Dates in Service: 1995 – 2013
Accession Date: March 1, 2014
Access: No restrictions
Collection Size: 0.5 linear feet
Document Types:
- Annual Reports
- Financial Statements
- Newsletters
Category Archives: Friends of Ghana
Debby Prigal in Ghana
Debby Prigal
Country of Service: Ghana
Place of Service: Ho
Service Type: Math Education
Dates in Service: 1981-1983
Keywords: Our Lady of Apostles Secondary School, Ho, Volta Region
Accession Date: October 12, 2015, March 31, 2016, April 15, 2016
Access: No restrictions
Collection Size: 0.5 linear feet
Document Types
- Application Materials
- Training materials
- Passport, WHO card, Peace Corps ID
- Completion of Service materials
- Photographs (slides and prints)
- Letters
- Talking Drum PCV Newsletters
- Articles Written About Ghana
- Sample exams
- Tape of student chorus
- Log of photos sent to family with film
- Resume
Finding Aid
- Application Material for the Peace Corps
- Letters and introduction material
- Articles on and by Prigal and Ghana
- Newspaper articles
- Christmas Carols from OLA, Debby’s School
- Close of Service Material
- Certificate
- Identification Cards
- ID Card
- Who card
- Passport
- Letters to Debby
- 1981-1984
- Letter from Barbara Bush
- Letters to Debby’s Parents, 9/17/81-5/15/83
- Newsletter “The Talking Drum” July 1982, Aug/Sept 1982, March 1983, July 1983
- Orientation Material
- Photographs (Duplicated from slides), Notes on Photo Descriptions (final version in ‘slides’ folder)
- Response to the Coup D’etat in Ghana, 12/31/1981
- Letter from Peace Corps Director
- School Material Math Examinations Math Exams
- Slides from 1981-1983 (includes list of descriptions for each image)
- Includes slide descriptions
- Visit from Barbara Bush and Peace Corps Director, Loret Ruppe, November 1981
“Bringing to Man that Decent Way of Life”
The Peace Corps traces its history to a speech given by Senator John F. Kennedy in 1960. In the midst of the Cold War and a presidential campaign, Kennedy, on October 14th, challenged University of Michigan students to travel abroad giving their time and talents to nations around the world. “How many of you, who are going to be doctors, are willing to spend your days in Ghana?” Kennedy asked in an unplanned speech.
Those in attendance followed up with a petition which was eventually signed by one thousand students who affirmed their willingness to leave the comforts of the United States to work in developing countries. Their signatures and commitment to service inspired the Peace Corps. Once elected, President Kennedy followed up on his challenge and issued Executive Order 10924 establishing the Peace Corps on a temporary basis.
In a statement announcing the Peace Corps’ establishment on March 1, 1961, Kennedy acknowledged the real challenges waiting ahead for participants. However, he stressed that the rewards, compared to the challenges, would be far greater. Kennedy claimed, “For every young American who participates in the Peace Corps—who works in a foreign land—will know that he or she is sharing in the great common task of bringing to man that decent way of life which is the foundation of freedom and a condition of peace.”
Abbie Rowe. White House Photographs. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston
Robert Knudsen. White House Photographs. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston
On August 28, 1961, President Kennedy hosted a ceremony honoring the first group of volunteers, Ghana I and Tanganyika I, in the White House Rose Garden. Days later, fifty-one Ghana I volunteers arrived in Accra to serve as teachers. Less than a month later, the Peace Corps became a permanent federal agency with the Peace Corps Act.
Abbie Rowe. White House Photographs. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston
Sources:
“About Us.” Peace Corps. http://www.peacecorps.gov/about/
“Peace Corps.” John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. http://www.jfklibrary.org/JFK/JFK-in-History/Peace-Corps.aspx
All images are courtesy of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.