But this Ellen knew nothing of that history. She was drawn by the truth of what Thomas was teaching, the courage Concepcion displayed, and their profound need for help before the regulation writers and police could convince a judge to lock them up. She quit her job at the National Wildlife Federation and joined the vigil on April 13, 1984. By the end of that year, she and Thomas were married; both had been arrested several times for "camping," and Ellen was doing community service at a homeless kitchen for "climbing a tree for UJC" (one of the other vigilers locked up in July 1984 for protesting the Supreme Court's "CCNV" decision).
In November 1984 Thomas, Concepcion and Ellen filed a civil suit before Judge Louis Oberdorfer; this put a minor damper on police harassment, and Lafayette Park began slowly to be known as "Peace Park."
Various published articles have quoted Ellen since she began her vigil; various letters have been exchanged with the government; in 1988 Judge Charles Richey sent her, Thomas, Bob Dorrough, Philip Joseph and Sunrise Harmony to prison for several months.
In 1985 Ellen helped publish "DC Home News" as "Kate Steel," and two letters in the Washington Times (in 1985 and 1994) bore her dead grandmother's name, "Sidonie Espero."
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