Posts tagged 1960s
Life is calling. How far will you go?
To be honest, we’re not really sure what our graphics people were thinking when they made that second one.
The Peace Corps Act - September 22, 1961
On March 1, 1961, President Kennedy signed the executive order establishing the Peace Corps. On September 22, 1961, Congress approved the legislation that formally authorized the Peace Corps. Goals of the Peace Corps included: 1) helping the people of interested countries and areas meet their needs for trained workers; 2) helping promote a better understanding of Americans in countries where volunteers served; and 3) helping promote a better understanding of peoples of other nations on the part of Americans.
The concept of volunteers serving abroad on grass-roots foreign aid projects originated in Congress in the 1950s. In 1961 President John F. Kennedy established the Peace Corps by executive order. President Kennedy then sent this letter to Senate President (Vice President of the U.S.) Lyndon B. Johnson describing the successes of the Peace Corps program he had established. Kennedy included a draft bill authorizing the Peace Corps with his letter. Kennedy’s draft bill was identical to the bill Senator Hubert H. Humphrey introduced on June 1, 1961. President Kennedy signed S. 2000 into law on September 22, 1961. The Peace Corps celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2011.
Letter from President Kennedy to Lyndon Johnson, 5/29/1961, Records of the U.S. Senate
S. 2000, Peace Corps bill, 6/1/1961, Records of the U.S. Senate
The sign that hung at the original Peace Corps office in Ghana, the first country to host Peace Corps Volunteers.
Tanzania - 1962
Lillian Carter, Peace Corps Volunteer and mother of President Jimmy Carter, works as a nurse in a hospital. India - 1968
The Road to Peace featuring Bob “join the Peace Corps” Hope - Peace Corps TV Public Service Announcement
President John F. Kennedy greets the first group of departing Peace Corps Volunteers, leaving for Tanganyika and Ghana, in the the Oval Office.
Photographer: Robert Knudsen/White House, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston
Make your own peace.
You can say anything you want about the world. You can say it’s beyond help. That man is more evil than good. That you never asked for the world you got. And you could be right.
You can say anything you want about the Peace Corps. That it’s just do-gooders. That it doesn’t help peace. That it hasn’t made any difference.
The Peace Corps isn’t disagreeing. That’s not what it’s about.
The Peace Corps doesn’t shout, “Come make peace.” Peace doesn’t come that easy. It’s more of a separate peace. Maybe yours. No banners. No bands. No medals.
The Peace Corps might be for you if you could enjoy feeding children. Or repairing a tractor. Or teaching birth control. Or building a schoolhouse. Even if no one ends up using it. (Don’t think it hasn’t happened.)
The Peace Corps has no delusions of grandeur. Ask anyone who’s been in it. But there are enough people who come out of the Peace Corps with things they’ve learned they can’t forget. Good things.
There are more ways than you can find to help the world. The Peace Corps is just one way. It’s for someone who would rather do something. Anything. Instead of nothing.
It could be your way.
Write The Peace Corps, Washington, D.C. 20525
Peace Corps Public Service Announcement - 1968
(Source: collection.peacecorps.gov)
