WorldView Magazine: Peace Corps history
The Idea That Wouldn’t Die
How the Peace Corps survived shifts in geopolitics, the whims of presidents, massive global health crises, and even blowback from the RPCV community for 65 years.
Hard Corps
In the decades since Peace Corps’ founding in 1961, its success has sparked a movement of service-based organizations, many of which have incorporated the word ‘corps’ into their name. The word “corps” itself has long carried associations of shared mission, discipline, and collective identity.
Posters for Peace
As Peace Corps launches a retro recruiting campaign to mark its 65th anniversary, the art of the poster has always been key.
You GLOW Girl
One of Peace Corps’ most widespread gender empowerment initiatives is Camp GLOW, which has provided the opportunity for tens of thousands of girls and young women to attend programming that develops self-confidence, leadership skills, goalsetting, gender equality, and more. Camp GLOW has been hosted in 60 different countries by Peace Corps Volunteers, counterparts, and participants over the past 29 years.
When Small Things Make Great Things Possible
In 2023, Returned Peace Corps Volunteer John Chromy (India 1963-65) selected 10 illustrative stories that demonstrate the profound impact Peace Corps has had worldwide. The result is the collection When Small Things Make Great Things Possible.
Domestic Dividend: Part III
As Dean Rusk, former U.S. Secretary of State, once said, “The Peace Corps will make its greatest contribution to foreign policy by not being a part of foreign policy.” It’s a concept the agency has had to navigate since.
The Domestic Dividend: Part II
It wasn’t until the late 1980s that Harvard political scientist Joseph Nye coined the term “soft power,” but Peace Corps fit Nye’s description: a foreign policy tool that achieves desired outcomes through attraction rather than coercion.
A Founding Father
At 92 years old, Chuck Laskey embodies a rare spirit of dedication and adventure. As a former Peace Corps Volunteer and international relief worker, Laskey spent over three decades traveling the world, helping those in need, and experiencing the beauty of cultures across continents. His story is one of courage, resilience, and an enduring commitment to humanity. It also exemplifies an often-overlooked early collaboration between the Peace Corps and the stalwart development agency CARE International (Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere), founded in 1945 to fight global poverty. “When the Peace Corps emerged in 1961 as a government program, they...
Mapping a Life
A Life Unimagined: The Rewards of Mission-Driven Service in the Peace Corps and Beyond By Aaron S. Williams International Division, University of Wisconsin-Madison Reviewed by Steven Boyd Saum Aaron S. Williams grew up in a segregated neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side in the 1950s. When he began studying geography at Chicago Teachers College, it was because the subject would offer him good career opportunities in the public schools. But, as he notes early in the memoir A Life Unimagined, “studying the geography of distant places around the world…the seeds once planted by my father of distant travels began to take root.” That’s not to...
Peace Corps Posters: In Portland, Oregon, ArtReach Gallery and the Museum of the Peace Corps Experience Host an Exhibit Spanning Six Decades
Posting Peace in Portland Peace Corps Posters 1961–2022 If you’re near Portland, Oregon, before October 16, be sure to visit ArtReach Gallery for the exhibit Posting Peace. Co-hosted by the Museum of the Peace Corps Experience, it features six decades of Peace Corps posters and maps. The exhibit and an accompanying book are curated by gallery director Sheldon Hurst. Collectors in Oregon, California, Illinois, Washington, D.C., and elsewhere contributed. The exhibit is also made possible thanks to First Congregational UCC, Portland Peace Corps Association, and NPCA. Special events connected to the exhibit take place in September and October. On September 18, former Peace...
