Category Archives: Judaism

Religion in the Peace Corps

One central aspect of service in the Peace Corps is religion. Whether or not Volunteers are religious, they frequently serve in communities that are religious or include beliefs that Volunteers are unfamiliar with. The Peace Corps Community Archive features Volunteers’ experiences encountering new religious traditions, relying on their own faith, interrogating it in light of their service, or all three. This collection of Volunteers’ stories show that Volunteers often experience new or different understandings of religion during their tours.

A Volunteer’s new experiences with religion often starts quickly. In 1970, Edward “Ted” Ferriter, who served in southern India, lived with a Hindu host family while training. Every morning, his host’s wife started her morning with prayers at the family’s altar. [1] When Jessica Vapnek reached the village of Kirumba in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) in 1985, she had to announce her religion. Kirumba primarily had Catholic and Protestant missionaries and infrastructure. Villagers expected her to be one or the other, but Vapnek was Jewish. A previous Volunteer recommended that she say that she was Catholic, as the Protestants did not consume alcohol. Vapnek decided to say that she was Jewish. [2] While she was still accepted, so few people had heard of Judaism that they mostly assumed she was, in her words, “kind of Catholic, but not.” [3]

Other Volunteers have memorable experiences with religion by participating in holidays or seeing holy sites. In northern India, Susan Fortner served in the city of Prayagraj (also known as Allahabad), from 1962-1963. Throughout her service and travels, she interacted with Hindus, Muslims, Jains, Zoroastrians, Christians, and Jews. Fortner was also able to visit religious sites across the country. These included a mosque in Kashmir which held some of Muhammad’s hair, as well as the Kali Temple and a Jain temple in in Kolkata (formerly Calcutta). Additionally, she was able to visit Mother Teresa’s Home for the Dying, though she did not meet its titular founder. [4]

Joanne Trabert, who served in the Guatemalan village of Granados from 1996-1998, experienced several religious ceremonies and holidays. One notable holiday she experienced was Christmas in 1996. In the weeks before Christmas, she and local friends, who were Catholic, decorated their houses together. On the evening of December 24, Trabert went to a Catholic service, ate tamales, and enjoyed fireworks and parties into the wee hours. The next morning, she exchanged gifts with close friends in Granados. That evening, Trabert, two other Volunteers, and some visiting relatives cooked a traditional American Christmas dinner and celebrated with local friends. [5]

Photo of Joanne Trabert receiving a vase from friends in Granados on Christmas Eve, 1996. Unknown, 1996, in photo album, American University Archives, Washington, D.C.

Some religious Peace Corps Volunteers find meaningful ways to practice their beliefs. Marion Oakleaf was a member of the Religious Society of Friends (also known as Quakers). Her Peace Corps service in South Korea from 1966-1967 was simply one part of a life filled with volunteer work and service-oriented jobs. [6] As previously mentioned, Jessica Vapnek was a Jewish Volunteer serving in an area with few to no other Jewish people. During her training, she was able to celebrate Shabbat with other Jewish Volunteer trainees, as well as when she was traveling. [7] After her service, she traveled around Zaire and spoke of her amazement of visiting a synagogue and meeting with a rabbi; the two even had mutual friends. [8]

Other Volunteers consider their beliefs in different ways as a result of their service. This was particularly the case for two sets of Volunteers who fell in love and married early in their service. In early 1964, Bill VanderWerf and Barbara Jones met at training in Oregon to serve in Iran. [9] They married in Iran that September. [10] When they decided to marry, they wrote their parents, but they also had to tell them about new religious transitions. VanderWerf had switched from Catholicism to Protestantism long before his service and simply had not told his parents. However, Jones decided to leave her childhood denomination, Christian Science, during training in Portland, though she still considered herself a Protestant. Jones now considered Christian Science to be too rigid and insular for the more diverse world that she was encountering. [11]

Arnold Zeitlin and Marian Frank met in California during training for Ghana in the summer of 1961; they married that December. Zeitlin was Jewish, while Frank grew up a Presbyterian but had since become more generally spiritual. When they became engaged, they wrote letters to their own parents and to their fiancée’s parents to introduce themselves and ask for blessings. One of their largest concerns was how their families would react to an interreligious marriage.  In her letters, Frank emphasized the similarity of their beliefs and values. [12] Zeitlin wrote his parents a similar note, emphasizing that he was still very much Jewish, but that “I believe deeply that we will be stronger because of our diversity.” [13] Through the Peace Corps, these two couples not only fell in love but thought about their religious beliefs in new and different ways.

Arnold and Marian Zeitlin (bottom left) after their marriage, sitting with the Ghanian teachers they worked alongside. Unknown, 1962-1963, in scrapbook, undated, American University Archives, Washington, D.C.

Peace Corps Volunteers encounter or reconsider many ideas during their service, and religion is no exception. Whether visiting a holy site, finding ways to practice their faith overseas, or in day-to-day interactions, Volunteers often have new experiences or understandings of religion during their service.

 

 

 

 

 

[1] Edward Ferriter, “My Peace Corps Story, India 1970-1972.” American University Archives, Washington, D.C.

[2] Jessica Vapnek to friends and family, August 16, 1985. American University Archives, Washington, D.C. Vapnek’s collection also includes a letter of advice from previous Volunteers in Kirumba, which is the subject of a different blog post [https://blogs.library.american.edu/pcca/to-the-new-volunteer-helpful-letters-in-a-new-place/]

[3] Jessica Vapnek to friends and family, October 7, 1985. American University Archives, Washington, D.C.

[4] Susan Fortner, “India: A Memoir,” 3, American University Archives, Washington, D.C.

[5] Joanne Trabert to friends, January 9, 1997. American University Archives, Washington, D.C.

[6] Marian Oakleaf obituary, April 3, 2016. American University Archives, Washington, D.C.

[7] Jessica Vapnek to friends and family, August 25, 1985; Jessica Vapnek to friends and family, February 16, 1986. American University Archives, Washington, D.C.

[8] Jessica Vapnek to friends and family, August 9, 1987. American University Archives, Washington, D.C.

[9] Barbara VanderWerf, “Four Seasons: A Khareji in Iran in the 1960s,” (unpublished manuscript, 2021), 7-13.

[10] VanderWerf, “Four Seasons,” 101-102.

[11] VanderWerf, “Four Seasons,” 101-102.

[12] Marian Frank to her parents, October 30, 1961; Marian Frank to Morris and Bess Zeitlin, October 31, 1961. American University Archives, Washington, D.C.

[13] Arnold Zeitlin to Morris and Bess Zeitlin, October 30, 1961. American University Archives, Washington, D.C.

The Case of the Peace Corps Fellow and the Mysterious Napkin

Hi! My name is Emily Messner, and I have spent the past school year as the Peace Corps Community Archive Fellow, cataloging new collections and writing blog posts. As the year ends, I want to share the most unexpectedly remarkable story I encountered in my work. Therefore, this post is a little different because it involves an archival collection and my work to solve a very unique mystery. In the process, I’d also like to give you all a little “peek behind the curtain” to see what it’s like to be a student-archivist. Enjoy!

Chapter 1: Arnold Zeitlin

Of course, this story starts long before me. It begins with a donor-Arnold Zeitlin. In 1961, Arnold Zeitlin was a journalist living in Pittsburgh. He was paying attention to the newly-elected President Kennedy’s policies, especially his implementation of the Peace Corps. Zeitlin then followed in the footsteps of his hero, famed journalist Edward R. Murrow, to work for the government. Additionally, the idea of trading television reviews for service appealed to him. [1] The Peace Corps accepted Zeitlin, and in the summer of 1961, he was on his way to California to take part in a training and selection process.

After a false start, Ghana accepted Arnold Zeitlin as part of the very first Peace Corps group to start their service-Ghana I. He served as an English teacher in Ghana’s capital city, Accra. During his time as a Volunteer, Zeitlin continued writing newspaper articles about his experiences, primarily for Pittsburgh newspapers. Zeitlin’s Peace Corps experience also featured love: he met his wife, got married, and ultimately divorced some years later. After completing his service, Zeitlin resumed his career in journalism, although he also continued to write and think about the Peace Corps. This included one of the first memoirs about Peace Corps Service, To The Peace Corps With Love, which he published in 1965. Recently, Zeitlin donated a great deal of his Peace Corps materials to the Peace Corps Community Archive at American University.

Arnold Zeitlin in Accra with his students, c. 1961-1963. American University Archives, Washington, D.C.

Chapter 2: An Archival Puzzle

In November 2022, I had three months under my belt at my fellowship, and I was ready to start processing another collection. I grabbed the box with Arnold Zeitlin’s donations and opened it up to see a great deal of fascinating material. The donation included everything from newspapers, to photos, to correspondence, and much more. I prefer to start working on new collections by processing any correspondence. Letters written before or during a Volunteer’s service usually give me valuable information about the Volunteer and their experiences. This context makes it easier to understand the significance of the rest of their donation. Archivists do their best to preserve the original organization of donations. Sometimes, such as in the case of Zeitlin’s correspondence, the donor only organizes some of their letters. I therefore put the rest of his letters into chronological order.

As I was doing this, I found an object that was not a letter at all: this napkin, which had no clear connection to any of the letters I sorted. It had a very strange collection of phrases on it in Zeitlin’s handwriting, such as, “I do not like to see women smoke,” “I wish I could be as happy as others seem to be,” and “I am more sensitive than most.” [2]

What was the story behind this napkin? A full transcript of the letter’s phrases is at the end of the post. Arnold Zeitlin, napkin with list of phrases, 1961, American University Archives, Washington, D.C.

Finds such as this napkin are fairly unusual. In my three years of experience, I have never seen anything quite like this. More delicate paper products such as napkins, especially a completely unfolded one, are not the easiest to write on. Nor are they easy to preserve for several decades. And then there were all the odd phrases, which made no sense and slightly concerned me. As I continued processing the collection, I became more and more confused: What was this object, and what did it mean? Since my position is only a few hours a week, it took me quite a while to process Zeitlin’s collection, and the mystery grew deeper and deeper in my mind.

Chapter 3: Mystery Solved!

The very last set of items that I had to process in Arnold Zeitlin’s collection were a few dozen newspaper articles about Ghana I’s service. Zeitlin wrote about half of them. I began the delicate process of sorting and scanning them- newspaper ages poorly and easily tears. As I started to scan the newspaper articles that Zeitlin wrote during Ghana I’s California training, a few bolded words suddenly leapt out at me. These were the phrases from the napkin!

Mystery solved! Arnold Zeitlin’s newspaper article that included information from the napkin. Arnold Zeitlin, “Peace Corps Quiz Probes Aspirant,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, date unknown. American University Archives, Washington, D.C.

After a little more reading, I realized that Zeitlin was writing a humorous, slightly frustrated article about the battery of psychological tests he and fellow hopeful Volunteers had to take. Words on the napkin were quotes from what he considered the most ridiculous true/false psychological questions on a test. [3] In To the Peace Corps With Love, which I would read later, Zeitlin discussed enduring the wide range of psychological tests and interviews, alongside his equally humored and incredulous peers. His conclusion was that the Peace Corps was bending over backwards to make sure that this first group of Volunteers would carry out their work as smoothly as possible. [4] He also noted that one of the psychologists, Brewster Smith, had not taken kindly to his critical article on the matter. Even as he hurried to join the rest of Ghana I after their arrival, his send-off included a good-natured, exasperated warning to write no further articles about psychiatrists. [5]

To confirm my findings, I contacted Arnold Zeitlin himself, who graciously answered my list of questions about a small occurrence that had happened more than sixty years before. To supplement the memoir, Zeitlin noted that he thought that the Peace Corps’ reliance on all of the odd tests to predict Volunteers’ performance was “absurd.” [6] He found the situation so ridiculous that he had to write an article. Zeitlin enjoyed the opportunity to share his experiences-whether fascinating or ridiculous- with his readers back in Pittsburgh. [7] Finally, Zeitlin wrote that he had been able to become friends with Brewster Smith years later over a lunch in Hong Kong, where Zeitlin was living at the time. [8] With all of this information, the ends of my napkin mystery tied themselves in a surprisingly neat bow. You can see the results in the finding aid for Zeitlin’s collection, which includes an entry just for the napkin. Zeitlin recently passed away, after a long, rich life. I am very grateful for the time he took to tell me about his experiences.

Arnold Zeitlin with his wife, celebrating his ninetieth birthday. Photo from Arnold Zeitlin.

Epilogue: The Mysteries Continue

This is not the only mystery that I have focused on this year. For example, one of my first blog posts was on a mystery novel inspired by the author’s lived experiences in the Peace Corps. And while this “case” was a more involved puzzle than most of my work entails, mini-mysteries are not uncommon while working in archives. If part of a donation comes without enough context through the materials surrounding it, it becomes a little mystery of its own. That is fine by me! Figuring out more information about these items is one of my favorite parts of this wonderful job. On that note, I am very excited to say that I will be back again as the fellow for the 2023-2024 school year. So be on the lookout for more Peace Corps mysteries and intrigues that I uncover in my work, starting in August!

Transcription of the napkin’s phrases:

  • I like to flirt 
  • I believe my sins are unpardonable 
  • I like to talk about sex 
  • I am more sensitive than most 
  • Often I cross the street in order not to meet someone I know 
  • Some people are so bossy that I feel like doing the opposite of what they request, even though I know they are right 
  • I certainly feel useless at times 
  • I have diarrhea once a month or more 
  • When I am with people, I am bothered by hearing very queer things 
  • Everything is turning out just like the prophets of the Bible said it would 
  • I wish I could be as happy as others seem to be  
  • I do not like to see women smoke  
  • I would certainly enjoy besting a [crude?] at his own game 
  • At times I think I am no good at all 
  • I am attracted by members of the opp[osite] sex 
  • Christ performed miracles such as changing water into wine 
  • WX or Lincoln 

[1] Arnold Zeitlin, email message to author, February 7, 2023; Arnold Zeitlin, To the Peace Corps With Love (Garden City: Doubleday & Company, 1965), 19.  

[2] Arnold Zeitlin, napkin with list of phrases, 1961, American University Archives, Washington, D.C. 

[3] Arnold Zeitlin, “Peace Corps Quiz Probes Aspirant,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, date unknown. American University Archives, Washington, D.C. 

[4] Arnold Zeitlin, email message to author, February 7, 2023; Arnold Zeitlin, email message to author, February 7, 2023. 

[5] Zeitlin, To the Peace Corps With Love, 48. 

[6] Arnold Zeitlin, email message to author, February 7, 2023. 

[7] Arnold Zeitlin, email message to author, February 7, 2023; Arnold Zeitlin, email message to author, February 7, 2023. 

[8] Arnold Zeitlin, email message to author, February 10, 2023. 

Arnold and Marian Zeitlin in Ghana

Country of Service: Ghana

Place of Service: Accra

Service Type: Education

Dates in Service: September 1961-July 1963

Keywords:  Education, Youth

Accession Date: April 15, 2022

Access: No restrictions

Collection Size: 1 linear foot

See Also: American University Library has copies of Zeitlin’s book, To the Peace Corps With LoveZeitlin’s donation also features in the blog post “The Case of the Peace Corps Fellow and the Mysterious Napkin.”

Document Types

  • Correspondence
  • Photographs
  • Scrapbooks
  • Reports
  • Publications
  • Film/Video

Finding Aid:

  1. Papers
    1. Correspondence
      1. Correspondence, July-September 1961
      2. Correspondence, October-December 1961
      3. Correspondence, 1961 undated
      4. Correspondence, January-May 1962
      5. Correspondence, June-September 1962
      6. Correspondence, October-December 1962, 1962 undated
      7. Correspondence, January-March 1963
      8. Correspondence, April-June 1963
      9. Correspondence, July 1963-December 1965, 1963 undated
      10. Correspondence-Politics, Grouped together, undated
      11. Correspondence on Peace Corps Writings, 1964-1981
      12. Peace Corps Papers
        1. Ghana Training Materials, c. 196
    2. Peace Corps Papers (Start of Box 2)
      1. Other Peace Corps Papers, c. 1961-1963
    3. Reunions
      1. Ghana I, Reunions and Contacts, 1970-2011 (includes 1 DVD)
  2. Publications
    1. Newspaper and Magazine Articles
      1. Ghana Article Drafts, c. 1961-1963
      2. Newspaper Articles by Arnold and Marian Zeitlin, 1961-1986
      3. Newspaper Articles by other Authors, 1961-1991
    2. Peace Corps Studies and Pamphlets, 1963-1984
      1. Peace Corps Studies and Pamphlets (1 of 2)
      2. Peace Corps Studies and Pamphlets (2 of 2)
    3. Other Publications
      1. The O’Reilly Journal, Vol. 1 No. 3, 1964
  3. Other Materials
    1. Fabric
      1. Cloth Ghana I anniversary materials, 1986-2011
    2. Photos and Miscellaneous
      1. Photos, c. 1961-1996, undated
    3. Larger materials (Start of Box 3)
      1. Napkin with psychological test phrases, c. July 1961
      2. Saturday Evening Post issue, January 1, 1966 (The Zeitlins wrote an article in this issue)
      3. Letters From the Peace Corps, ed. Iris Lee (features some of the Zeitlins’ letters)
      4. Photo Album, c. 1961-1963

Jessica Vapnek in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire)

Country of Service: Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire)

Place of Service: Kirumba

Service Type: Education

Dates in Service: July 1985-July 1987

Keywords: Community Development, Education, Health, Youth, Judaism

Accession Date: December 6, 2022

Access: No restrictions

Collection Size: 0.1 linear feet

Document Types

  • Correspondence
  • Photographs
  • Reports

Finding Aid:

Box 1

  1. Papers
    1. Peace Corps Placement Paperwork, 1984-1985
    2. Zaire Peace Corps Handbook, 1985
    3. Friends of Peace Corps Symposium, 1985-1986
    4. IDs, Papers, and Certificates, c. 1985-1987
    5. Correspondence, 1985-1987

Janet S. Karon in The Philippines

Country of Service: Philippines
Service Type: Elementary School English Teacher
Dates in Service: 1961-1963
Keywords: Community Development, Education, Literacy, Youth, Judaism

Accession Date: May 7, 2021; May 31, 2022
Access: no restriction
Collection Size: .26 linear feet (located in small collections)

Document Types

  • Correspondence
  • Photographs
  • Publications

Digital Surrogates

Finding Aid

  1. Photo Album: including finding aid and 37 photos 
  2. Digitized Pan-American airline menu; Honolulu-Manila; January 3, 1962 
  3. Correspondence, February 13, 1962-December 14, 1962 
  4. Correspondence, January 1, 1963-June 13, 1963, undated 
  5. Correspondence, Post-Tour Travel, June 21, 1963 -August 2, 1963 
  6. Correspondence, Sent to Jan’s Parents From Others, August 1962