Ellie Bluestein biography
Ellie has devoted much of her adult life to seeking peace and justice on a local, national, and international level. As a new mother, she found herself empathizing with mothers and their babies around the world, in particular with those mothers who did not have food for their children. This concern merged with another growing passion, the quest for peace: Her studies convinced her that in time of war it is the women and children who disproportionately suffer starvation and death.
In this shift from her concern for her own children to compassion for mothers and children everywhere, Ellie demonstrated early in her adult life a focus on and advocacy for the common good.
Her activism at this time was accomplished through the Women’s International League of Peace and Freedom. When she moved to Fresno in 1964, she started the community’s chapter of WILPF. This chapter grew and was quite active during the period of the Vietnam War; not an easy role in this conservative community. She participated in international WILPF conferences in Poland and the Netherlands. She served as a member of the national board of WILPF, was president of the organization’s Western Region, and helped to develop a peace curriculum for schools, among other activities.
Ellie also has been heavily involved in other efforts to benefit the Fresno community. She was elected as a representative to the Model Cities program in the 1970s with an aim to bring better health care to the area. She was appointed to the Citizens Advisory Committee for Valley Medical Center which was, at that time, the county hospital that served the poor and indigent (it is now the University Medical Center and part of the Community Medical Centers system).
Along the way, Ellie also began to work as a substitute teacher (her teaching degree and training were completed in New York State). She particularly was drawn to work at Edison High School, located in a heavily African-American community. Again, she found herself concerned with the larger context for the problems she encountered. She also found enjoyment teaching at a private school where she had the freedom to pursue creative projects as well as music and dance.
Later she served as chair of the Community Committee on Education, a position that eventually was transformed into a board appointed by Fresno Unified School District whose focus was on developing community participation in local education.
Another major thrust of her life was to serve on the inaugural board of the fledgling Human Relations Commission. She was vice-chair for two years and part of her portfolio was to work with the Chicano Civil Rights Committee. This led to a mediated forum that included the Chicano Committee and the Fresno Police Department. This forum, mediated by Ron Claassen (founder of the local Victim Offender Reconciliation Program), was exceptionally intense, took many hours, and eventually involved a very reluctant City Council. “The stories … were really mind-boggling because I’d never been subject to this kind of harassment ….” This forum led to changes in Fresno PD training procedures. In recent years, in this same vein, Ellie has spearheaded an extensive effort through the Central California Criminal Justice Committee to bring an Independent Police Auditor position to Fresno. Despite the success of this in similar California communities and despite gaining the support of the Fresno Chief of Police and the Mayor, to date the City Council has refused to back this program. However, neither Ellie nor the CCCJC are finished with this project.
Another major area of her life was her immersion in local mediation efforts, a natural outgrowth of her peace activism and her work on the HRC. After receiving training in mediation offered by Ron Claassen, she worked for a time with the Victim Offenders Reconciliation Program (VORP). She found the work to be challenging and exceptionally rewarding. Due to the influence of her late husband, Gene, and subsequently her children, Ellie has long been actively supportive of music. Recently, under her guidance, this commitment has given birth to the annual Gene Bluestein Memorial Concert which recently celebrated its second performance. Two other issues have drawn her attention and energy in the past few years. The first is the globalization of transnational corporations, an issue to which she and others in the valley have devoted much effort to educate the public about the issues and problems associated with the lack of accountability and controls. The second issue is the successful effort to include a woman in CSUF’s Peace Garden. For this important honor, the committee chose Jane Addams, the founder of WILPF and the first US woman to receive the Nobel Peace Award.
Another project that was dear to her heart was the Women’s Oral History Project, an interview project published as “20 Fresno Women Committed to Change.” This work was replicated by her in Japan as “14 Tokyo Women Committed to Change.” These publications have helped to honor and lift up for the community the extensive efforts by women who have done work to benefit the larger community, much like Ellie herself. Again, this speaks of her ability to see and connect her concerns as a part of a larger picture, an essential feature of working for the common good.
Ellie explains her personal philosophy this way: … My work in the community, in a way, is an extension of my family life. They work together. My attitude towards my family as being a haven for peace and fulfillment, working things out together, living together in a humane way, is extended into the community. Also having a family with four children made me feel this tremendous commitment to providing a world where they could live in peace, and a connection with families all over the world who need that same kind of security.
Ellie’s life philosophy, which expresses the passionate heart of what it means to be an advocate for the common good, clearly underlies her life-long commitment to social change that benefits the larger community. All of this combines to make her an Outstanding Advocate for the Common Good.
Ellie receives Martin Luther King, Jr. Award
1Baxter, Kathleen M., Eleanor B. Bluestein, Teacher, Peace Activist, and Mediator (1963-1993). An oral history in the San Joaquin Valley Social Work Series, conducted in 1994 by Kathleen M. Baxter, Social Work Oral History Project, California State University, Fresno., p. 104. 2Ibid., p. 165.