Category Archives: Returned Peace Corps Volunteers

Ruth Chandler in Brazil

Dates in Service: c. 1964-1966

Keywords: Community Development, Education, Youth

Accession Date: September 29, 2022

Access: No restrictions on research. No deed of gift as donation through third party.

Collection Size: 0.1 linear feet (located in small collections)

Document Types

  • Correspondence
  • Publications

Finding Aid:

  • Hot Lunch Digest Brazil VII newsletter, 1964-1965
  • Associated Correspondence with the newsletters, 1969, 2017
  • Missionary flier for RPCVs, undated

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.  

Arnold Zeitlin today with his wife. He recently celebrated 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. 

Gretchen Fetterly in Nigeria

Country of Service: Nigeria

Place of Service: Ifuho

Service Type: Education

Dates in Service: 1961-1963

Keywords: Community Development, Education, Health, Libraries, Sports, Youth

Accession Date: November 4, 2022

Access: No restrictions

Collection Size: 0.25 linear feet

Document Types

  • Correspondence
  • Photographs
  • Publications

Finding Aid:

Box 1

  1. Outgoing Letters, 1961-1963, Nigeria
  2. Newspaper, Nigeria
  3. Photographs, 1961-1963, Nigeria
  4. Outgoing Letters, 1964, Washington, D.C.
  5. Photographs, 1965-1967
  6. Outgoing Letters, 1967-1968-arranged chronologically
  7. Letters and Photographs, 1968, Washington, D.C.
  8. Peace Corps Documents, n.d.

Processed by Caroline Shanley

Irwin Dubinsky in Colombia

Country of Service: Colombia
Place of Service: Caldas and Nariño 
Dates in Service: 1963-1965
Service Type: Agriculture

Keywords: Agriculture

Accession Date:
Access: No restrictions
Collection Size:  .01 linear feet

Document Types:

  • Documents
  • Journal

Related Items in Other Repositories

James Fish in Colombia

Country of Service: Colombia
Dates in Service: 1963-1965
Keywords:  Community Development

Accession Date: May 12, 2021
Access: No restrictions
Collection Size: 1 linear foot

Document Types

  • Newspapers
  • Photographs
  • Publications
  • Reports
  • RPCV Directories/Reunion Materials
  • Training Materials

Finding Aid

  1. Friends of Colombia RPCV Directories 
    1. July 1991 RPCV Directory 
  2. Newspapers 
    1. November 1963 Newspapers (2) 
  3. Magazines 
    1. Including issues of Time, Look, and Life 
  4. Maps and Publications 
    1. World Map 
    2. A packet of reproductions of artwork focused on bullfighting titled Pases del Torro 
  5. Peace Corps Conference/Reunion materials 
    1. RPCV Report on Conference (1965) 
    2. 25th Anniversary of the Peace Corps Book (1986) 
  6. RPCV/Washington Directories 
    1. RPCV/Washington membership directories for 1986-1990 and 1997-1998 
  7. Slides and Photographs 
    1. 1 photograph 
    2. 1 sleeve of negatives 
    3. 12 sleeves of slides 
  8. Slide Indexes 
  9. Training Materials 
    1. Including A Guide to Health for Peace Corps Volunteers 

Kara Lynn Rankin in Brazil

Country of Service: Brazil
Service Project Title: Rural Community Action & Rural Electrification
Dates in Service: 1963-1965
Keywords: Architecture, Business, Community Development, Environment, Urban Planning

Accession Date: April 29, 2021
Access: no restrictions
Collection Size: .5 linear feet

Document Types

  • Correspondence
  • Photographs
  • Reports
  • Publications
  • Training Materials

Finding Aid

  1. Correspondence, October 14, 1964-January 2006 
  2. Documents and Ephemera relating to Peace Corps Reunions, Celebrations, Anniversaries, and Conferences, 1967-2011 
  3. Magazine Clippings, 1966-2010 
  4. Miscellaneous Documents 
  5. Newspapers, 1966-1990 
  6. Peace Corps Administrative Documents and Personal Documents  
  7. Photographs 
  8. Publications, 1961-1987 
  9. Publications, 1990-2006 
  10. Training Materials and Handwritten Notes 

Ruth Bednarz in Malaysia

Country of Service: Malaysia
Place of Service: Sandakan
Service Type: High School Teacher; Founding Member of Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of New Jersey
Dates in Service: 1973-1976
Keywords: Community Development, Education, Health, Library Literacy, Youth

Accession Date: April 16, 2021
Access: no restrictions
Collection Size: .01 linear feet (located in small collections)

Document Types

  • Publications

Digital Links

  • Photograph of Ruth Bednarz in Malaysia (Courtesy of Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of New Jersey): https://rpcvnj.wordpress.com/2019/07/28/origins-of-the-returned-peace-corps-volunteers-of-new-jersey-rpcv-nj-nj-rpcvs-role-in-establishing-the-national-peace-corps-association-npca/ruth-bednarz/

Finding Aid

  1. Returned Peace Corps Publication: “RPCVoice” (1985); Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of New Jersey Directory: 1986-1987 

“To Whom It May Concern”: The Peace Corps, Public Health, and COVID-19

In his capacity as tour manager for the University of Ibadan’s Shakespeare Traveling Theatre troupe, Tom Hebert brought renowned productions—like Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Hamlet among others—to audiences throughout Nigeria. The pictures above illustrate a core tenet of Shakespearian performance: audience interaction, which was anything but lacking in West Africa during the 1960s. In a recent blog post, Hebert recalls that millions of Nigerian students were required to study Shakespeare as part of their secondary education; consequently, audiences numbering in the “thousands would mouth the lines in an audible susurrus” during shows. [1] Hebert also came to understand that British colonialism and an entrenched caste system overshadowed the educational merits of theater: “literate African kids wandering the streets with nothing to do, and nowhere to go.”

In 1964, after two years of service as a Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV), the time had come for Hebert to return to the United States. Addressed “To Whom It May Concern,” a disease identity card (pictured below) marked Hebert’s return:

Disease Identity Card, April 1963, Shelf: 12.03.05, Box: “Tom Hebert,” Folder: “Hebert, Thomas L, Nigeria 1962-1964, Training Materials–Supplies and Medical Information,” Peace Corps Community Archive, American University Library, Washington, D.C.

In another example, an unnamed PCV received a similar card upon their return from India in 1968:

Disease Identity Card, 1968, Shelf: 12.03.02, Inquire for Box & Folder Information, Peace Corps Community Archive, American University Library, Washington, D.C.

These cards were a reminder to PCVs as to the prevalence of disease in their country of service. They were also ostensibly a precautionary measure—designed to warn physicians that the returning PCV might well be a public health risk, in which case subsequent isolation, treatment, contact tracing, and the like would become necessary. [2] Thus, in addition to coping with “reentry, readjustment, and reverse culture shock,” returning PCVs further faced the (remote) reality that they themselves might inadvertently bring lethal pathogens—for which there was little protection against—home to friends and family. [3]

An example: there was no vaccine to combat Dengue Fever—one of several diseases that Tom Hebert was potentially exposed to in Nigeria—in the 1960s. To this day, a “safe, effective, and affordable vaccine” for Dengue Fever remains elusive. [4]

This is not to say that the Peace Corps only took steps to protect PCVs on the back-end of their service. Additional evidence from the Peace Corps Community Archive is revealing; even in the 1960s, the fledgling Peace Corps had a robust front-end health program. It featured preventive medicine (where possible) and pre-departure education designed to reduce disease transmission:

Vaccination Appointment & Record Card, Shelf: 12.03.02, Inquire for Box & Folder Information, Peace Corps Community Archive, American University Library, Washington, D.C.

PCV Medicine Book, Shelf: 12.03.05, Box: “Tom Hebert,” Folder: “Hebert, Thomas L, Nigeria 1962-1964, Training Materials–Supplies and Medical Information,” Peace Corps Community Archive, American University Library, Washington, D.C.

In the case that preventive measures such as vaccination and sanitation failed, the Peace Corps also offered active PCVs reactionary treatment in the form of a standard medical kit:

Peace Corps Medical Kit with Health Guide, ID # 2011.0228.36, Transfer from the Peace Corps, National Museum of American History, https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_1412958

Medical Kit Inventory, Shelf: 12.03.05, Box: “Tom Hebert,” Folder: “Hebert, Thomas L, Nigeria 1962-1964, Training Materials–Supplies and Medical Information,” Peace Corps Community Archive, American University Library, Washington, D.C.

On balance, the health measures enacted by the Peace Corps—from pre-service medical training and vaccinations, reactionary treatment options during service, and disease identity cards upon return—were largely successful. From 1962-1983, 185 PCVs died during their service; of those 185, 40 died due to illness. For context: some 235,000 PCVs have served in hundreds of countries since the Peace Corps’ inception in 1961.

Relative to the Nigerians for whom he organized Shakespearean performances, Hebert enjoyed a position of privilege in terms of access to healthcare. For many PCVs, the prospect of becoming ill during service or bringing illness back to loved ones upon return was remote; indeed, the public health infrastructure of their home country, the United States, was robust compared to many countries where the Peace Corps operated.

However, what if the opposite were true? What if returning home was seemingly just as dangerous—if not more dangerous—to the well-being of PCVs? In March 2020, following the onset of COVID-19, this seeming impossibility came to fruition as all active PCVs were evacuated back to the United States. [5]

In a blog post for the Pacific Citizen, Kako Yamada—an evacuated PCV who had been serving in Comoros—recounts the abruptness of being evacuated due to COVID-19: [6]

Our plans for the remaining months or years of service vanished as we collected what we could of our belongings — some able to say their good-byes, others not so lucky.

I had been allotted one hour to pack and say my farewells to my host family — leaving my friends, students, teammates and co-workers in the dust.

Yamada did not fully grasp the gravity of the situation until she embarked on the long flight from Comoros—an island country off the coast of Africa—to her home in New York City:

On my layover in Addis Ababa, I saw people in full body suits; on the subsequent plane, flight attendants wore gloves and asked passengers not to help one another. Upon arrival at Newark Airport in New Jersey, a hollow silence echoed. Welcome home.

She also remembers questioning whether the evacuation was justified, especially because the situation in Comoros appeared much less dire (in terms of infection case numbers) than it did in the United States. It wasn’t until May 1 that the first case of COVID-19 was announced in Comoros; by then, in the month and a half since she had returned to New York, “there had been 304,372 reported COVID-19 cases in New York, a number that equated to half the population of Comoros.”

Moreover, in the United States, a crisis of public trust emerged—only compounding the threat posed by COVID-19. The situation rapidly devolved into a multifaceted culture war, one which pinned public health experts against conspiracy theorists and their sympathizers in government leadership. Anecdotal evidence and misinformation were disseminated to discourage mask wearing and promote unproven miracle cures, among other flashpoints of the culture war.

Chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, for example, were frequently touted by right-wing conspiracy theorists as miracle drugs in the fight against COVID-19. With the benefit of hindsight, and given that credible public health experts have historically warned of the untested efficacy of these drugs, we are now certain that neither chloroquine nor hydroxychloroquine are safe to administer to COVID-19 patients. [7] Records from the Peace Corps Community Archive do show, however, the historical—and empirically proven—use of chloroquine as an antimalarial drug in locales such as Senegal:

Chloroquine Program Document, Shelf: 12.04.02, Box: “Cherie Lockett,” Folder: “Cherie Lockett, Senegal 1979-1981, Health Care N.D.,” Peace Corps Community Archive, American University Library, Washington, D.C.

 Yamada grappled with guilt, for although the situation in the United States appeared dire upon her departure from Comoros, her evacuation ensured a better chance of survival:

It came down to privilege. After months of integrating — through language, food and dances — in the end, I am privileged. In a pandemic, I, as an American citizen and Peace Corps Volunteer, got to fly out to a country with better health care.

I could not escape the fact that I was a volunteer that would disappear if things got bad.

People often ask: how will the history of COVID-19 be written? What will history tell us about our response to a global pandemic? Historians and public historians themselves are asking different, more pointed questions: how will we remember our global response to COVID-19? Who gets to shape the memory of the American experience with COVID-19? Is it the historian’s place to weigh the immeasurable suffering and loss of human life against the resilience and moments of unity that will get us through this? Likewise, who and what dictates how Comorians remember COVID-19? What are the stakes if we omit the lived experiences of those who were and are the most vulnerable to COVID-19? Do public historians have a responsibility to interpret/challenge those actors who downplayed and mismanaged the crisis from its outset? For Yamada, her answer is fairly straightforward:

The situation of a country miles away, often labeled as one of the poorest in the world, is very much mirrored here in the United States.

The characteristics of denial, governmental inadequacies and systematic vulnerabilities of certain social groups over others are paralleled. However, one quality is certainly different: we have the resources, and yet, we dared to fail.

[1] Tom Hebert,  “Shakespeare and the Ins and Outs of Education Reform,” Peace Corps Writers, n.d., http://www.peacecorpswriters.org/pages/2001/0109/109cllkheb1.html.

[2] Amy Lauren Fairchild, Lawrence O. Gostin, Ronald Bayer, “Contact Tracing’s Long, Turbulent History Holds Lessons for COVID-19,” The Conversation, July 16, 2020, https://theconversation.com/contact-tracings-long-turbulent-history-holds-lessons-for-covid-19-142511

[3] Peace Corps, RPCV Handbook: You’re on your way Home (Office of Third Goal and Returned Volunteer Services, n.d.), 10, https://files.peacecorps.gov/resources/returned/staycon/rpcv_handbook.pdf

[4] World Health Organization, “Questions and Answers on Dengue Vaccines,” Immunization, Vaccines, and Biologicals, April 20, 2018, https://www.who.int/immunization/research/development/dengue_q_and_a/en/

[5] Jody K. Olsen, “Peace Corps Announces Suspension of Volunteer Activities, Evacuations due to COVID-19,” Peace Corps, March 15, 2020, https://www.peacecorps.gov/news/library/peace-corps-announces-suspension-volunteer-activities-evacuations-due-covid-19/

[6] Kako Yamada, “Welcome Home? From Peace Corps Service to COVID-19 America,” Pacific Citizen, May 22, 2020, https://www.pacificcitizen.org/welcome-home-from-peace-corps-service-to-covid-19-america/

[7] United States Food and Drug Administration, “FDA Cautions Against Use of Hydroxychloroquine of Chloroquine for COVID-19 Outside of the Hospital Setting or a Clinical Trial due to Risk of Heart Rhythm Problems,” July 1, 2020, https://www.fda.gov/drugs/drug-safety-and-availability/fda-cautions-against-use-hydroxychloroquine-or-chloroquine-covid-19-outside-hospital-setting-or

 

 

Anne Williams in India

Name: Anne Williams
Country of Service: India
Place of Service: Bombay and Calcutta
Dates in Service: 1965-1967
Keywords: Community Development, Health

Accession Date: January 24, 2020
Access: No restrictions
Collection Size: 1.5 linear feet

Document Types
• Correspondence
• Photographs
• Scrapbooks
• Reports
• Publications
• Sound
Biographical sketches

Additions to Collection:
Accession Date: September 7, 2021
Access: No restrictions
Collection Size: 0.01 linear feet

Document Types
• Correspondence
• Documents

Finding Aid

** in front of an item shows it was created by Anne D. Williams 

  1. account books 
    1. ** ADW personal 
    2. ** food & household, ADW and Betsy Franzen 
  2. Peace Corps Application Materials/Documents including 
    1. ADW Peace Corps Application 
    2. Letters of acceptance to join training  
    3. Physical fitness assessment 
  3. India 39 book of trainee photos, bios 
  4. India 23 training materials/documents including 
    1. Documents pertaining to training dates, preparation, and expectations (18 items) 
    2.  book of trainee photos, bios and sketches  
    3. training info, 11 pages 
    4. Columbia U campus map 
    5. immunization worksheet for ADW 
    6. W.H.O. vaccination card for ADW 
    7.  daily schedule for trainees supervised by Marvin Sicherman 
    8. ADW report on training placement 
    9. skit by volunteers 
    10. ADW certificate of training at Columbia U. 
    11. Peace Corps Handbook 
  5. ADW weekly letters to family 
    1. ** Jan 1966-Oct 1967 from India 
    2. ** Oct 1967-Nov 1967 from stops on my travel home 
  6. ADW work in Bombay: 
    1. Police Maternity Hospital & Welfare Center,  3 reports 
    2.  ADW planned daily schedule at Police Welfare Center 
    3.  PC memo to Police Welfare Center with PCV info, re requested furnishings for PCV housing 
    4.  Feb 1966 press clipping re ADW PC service 
    5. ** May 1966, ADW report to Peace Corps 
    6. ** July 1967 ADW proposal for record keeping 
    7. ** Sep 1967 ADW survey report to Police Welfare Center 
  7. 1-year seminar materials (Goa, Jan 1967) 
    1. announcements of seminar (2) 
    2.  India 23 PCV’s description of placements 
    3. 10 articles prepared by India 23 PCVs: Harriet Bissell, Don Cline, Doris Cort, Georgia Drakes,
    4. Dick Falstein, Barry & Gretchen Johnson, John Maddaus, Eric Souers, various others 
    5. Final Seminar Report, including transcripts of most discussions
  8. Items from PC India offices, USIS 
    1.  PC India Mar 1967 Handbook Supplement 
    2. PC India Apr 1967 Medical Handbook  
    3. Apr 1967 report on India Volunteer forum & evaluation 
    4.  17 personal communications 1966-67 
    5.   American-Hindi cookbook 
  9. Other reports on India 23 activities 
    1. Ghatkoper community development project, by Bob Ungerleider 
    2.  Potters Colony project, by Frank Matricardi 
  10. June 1967 trip to Nepal 
    1. ** ADW essay 
    2. US embassy’s map of Calcutta to Nepal route 
  11. Termination of Service Documents 
    1. 16 items pertaining to completion of service and return to the U.S. 
  12. Indian press clippings on India 23 basketball team 
  13. miscellaneous 
    1. ADW passport used 1966-1967 
    2.   ADW ID card, Youth Hostels Assn. of India  
    3.  ADW permit to consum liquor in Ootacamund  
    4. 5 receipts or stationery from places ADW visited 
    5. 9 banknotes from countries ADW visited 1967 
    6. unused ballot from Bombay election in 1966-67 
    7.  ADW income tax exemption certificate, 1967 
    8. health exam report for cook, Mary Rodrigues 
    9. ** ADW recommendation letter for cook, Mary Rodrigues 
    10. Gateway, Aug 1967 issue (India PCV magazine) 
  14. directories 
    1.  1981 RPCVs in Maine 
    2. 1988 Friends of India (Returned PCVs) 
    3.    1989 Friends of India (Returned PCVs) 
  15. Reunions, and information on other India 23 volunteers 
    1.  reunion notes: 1980, 1987, 1993, 1999, 2003,  
    2.    1993 Note and drawing by Marby Connet Selwitz 
    3.  2007 DVD compiled by Dick and Willo Falstein of India 23 service and reunions 
    4.  obituaries 
  16. India 17-18-19 photos 
  17. ADW essays 
    1. ** 2020 overview of PC experience 
    2. ** 1966 draft article for ADW high school newspaper (SSSAS in Alexandria, VA) 
  18. **Slide Index 
  19. audio recording **audio tape of sounds from India that I sent home in 1967 
  20. photos most taken by ADW 
    1. ** photo album 
    2. ** slides (about 1,300) taken in India and Nepal Jan 1966-Oct 1967 
    3. ** slides (about 400) from 1967 trip home (Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Israel, Greece, Rumania, USSR, Japan) 
    4.  slides (about 200) taken by other India 23 PCVs 

Proudly Serving: the LGBTQ+ Volunteer Experience

Even as we move into November, I would like to return to October. Many may know it as a month of horror movies, candy, and spooky decorations, but it also happens to be Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender History month.

I originally intended to highlight stories about LGBT+ volunteers serving in the Peace Corps—the only issue is that donors do not usually disclose their sexual orientation or gender identity when offering  their materials to the PCCA. However, we do have some items related to heterosexual couples and marriage during Peace Corps service. You can view the corresponding blogs here and here.

Since the PCCA is home to  personal collections for over 200 Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RCPVs), I have reason to believe that at least a few identify within the LGBT+ community. Yet, even if I were to find traces of homosexuality or transgender experiences, it feels unethical to disclose personal information without the donor’s permission.

That said,  I poked around online and found quite a few Peace Corps groups that offered guidance and support to LGBT+ volunteers, as well as blog posts written by LGBT RPCVs.

Julie Andrews as Queen Clarisse Renaldi in Princess Diaries 2 says

The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, 2004.

In this belated LGBT+ history month post, I want to formally request Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Asexual RPCVs (From 1961 to present-day) to consider donating their materials to the PCCA so that we can represent a vast array of PCV experiences.

I would also like to emphasize the incredible work of Jim Kelly and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Association, while touching on the milestones of LGBT+ Peace Corps history.

A Brief LGBT+ History of the Peace Corps

In many countries around the world, identifying openly (or “coming out of the closet”) as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender is illegal. In others—including the United States— LGBT+ continue to face discrimination, violence, and even death. Those who appear to fit into the heterosexual societal expectations of gender and sexuality incur the trauma of loneliness and shame from the lack of recognition and acceptance for who they are. LGBT+ Peace Corps Volunteers often have to choose between the call to “promote world peace and friendship” and their own mental or physical health.

When Kennedy created the Peace Corps in 1961, the organization’s stance on homosexuality corresponded with that of the United States federal government. During the 1950s and ‘60s, the United States collectively feared Communist spies. Government agencies rooted out potential security breaches, focusing largely on anyone suspected of being a homosexual.

In this cultural environment, RCPV Jim Kelly applied for the Peace Corps. Kelly recounts the application process and facing the survey question: “Are you a homosexual?”

For a young gay man in the 1960s, his only option was to commit perjury—and convince all of his friends to lie as well. While he enjoyed his service in El Salvador, Kelly mentioned feeling anxious of discovery and lonely for a community supportive of his true self.

Listen to Kelly’s 2017 interview at OUTSpoken in Chicago:

Fast forward to 1992, Kelly completed a master’s thesis called “Hidden dimensions of diversity: gays and lesbians in the Peace Corps,” where he interviewed 80 RPCVs and recommended widespread institutional changes to the Peace Corps. Kelly’s study was foundational to initiating worldwide conversations around sexual orientation and gender identity within the organization.

The National Peace Corps Association currently encourages LGBT+ applicants and same-sex couples to serve abroad. Considerably more resources and support systems are available to volunteers during their time overseas, however individual experiences vary depending on the person and social climate of the country. Presently, the Peace Corps reports 18 countries with medical clearances to support HIV+ volunteers and allows applicants to choose specific countries of service.  

Do you identify as a LGBTQ+ Peace Corps Volunteer? The PCCA is interested in preserving your materials and understanding how your identities shaped your service. We accept both digital and physical blogs, journals, correspondence, videos, photographs, training materials, and more! Reach out to us at archives@american.edu.

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