Elizabeth Liz Overton Colton, Ph.D.
Elizabeth Liz Overton Colton, Ph.D. n.d. Interest from the Beginning Because of Lifetime Work for Civil Rights and Currently Still Active through The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Association of Asheville and Buncombe County (Western North Carolina) and Nationally and Also Worldwide., Sewanee: Black Lives Matter Oral History Project, accessed June 6, 2026,
- Interviewer
- Lizzy Ray
- Interviewee
- Elizabeth Liz Overton Colton, Ph.D.
- Pronouns
- She/Her
- Location
- Asheville, North Carolina
- Place of Birth
- Corpus Christi, Texas
- Birth Date
- August 17, 1945
- Gender
- ♀ Female
- Education
- College
-
B.A. Randolph-Macon Woman’s College (now Randolph College), Lynchburg, VA
M.A. in English Literature, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
M.A. in Sociology-Anthropology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
Ph.D. in Social Anthropology, University of London School of Economics & Political Science, London, England, U.K. - Title + Work/ Occupational Experience
-
Educator
Warren Wilson College - Diplomat & Journalist in Residence, Warren Wilson College
- Career bridges teaching, journalism, politics, diplomacy.
- Other Background
- Lifetime work in civil rights movement from 1950s starting in school and then in high school and college, etc, human rights, Peace Corps, United Nations, international/national/local journalism in all the news media, press secretary for Rev. Jesse Jackson in 1988 U.S. Presidential primary, diplomat with U.S. Foreign Service, professor worldwide-in the past and today for UNITAR and also currently Diplomat & Journalist in Residence at Warren Wilson College
- Connection with Black Lives Matter
- Interest from the beginning because of lifetime work for civil rights and currently still active through The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Association of Asheville and Buncombe County (Western North Carolina) and nationally and also worldwide.
- Connection with Interviewer
- Sarah (Lizzy) Ray and I are members of the same Trinity Episcopal Church congregation in Asheville, NC, where I grew up in the 1950s-early 1960s and she in this early part of the 21st century. Her mother and I know each other from church and vestry work.
- What else?
- Please see my C.V. and articles about my life and work and also hear discussed in our interview, with appreciation.
- Duration of Interview
- 1 hour, 22 minutes, 37 seconds
- Interview Records:
- Abstract, Field Notes & Transcription