Author - John Coyne

Pat was driving to D.C. when he heard on the car radio that JFK had signed the executive order creating the Peace Corps. It was March 1, 1961. He stepped on the gas and reached Washington that night. He started to work at the Peace Corps the next day. There was no specific job, however. There were no jobs. There were 12 or so people working for the new agency: Sarge, Maryann Orlando, Sally Bowles, Nancy Gore, Mitzi Mallina. Warren Wiggins, Charlie Nelson, Gordon Boyce, Al Sims, Al Meisel, Ed Bayley, and Harris Wofford. “Wofford was dividing his time between the Peace Corps and the White House,” Kennedy recalls. “He interviewed me and he kept yawning in my face. I knew he was important; I’d heard about him on the campaign. He was close to Shriver. And I thought, ‘Oh my God, I’ve had it. I’m boring him to death.’ Pat wasn’t boring Wofford, it . . .

Pat Kennedy wasn’t a relative to the ‘other’ Kennedys, but he was never anxious to tell others that. It was nice in those balmy days of 1961 to ride the smooth carpet of the most famous name in America. Thought, in all honesty, Pat never ‘lived off’ the name. He made his own way to Washington, D.C. and the Peace Corps, he was a good guy who treated everyone fairly, and unlike many others, didn’t use his ‘connections’ to make his way in the agency. Like most of those early staffers he had ‘family money’ and he was young, twenty-eight, married to Ellen Conroy a wonderful (and in my opinion, much smarter wife. Ellen who, by the way, was the sister of Frank Conroy, who wrote the wonderful Stop-Time, and was for years director of the Iowa Writer’s Program, but back to Pat.) Pat was a teaching fellow at the University of Wisconsin in Madison (history) when he heard about . . .

The Peace Corps On Day One blog series that I recently posted attempted, in pretty much short-hand fashion (suitable for blogging), to tell the history of the first days of the agency, and the initial thinking behind the Peace Corps itself. I mentioned that in those early days of 1960s the agency was full of Mad Men (and a few Mad Women) who were living in a world-of-work atmosphere very much like the provocative AMC drama Mad Men, the program that follows a handful of ruthlessly competitive men and women in New York City who work in advertising on Madison Avenue. They are living (in case you haven’t seen the series) in an ego-driven world where “selling” is all that matters. The series is set around 1962-63 and has everything we grew up with: cigarette smoking, drinking, sexism, adultery, racism, etc. (I might have left out a few ‘isms’.) Well, some (if . . .

A New York Non-Profit–BEST–is partnering with RPCVs to create a historical exhibit in downtown Manhattan. The theme is “Then & Now: 50 Years of Service” and the exhibition will tell personal stories of the Peace Corps’ long-term impact on the countries where we lived and worked.  The exhibit will be displayed in the lobby of the Federal Building at 201 Varick Street where the Regional Peace Corps Recruitment Offices are located. The group is seeking stories from RPCVs (along with accompanying photos and artifacts, when available) that illustrate the impact of their Peace Corps projects and relationships that began during their service. The Peace Corps experience is rich in its history and full of stories and connections that have lasted longer than just two years. What do you remember? Who among your many HCNs still write letters, send emails, keep in touch? Tell the stories of your trip back to your country of service. Tell it in . . .

This is a terrific piece by Peter Hessler (China 1996-98) that is on the website of  The New Yorker as of today,  March 15, 2010. Peter takes on NYTIMES writer Nicholas Kristof and his piece the other day that stirred a lot of  interest among RPCVs who have been there, done that, and know how to say more than “doorknob” in their host country language. Read it, and if you haven’t read Warren Wiggins’  comments about what the founders of the Peace Corps were trying to do 50 years ago, read his comments, too.  And also, if you are taking a class from John Brown at Georgetown University, give him an F. He’s like a lot of those foreign service officers we know overseas. You know, the ones we called, “dumb f****! in our host country language. Here’s Peter’s piece: “Here’s a one-word language test to measure whether someone really knows a foreign country and culture: . . .

What continues to surprise me is how few people–since that morning in the Mayflower Hotel–have read “A Towering Task” which was the first draft of defining the Peace Corps; it was the bible for the future Peace Corps. When I asked Warren Wiggins about this, he commented, saying, “It’s marvelous that nobody has read it because, you see, in most ways I didn’t know what the hell I was talking about. In some ways I was dead on, but I did recommend that we ship air-conditioned trailers to the Philippines to house the Volunteers. It’s a far cry from the theology of the Peace Corps that evolved, but then, those were the early days.” What is clear now from the safety of time and distance is that being anti-establishment, amateurish, anti-professional was the reason for the success of the Peace Corps. This attitude by the staff permeated the whole organization . . .

“The list is long and it is hard to name a few when so many contributors would be left out, so let me just mention one person,” Warren Wiggins said in the winter of ’97 when I asked him who had made the most significant contribution (besides Shriver) to the creation of the Peace Corps. Wiggins went on: Bill Moyers deserves his special place in Peace Corps history. His work with Shriver to create full bipartisan support in the Congress that first year was critical. His role in the creation of the public service advertising campaign for the Peace Corps created a nationwide citizen constituency. These achievements were of unparalleled important. Moyers got Young and Rubicam to create ads. Moyers interpreted the Peace Corps to them. And those ads meant that all Americans read or heard on the radio or saw on television three or four good sentences about the Peace Corps. The . . .

Arriving for work on or before March 1, 1961, the day President Kennedy signed the executive order establishing the Peace Corps, were a few women who were early volunteer staffers and who would become famous in those first years of the agency. The majority of these women were well connected by family or friends to Shriver and eager to work at the Peace Corps, the shining star of Kennedy’s administration. The Peace Corps was the ‘hot’ agency and everyone, of course,  wanted to be connected to Kennedy–if they couldn’t be in the White House–they wanted to be with Shriver and the Peace Corps. The women at the time were mostly ‘second class’ citizens in the world-of-work. They were not, for example, sitting at the ‘big conference table” at Senior Staff meetings. Looking at old black-and-photos of Peace Corps HQ meetings, you might see that Elizabeth (Betty) Forsling Harris had wedged  herself into the group, but that . . .

[For those who want to contribute, here’s how] Contributions can be made online through the Benin Country Fund at “http://www.facebook.com/l/a08f8;www.peacecorps.gov“. Steps to donate: 1. Go to “http://www.facebook.com/l/a08f8;www.peacegorps.gov” 2. Click on “donations” 3. Click on “View all Country Funds” 4. Click on “Benin Country Fund” 5. Click on “Donate” 6. Please make your contribution, and in the comments section, it is IMPERATIVE to specify “Kate Puzey Girls’ Camp Commemorative Fund” in order for the funds to be routed to the appropriate account. The contribution process is anonymous. However, if you’d like, you can send an email to katepuzeyfund@gmail.com after you’ve donated and they will send an annual report once the camps have finished. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask at the email above.

[This is a message that is going around the Peace Corps Community and to the endless friends of Kate Puzey (Benini 2007-09)]  Dear RPCV Family, A dear friend and fellow member of the Peace Corps Community was tragically killed in Benin, West Africa on March 12, 2009.  Those of us who knew her miss the warmth, passion, and radiance that she so gracefully exuded.  She was a selfless individual who wanted nothing but to give, learn, and live life to its fullest.  Please join me in a day of service in Kate’s memory.  Where ever you may be, please take a moment to light a candle to honor her spirit, or take an hour or two to give back to your community.  Please view this YouTube link created by Kate’s uncle.  It highlights her spirit, powerful presence, and impact on this world during her time here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nv0veeAVFjQ