On this day in 1961, Peace Corps was formally authorized by Congress with passage of the Peace Corps Act.

Photo credit: Abbie Rowe, White House Photographs John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston

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