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Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2020-065
Jennie Davis served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Senegal from June 2011 to September 2013 in a community economic development program. She was born while her father was a Peace Corps volunteer in Ghana (1980-1984). Prior to joining, Davis had earned a degree in international business and worked at a finance and investment firm. She studied French in grade school, but grasping both French and Wolof was challenging. Davis was stationed in the coastal village of Mboro, where she worked on projects involving leather goods, business training, and an unsuccessful solar drying initiative. She describes struggling with the lack of relationship to her Peace Corps group, and the lessons she learned during her service. She hopes to return to Senegal someday to rekindle the relationships that she made there. Interviewed and recorded by Charlaine Loriston, November 16, 2019. 3 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2020-062
Regina DeAngelo served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ghana from 2000 to 2002 as a teacher. She joined mid-career at age 35 and was the oldest in her cohort. She describes training, which included living with a family in a small village outside of Accra, as intense and thorough. After training, DeAngelo began working as a computer-usage teacher at an elite school in Accra. After her first year, Accra was deemed too dangerous and she moved out into the country to teach at a nursing school. DeAngelo particularly enjoyed working with the young women, which included setting up a scholarship so some could afford to go to school, and interviewing a native healer to find out about their ancient religion. Returning home and reintegrating into her own culture proved challenging when confronted both with the abundance and waste in the U.S., and with the sense of being out of step with her age cohort. Interviewed and recorded by Candice Wiggum, March 8, 2020. 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2020-061
Kevin Dixon served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Colombia from 1962 to 1964 in a physical education program (Colombia IV). He discusses being recruited by Peace Corps while in college through an athletics magazine, and training at Texas Western University and at the Outward Bound facilities in Arecibo, Puerto Rico. He was assigned to set up a physical education program at the University of Antioquia in Medellin at the request of an American faculty member who wanted him to play baseball on an American ex-pat baseball team. Through this team, he got to know American consular staff and other ex-pats. In the second year, he traveled throughout the country setting up teams in conjunction with Colombian baseball and basketball leagues. He met his wife Kay, a fellow volunteer, in Colombia, and two of his daughters also served in the Peace Corps. Interviewed and recorded by Evelyn Ganzglass, March 4, 2020. 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2020-060
Katherine (Kay) Gillies Dixon served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Colombia from 1962 to 1964 in an urban community action program (Colombia III). She discusses language and cultural training at the University of New Mexico, Outward Bound training in Puerto Rico, and the eye-opening experience of working in a slum in New York City during training. Stationed in Medellin, Colombia, she distributed CARE provided food out of a health center in the Antioquia barrio, a large red-light district. She also trained people in use of powdered milk in rural areas and helped form clubs for neighborhood university students. Dixon discusses interactions with the U.S. foreign service community and visiting members of Congress. She also talks about reaction to President Kennedy's assassination and her subsequent involvement in Colombia with Partners in the Americas. She married a fellow Colombia volunteer (Kevin Dixon) and two of her daughters also served in the Peace Corps. Interviewed and recorded by Evelyn Ganzglass, March 4, 2020. 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2020-059
Sally Herman Poland served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Turkey from 1964 to 1966 in an urban community development project. Poland attended training at Portland State College. In Turkey she was stationed in Ankara and worked in Gulveren, a low-income neighborhood. In her interview she describes how she involved residents in starting a community center, library, and nursery school. She also describes Peace Corps' publicizing her as the 10,000th volunteer to complete service since the program's start in 1961. Interviewed and recorded by Ivan Browning, February 25, 2020. 3 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2020-054
Jenna Waites (then Jenna Butts) served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Guatemala from 2001 to 2003 on an environmental education and ecotourism project. She trained in Santa Lucia Milpas Altas prior to being stationed in the rural Mayan town of San Juan La Laguna, Solola department. She was assigned to teach environmental education but did not have local school support, so she looked for other ways to help. Waites teamed up with a local park ranger to implement a community ecotourism program, which differed from other aid programs that conditioned local residents to rely on others to provide for them. She continued her service in Danli, El Paraiso department, Honduras, from 2003 to 2004 in a water and sanitation program. Unfortunately, that government agency was not interested in what Waites could offer, so she sought work elsewhere. She ended up partnering with Action Against Hunger to provide expertise and guidance to local technicians on how to improve construction of water systems in rural areas. Interviewed and recorded by Christine Musa, January 22, 2020. 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2020-053
James E. Hill served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Togo from October 1974 to December 1976 on a primary school construction project. After completing program training in-country, he was stationed in Tsevie. His French language skills were strong to begin with but he had to work hard to understand the construction aspects of the job. One project in Kplaba, a remote village, involved him living with the school director's family for an extended period. Hill worked to build a 3-room primary school and cistern and latrine complexes in cooperation with local subsistence farmers who volunteered to provide the materials and labor. Hill states that he matured greatly from this experience, and learned to appreciate another culture and the importance of small things in life. His international cross-cultural work in the Peace Corps prepared him well for a subsequent career with the Red Cross and the Pan American Health Organization. Interviewed and recorded by Christine Musa, January 14, 2020. 1 digital audio file.
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2020-052
Aaron S. Williams served as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Dominican Republic from December 1967 to June 1970 on an USAID project with the Ministry of Education. His group received training at San Diego State University, with home stays in Baja California, Mexico. Williams was initially invited to serve in Honduras, but during training he volunteered to fill a shortage in the Dominican Republic. His first assignment was at Monte Plata, providing in-service training to teachers. He extended his service in Santiago, where he helped to develop educational curriculum. Williams married a Dominican woman during his second year of service. He later spent 22 years with USAID, primarily in Latin America and the Caribbean. His final Foreign Service post was Mission Director to South Africa. In 2009, Williams was appointed by President Barack Obama to serve as the 18th Director of the Peace Corps. Interviewed and recorded by Julius (Jay) Sztuk, January 16, 2020. 3 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-1996-032-009
Michael Thieme served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Grenada from 1990 to 1992 with his wife Karen. Growing up in a military family, Thieme was adventurous and had experience living in diverse places. His work project was small business development for a candle factory cooperative. Thieme also taught music and played the organ for a local choir. After returning to the United States, he worked as a Peace Corps recruiter in Boston. Interviewed and recorded by Margaret Pelton, February 7, 1994, as part of a Northeastern University public history class. 1 tape (web streaming files combined into 1 file). A user's guide and transcript are available in Box 93.
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-1996-032-008
Karen Thieme served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Grenada from 1990 to 1992 along with her husband Michael. Her original project involved fabric design and sales, but was plagued with communication problems. Instead, Thieme switched to teaching art to children, which she found very fulfilling. Interviewed and recorded by Margaret Pelton, February 19, 1994, as part of a Northeastern University public history class. 1 tape (web streaming files combined into 1 file). A user's guide is available in Box 93.
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-1996-032-007
Maureen Shanley served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Colombia from 1977 to 1979. Shanley was stationed in Bogota and worked for the National Vocational Educational Program (Servicio National de Aprendis, or SENA). She produced video tapes, slide presentations, and instructional manuals for educational use. Interviewed and recorded by Patrick Preston, May 13, 1994, as part of a Northeastern University public history class. 2 tapes (web streaming files combined into 1 file). A user's guide and transcript are available in Box 93.
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-1996-032-006
Dennis Ramsier served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Liberia from 1971 to 1973 in an education program. He trained in St. Croix, Virgin Islands, with the Liberia 23 group. Ramsier taught math in the business school at the University of Liberia in Monrovia. He enjoyed the administrative side of education, and produced a revised bulletin for the College of Business and Public Administration. Interviewed and recorded by Helen B. Howard, May 5, 1994, as part of a Northeastern University public history class. 1 tape (web streaming files combined into 1 file). A user's guide and transcript are available in Box 92.
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-1996-032-005
Robert S. Newman served as a Peace Corps volunteer in India from 1964 to 1966. He was stationed at an adult literacy and training institute outside of the city of Lucknow. However, the Peace Corps had trained him to raise chickens. It was difficult to establish chicken projects because the people did not really eat eggs or chicken for cultural reasons. Newman met his future wife while in India. Interviewed and recorded by Srikumari Sibbadi, April 29, 1994, as part of a Northeastern University public history class. 1 tape (web streaming files combined into 1 file). A user's guide and transcript are available in Box 92.
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-1996-032-003
Barbara Kelley served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Malaysia from 1966 to 1967 along with her husband Bill. The couple trained in Hawaii. They worked on community development projects. Interviewed and recorded by Helen B. Howard, May 2, 1994, as part of a Northeastern University public history class. 1 tape (web streaming files combined into 1 file). A user's guide is available in Box 92.
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-1996-032-002
Josh Dohan served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ghana from 1982 to 1984. He received agriculture extension training in Frogmore, South Carolina. In Ghana, Dohan completed language training and was assigned to the village of Kukoum. He worked on small animal husbandry projects and had the most success with raising rabbits. Interviewed and recorded by James Beauchesne, April 30, 1994, as part of a Northeastern University public history class. 2 tapes (web streaming files combined into 1 file). An user's guide and transcript are available in Box 92.
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-1996-032-001
Mary H. Behnke, known as Lee, served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Sierra Leone from 1967 to 1969 in an education program. She served alongside her husband Michael. The couple was inspired to join the Peace Corps due to President Kennedy's legacy. They were stationed in Blama, where Lee taught at the Holy Ghost Mission school. Interviewed and recorded by Michael O'Connor, May 10, 1994, as part of a Northeastern University public history class. 1 tape (web streaming files combined into 1 file). An user's guide and transcript are available in Box 92.
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2015-036
Stephen Clapp served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Nigeria from 1962 to 1964. After attending Harvard College and working as a journalist for the New York Post, Clapp decided to join the Peace Corps. He trained at Columbia University Teachers College in the secondary education program, which included learning Hausu and Nigerian history and culture. In Nigeria, he taught boys from both Christian and Muslim families in a selective provincial boarding school located in Yola. He also discusses the Yolo Club, the center of social life for expatriates. Clapp later developed a successful career in food policy journalism, and also wrote a book about his Peace Corps experience, "Africa Remembered: Adventures in Post-Colonial Nigeria and Beyond" (2008). 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file). Interviewed and recorded by Patricia Wand, July 31, 2015.
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2015-031
Stephen Vincent served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Nigeria from 1965 to 1967. After Peace Corps training at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Stephen was assigned to the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, where he taught humanities, literature, poetry, and creative writing. The interview includes discussion of tensions at the university leading up to the Biafran War. Stephen recounts an incident in which he got into hot water for giving credit to the Peace Corps for funding a poetry recording project, and another in which his own poetry helped him gain permission to leave the war zone. 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file). Interviewed and recorded by Phyllis Noble, June 3, 2015.
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2015-030
Abdullahi Edward ("Ed") Tomasiewicz served in the Peace Corps in Nigeria from August 1966 to August 1967 as an agriculture and rural development volunteer. He was assigned to a small industries business loan grant project in Kano, a project funded by the Ford Foundation and administered by the regional Nigerian government. A few years later, Ed went back to Nigeria and discovered that the people whose projects he had helped fund had gone on to become successful businessmen. By the time of this interview, Ed (age 72) had spent a significant portion of his life in Nigeria and had also obtained Nigerian citizenship. Unfortunately, all but the first half-hour of this interview has been lost. 1 digital audio file. Interviewed and recorded by Phyllis Noble, June 6, 2015.
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2015-029
Laura Good served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Philippines from 1982 to 1984, working in the field of local development administration. Prior to the Peace Corps, Laura had gained experience in anthropology, environmental science, and urban planning. In the Philippines, Laura and her husband lived and worked on the very small island of Siquijor. Laura assisted the local county government in a number of projects, including the reforestation of mangrove trees. 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file). Interviewed and recorded by Phyllis Noble, May 27, 2015.
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2015-028
Evelyn Ganzglass served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Mogadishu, Somalia, from 1966 to 1968, with her husband Martin. They trained with the Somalia IV group at Columbia University Teachers College. After a brief in-country orientation, the couple was assigned to Mogadishu where Martin worked with the National Police Force and Evelyn taught English to elementary school girls in Primo Julio School. After the first year, Evelyn worked with the ethnographic National Museum to prepare for its re-opening, and conducted educational programs for school children and visitors. The couple taught English informally in their home and socialized with Somalis and fellow PC volunteers. Evelyn states that the years in Somalia formed the foundation of their strong marriage, and they made life-long friendships with several Americans and Somalis, including the Farah family whom the Ganzglasses sponsored as political refugees. 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file). Interviewed and recorded by Patricia A. Wand, April 22, 2015.
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2016-037-001
(PART 1 OF 2) Henry John Drewal served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Nigeria from 1964 to 1966 in an education program. His training at Columbia University included study of the Yoruba language. In Nigeria, Drewal was assigned to teach French and English at the African Church Grammar School in Abeokuta, a city in the Yoruba-speaking western region. He was also assigned to be the school's sports master, and focused on volleyball and tennis. Among his accomplishments was the construction of the school's first tennis court. During school holidays, Drewal organized and ran vacation arts camps for the primary school children. In his spare time, he continued his study of Yoruba and apprenticed himself to a Yoruba sculptor, an experience which had a profound impact on the rest of his life. After the Peace Corps, Drewal returned to Columbia University graduate school in African art history and anthropology, earning a Ph.D. At the time of this interview, he continues to do research in the history of African art and the diaspora. He is active at the Chazen Museum of Art in Madison, Wisconsin, and is on the faculty at the University of Wisconsin. Interviewed and recorded by Phyllis Noble, September 11, 2014. 1 tape.
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2016-014
Robert (Bob) T. K. Scully served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Kenya from 1964 to 1966 as a secondary school teacher. He decided to apply when he was an undergraduate at the University of Missouri. Scully trained with the Columbia University Teachers for East Africa program in New York City. He was assigned to the remote village of Bungoma in western Kenya, where he taught at St. Mary's Kibabii Secondary School, a Catholic men's boarding school. There he prepared its first graduating class to take the Cambridge exams (GCE). Scully discusses the challenges in navigating both the Kenyan tribal society and the Catholic education system during the country's transition from British colonialism to independence. In his second year, Scully started an African history society at the school as well as an independent study program where students interviewed locals and recorded tribal oral histories. He also helped to establish a school library. After the Peace Corps, Scully developed a career as a medical anthropologist working in international community based health programming. Interviewed and recorded by Wendy McLaughlin, March 22, 2015. 3 tapes (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2015-021
Sam Farr served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Colombia from February 1964 to February 1966 in an urban community development program. He trained at the School of Social Work, Columbia University, and was assigned to the barrio of Castilla in Medellin, Columbia. Tasked to work with the newly formed government program Accion Comunal, Sam's first project supported the barrio in the construction of a soccer field. That introduction to rudimentary but effective construction techniques and the dynamics of local culture led to more projects and eventually to his offering community development training to Colombians in the office of Accion Comunal itself. Witnessing the "culture of poverty" in Columbia, and suffering the deaths of both his mother and his sister during this period, profoundly affected Farr and left him committed to a life of service. After the Peace Corps, he was a budget staffer in the California Assembly before winning election to the Monterrey County Board of Supervisors in 1975. In 1980 he won a seat in the California State Assembly where he served until his election in 1993 to U.S. House of Representatives for the 20th District of California. At the time of the interview, Farr had just been elected to his 12th term in the House. Interviewed and recorded by Patricia Ann Wand, 2 December 2014. 1 tape (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2013-008
Meredith Green served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ecuador from 1967 to 1969. She was known by her married name, Margaret Schroeder, at the time. She and her husband were first stationed in a small coastal community, then later moved to the larger city of Machala. While her husband worked as an engineer, Green had to find her own niche within the community development program. She undertook various activities including teaching women in the community how to make and use steel barrel ovens. She also held classes on nutrition, clean drinking water, prenatal health, and art. Interviewed and recorded by Phyllis Noble, July 18, 2013. 1 tape (web streaming files combined into 1 file).