Scholar and Human Rights Activist, She Was Also Invited to Play Piano with Elvis Presley’s Band. A Remembrance of Jan Knippers Black.
Jan Knippers Black (1940–2021) wrote the definitive book on U.S. interference in post-colonial Brazil. By Catherine Gardner Photo by Elëna Zhukova Professor emerita, world traveler, beloved role model and mentor to thousands of students, singer and songwriter, advocate and ally: These are just some of the many terms one could use to describe Jan Knippers Black, a prominent scholar and human rights activist. She wrote the definitive book on U.S. interference in post-colonial Brazil — some years after she was invited to play piano in Elvis Presley’s band. She was well known for her expertise on political dynamics within Latin America,...
He helped inspire the Peace Corps, then became a Volunteer: Douglas Kelley
In Memoriam: Douglas Kelley (1929–2022) By Catherine Gardner Photo courtesy the family of Douglas Kelley. Douglas Kelley holds a special place among those who helped inspire the Peace Corps. As a student at Berea College in Kentucky, he was committed to international cooperation and civil rights. In his senior year in college, in 1951, he began laying the groundwork for the International Development Placement Association, a program to promote humanitarian service by placing people internationally in jobs with indigenous organizations and governments in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Within three years the program had sent 18 young Americans abroad and had...
Juliane Heyman Escaped the Holocaust in Europe. In the U.S., She Became the First Woman to Serve as a Peace Corps Training Officer.
In Memoriam: Juliane Heyman (1925–2022) By Catherine Gardner Photo of Juliane Heyman courtesy Alana DeJoseph Born in the Free City of Danzig, now Gdansk, Poland, Julie Heyman was 12 years old when she fled her home due to increasing Nazi persecution. After months of being disconnected from her parents, she and her family were reunited in Brussels. They fled again when the Nazis invaded Belgium. In 1941, Heyman arrived in New York by freighter. She graduated from Barnard College before earning master’s degrees in international relations and library science from U.C. Berkeley. In what she calls one of her “most...
In Memoriam – July 2022
As we mourn the loss of members of the Peace Corps community, we celebrate the lives they led with a commitment to service. By Molly O’Brien and Tiffany James Our tributes include Elizabeth M. Giles (pictured), a two-time Peace Corps Volunteer, public transit advocate, and committed teacher who taught English and writing both domestically and abroad. We remember Stephen Reid, a former associate director of Peace Corps Senegal who chose to stay and assist those most affected by the 2010 earthquake that devastated Haiti instead of evacuating. And we recognize a professor with 50 years of experience teaching and conducting research on topics ranging from public...
In Memoriam – January 2022
As we mourn the loss of members of the Peace Corps community, we celebrate the lives they led with a commitment to service. By Molly O'Brien Photo: Ronald M. Bloch (1944–2021) Our tributes include a volunteer dedicated to helping RPCVs develop rewarding careers. A chemist, professor, and writer. A civil servant who served at the state and international levels. A caring social worker who devoted her career to helping others and sharing her knowledge with students at the university level. A Fulbright scholar in Nigeria dedicated to advancing marketing practices. We honor the wide range of contributions made by members...
Susan Neyer Taught, and She Nurtured the Peace Corps Community in California, Nationally, and Beyond
She served as a Volunteer in the Philippines, trained Volunteers who served throughout Southeast Asia and the Pacific. She was a leader of both the Northern California Peace Corps Association and National Peace Corps Association. Illustration by Edward Rooks By Steven Boyd Saum Soon after graduating Marquette University in Milwaukee, Susan Neyer left for Peace Corps service in the Philippines, working as a teacher trainer 1962–65. She earned a master’s in urban education from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee and went back to Peace Corps, training future teachers in Hawaii and then visiting them in Southeast Asia and the Pacific. She returned to...
David McGaffey Served with the Peace Corps in Afghanistan, Then Embarked on a Career in Diplomacy
With the Peace Corps, he and his wife helped set up the first high school for girls in the town of Farah. As a diplomat in Iran, he helped evacuate hundreds of U.S. citizens. Photo courtesy the family of David McGaffey By NPCA Staff Born on a farm in Michigan, David McGaffey was 15 years old when he enrolled at the University of Detroit. He studied theater, folklore, psychology, and math, and met his future wife, Elizabeth. They wed and applied to serve as Peace Corps Volunteers in Chile. “The Peace Corps looked at my application and said here is somebody...
Jeremy M. Black Was Committed to Nonviolence
After his life was ended far too soon, his wife has carried forward that commitment. Photo courtesy the family of Jeremy Black By NPCA Staff Promoting understanding between peoples was Jerry Black’s life’s work. He served as a Volunteer in the Comoros Islands 1992–94 before completing a degree at the Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs, where he met his wife, Cathy Feingold. They worked together at the Ford Foundation before moving to Washington, D.C., where Jerry worked at the Aspen Institute as the director of MicroTest, a program that gave grants to microenterprise development organizations across the U.S. Black...
Hardy Frye Served as Peace Corps Country Director in Guyana and Was Deeply Engaged in Civil Rights Activism
He was a scholar, teacher, film producer, and worked with emerging Black political parties in South Africa. A lesson: Hardy Frye, in his days with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, telling how Black Americans in the South overcame fear to organize community action. Photo courtesy Civil Rights Movement Archive By NPCA Staff Tuskegee, Alabama, was where Hardy Frye grew up and learned about Black history from his teachers. After service in the Army, he moved to Los Angeles and became involved in civil rights activism. He picketed the 1960 Democratic National Convention and registered Black voters during Mississippi Freedom Summer. He was...
William Dennis Grubb: “One of the First and One of the Best”
Dennis Grubb left college at age 19 to serve in the Peace Corps in Colombia. And for many in the 1960s, he literally became the face of the Peace Corps. Students in Colombia with Dennis Grubb, who joined the first group of Peace Corps Volunteers serving communities there. Photo courtesy family of Dennis Grubb By NPCA Staff One of the youngest and first Peace Corps Volunteers, Dennis Grubb began serving in Colombia at age 19 in 1961. He was a sophomore at Penn State when President John F. Kennedy mentioned the idea of a Peace Corps; Grubb left school and became part...