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National Peace Corps Association > News > Advocacy > White House Honors Harris Wofford
White House Honors Harris Wofford
By Jonathan Pearson on Thursday, February 14th, 2013
Harris Wofford speaking at the closing session of the National Peace Corps Association’s 50th Anniversary Capitol Hill Advocacy Day, September 22, 2011.
Assisting with the creation of the Peace Corps is one of many accomplishments of former Pennsylvania Senator Harris Wofford. For his seven decades of tireless public and community service, Wofford is one of 18 individuals receiving the 2012 Citizens Medal, the nation’s second highest civilian honor.
Wofford was one of more than 6,000 individuals nominated by the public for the award. He will receive the honor on Friday, February 15th, at a White House ceremony scheduled to begin at 10:45 AM Eastern Time. You can follow this link to watch the live White House feed of the Friday ceremony.
Senator Wofford served as special representative to Africa and Director of Operations in Ethiopia during the formative years of the Peace Corps. Upon returning to Washington, he was appointed Associate Director of the Peace Corps.
Service has remained central in Senator Wofford’s life. In 2001 he was named Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation for National and Community Service. A longtime member of the National Peace Corps Association Advisory Council, Wofford has been a mentor and friend to the Peace Corps community, always willing to assist when called upon. Senator Wofford is also a founding champion and inspiration for the members of the Building Bridges Coalition, a consortium of leading organizations working collaboratively to promote the field of international volunteering.
Our congratulations to Harris Wofford for this much deserved recognition of his numerous contributions to our nation!
In addition to the find service former Senator Wofford provided to the Peace Corps, he also made invaluable contributions to the civil rights movement. He is the person who convinced Robert Kennedy to convince his brother to phone Mrs. King to share his concern about Dr. King’s arrest. This call is considered to be instrumental in keeping Dr. King from being transferred to the country prison for the city jail. Such a trip and such a place would have more significantly more dangerous for Dr. King.
Good for you Senator! Congratulations! I served for 3 years in Armenia after I retired from teaching for 50 years. I hope we can get more “retired” volunteers to serve.
Thank you.
Constance Speake
A-14 2006-2009
Congratulations dear Harris! No one deserves this award more than you. I and my family send our best regards and love to you and your family. Our years in Ethiopia with you and Claire, Suzie, Dan and David, are unforgettable.
Affectionately, Cynny (Scott) Francisco
Molly, Katie and Peter
11:55am — just saw Harris receive the award from President Obama. Thanks for the link and congrats Harris!
Harris Wofford was Deputy Director of the Peace Corps when I was accepted for India. He put together our “experimental” training program at St. Johns College in Annapolis, Maryland, based on the Great Books. It was an outstanding training program and prepared us well for India and life beyond PC. It was like a semester of graduate school.
We were a bit in awe of him, as a young graduate student he and wife went to India on a fellowship at the dawn of India’ independence, he witnessed history up front and spent time with Gandhi and his Swaraj movement. He also helped establish the PC and was an intimate of John Kennedy, he spent a lot of time with us during training. Being with someone who knew Gandhi and Kennedy left us all a bit overwhelmed.
He is truly deserving of this and many honors.
It was through Harris Wofford that I joined the Peace Corps in ’62 and led an 18 member medical team to Sokode, Togo. I knew about Harris because as a member of CORE, I’d been told that it was he who persuaded Kennedy to telephone Martin Luther King in jail, which was later credited with getting out the Black vote for JFK and winning him the election. Also, I’d read about Harris’s meetings with Vinoba Bhave and Mahatma Gandhi in India, and I’d read his subsequent writings about justice & civil disobedience.
Harris knew about me through a mutual friend, Gilles Corcos, and told Sarge that I might be willing to volunteer. Sarge had been trying to recruit doctors but had found it hard. After a preliminary site visit to Togo by an experienced U.S. Public Health Service officer named Gehrig and myself, I went to Peace Corps headquarters in Washington and managed to recruit three other physicians (another pediatrician like me, a generalist, and a surgeon), as well as eight nurses and other assorted health workers.
We had a rough time in Togo; its President, JFK’s friend Sylvanus Olympio, was assassinated a few weeks after we got there, and a government which had been a staunch ally of the U.S., suddenly became pro French. But we were needed, we survived, we taught and we saved a number of lives.
And later, after our two years’ service, and after I’d married a fellow volunteer and honeymooned around Africa, who should we meet in Addis Ababa but Harris, now the ambassador there!
Please convey my best wishes to Harris Wofford on this occasion of well earned recognition for his remarkable lieflong achievements as philosopher, writer, educator, politician and mover/shaker in the service of peace, justice and democracy!
Respectfully,
Nicholas Cunningham MD Dr P.H.
Emeritus Professor of Clinical Pediatrics and Clinical Public Health
Columbia University
I was blessed to have been part of INDIA XVI, a special program Harris set up the summer of 1965 at St Johns. It changed my life as I’ve come to India 12 times and have lived here fore more than 25 years. I had breakfast with Harris several years ago when he accompanied MLK III’s trip to India. Harris Wofford is one of those who truly matter an I am pleased that he has received this honour.