The woman who manned the longest protest in U.S. history has died.
Concepcion “Connie” Picciotto, thought to be 80, became a fixture in Washington D.C. at an anti-nuclear proliferation demonstration held across from the White House since 1981.
The immigrant from Spain had recently suffered a fall. But it’s not clear if that contributed to her death on Monday at a house in the nation’s capital operated by a center for homeless women, according to the Washington Post.
Millions of people who visited the White House over the past few decades saw Picciotto, a diminutive 5-foot demonstrator who would hand out flyers while flanked by signs warning about nuclear weapons and the hope of world peace.
Picciotto was accompanied for many of her years picketing by William Thomas, a peace activist who founded the peace vigil along Pennsylvania Avenue. Thomas was later married to a woman named Ellen Benjamin who said the three activists protested in the park together for 25 years, according to The Post.
They never saw their goals come to fruition, though D.C.’s congressional delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton has repeatedly introduced a nuclear disarmament bill inspired by them.
Picciotto, who wore a wig, helmet and headscarf to keep radio waves out of her head, would spend many nights in the tent at Lafayette Park, taking breaks to go to the bathroom and shower.
She also spent time at a “Peace House” owned by Thomas before he died in 2009 and the dwelling was sold last year. Young helpers carried on the Pennsylvania demonstration when she was not there so the tent would not be not seized.
The incessant activist continued the White House protest when Ellen moved away, though her time there was greatly reduced after she was hit by a car while riding her bike in 2012.
