/44
Comments
The included description and attached summary and transcript files were created by rev.com and are unedited--do not quote. Please use transcript as an index only and quote directly from the video.