"Dixon, Aaron"
American West 2
Associations and institutions 2
Social reform 2
Medicine 1
Oral histories (document genres) 2
Video recordings 2
King County 2
Alameda County 1
Cook County 1
Black Panther Party 2
Civil Rights History Project 2
Cline, David P. 2
Black Student Union at the University of Washington 1
Carmichael, Stokely 1
Dixon, Elmer 1
Hutton, Robert James 1
King, Martin Luther 1
Newton, Huey P. 1
Seale, Bobby 1
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee 1
University of Washington 1
Elmer Dixon Oral History Interview
Civil Rights History Project, American, founded 2009
Dixon, Elmer, American
Interviewed by
Cline, David P. Ph. D., American, born 1969
Dr. King, Martin Luther Jr., American, 1929 - 1968
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, American, 1960 - 1970s
Carmichael, Stokely, Trinidadian American, 1941 - 1998
Black Panther Party, American, 1966 - 1982
Seale, Bobby, American, born 1936
Dr. Newton, Huey P., American, 1942 - 1989
Dixon, Aaron, American, born 1949
digital media - born digital
Place collected
Seattle, King County, Washington, United States, North and Central America
Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, United States, North and Central America
Oakland, Alameda County, California, United States, North and Central America
The oral history consists of eleven digital files: 2011.174.57.1a, 2011.174.57.1b, 2011.174.57.1c, 2011.174.57.1d, 2011.174.57.1e, 2011.174.57.1f, 2011.174.57.1g, 2011.174.57.1h, 2011.174.57.1i, 2011.174.57.1j, and 2011.174.57.1k.
Elmer Dixon discusses his childhood in Chicago, Illinois and Seattle, Washington, where he marched with Martin Luther King, Jr., and heard Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) leader Stokely Carmichael speak. At 17 he met Black Panthers Bobby Seale and Huey Newton in Oakland and established, with his brother Aaron Dixon as Defense Captain, the Seattle chapter of the Black Panther Party. Dixon discusses his work with the Panthers, the survival of several of the programs he started, including a health clinic, his work after the Panther chapter closed down in 1978, and his current position as director of an executive consulting firm specializing in diversity issues.
LOC ID: afc2010039_crhp0057
Associations and institutions
Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in partnership with the American Folklife Center, Library of Congress
2011.174.57.1a-k
© Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture and The American Folklife Center, Library of Congress
Civil Rights History Project
Aaron Dixon Oral History Interview
Black Student Union at the University of Washington, American, founded 1968
University of Washington, American, founded 1861
Hutton, Robert James, American, 1950 - 1968
Aaron Dixon describes his childhood in the Midwest and in Seattle and how he became a leader in the Black Panther Party, helping to found the Seattle chapter of the Party. He helped Dixon describes in detail his family history and the influence of oral tradition on his racial consciousness. He discusses the role of the Black Student Union at the University of Washington and details how the murder of Little Bobby Hutton influenced him profoundly and led him to join the Black Panther Party. He describes the Party's influence in Seattle and Oakland, his role in the Party, tensions with the police, tensions among members, and how the goals of the Black Panther Party shifted over the during 1960s and 1970s.