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Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2015-031
Stephen Vincent served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Nigeria from 1965 to 1967. After Peace Corps training at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Stephen was assigned to the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, where he taught humanities, literature, poetry, and creative writing. The interview includes discussion of tensions at the university leading up to the Biafran War. Stephen recounts an incident in which he got into hot water for giving credit to the Peace Corps for funding a poetry recording project, and another in which his own poetry helped him gain permission to leave the war zone. 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file). Interviewed and recorded by Phyllis Noble, June 3, 2015.
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2015-030
Abdullahi Edward ("Ed") Tomasiewicz served in the Peace Corps in Nigeria from August 1966 to August 1967 as an agriculture and rural development volunteer. He was assigned to a small industries business loan grant project in Kano, a project funded by the Ford Foundation and administered by the regional Nigerian government. A few years later, Ed went back to Nigeria and discovered that the people whose projects he had helped fund had gone on to become successful businessmen. By the time of this interview, Ed (age 72) had spent a significant portion of his life in Nigeria and had also obtained Nigerian citizenship. Unfortunately, all but the first half-hour of this interview has been lost. 1 digital audio file. Interviewed and recorded by Phyllis Noble, June 6, 2015.
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2016-037-001
(PART 1 OF 2) Henry John Drewal served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Nigeria from 1964 to 1966 in an education program. His training at Columbia University included study of the Yoruba language. In Nigeria, Drewal was assigned to teach French and English at the African Church Grammar School in Abeokuta, a city in the Yoruba-speaking western region. He was also assigned to be the school's sports master, and focused on volleyball and tennis. Among his accomplishments was the construction of the school's first tennis court. During school holidays, Drewal organized and ran vacation arts camps for the primary school children. In his spare time, he continued his study of Yoruba and apprenticed himself to a Yoruba sculptor, an experience which had a profound impact on the rest of his life. After the Peace Corps, Drewal returned to Columbia University graduate school in African art history and anthropology, earning a Ph.D. At the time of this interview, he continues to do research in the history of African art and the diaspora. He is active at the Chazen Museum of Art in Madison, Wisconsin, and is on the faculty at the University of Wisconsin. Interviewed and recorded by Phyllis Noble, September 11, 2014. 1 tape.
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2017-037
Amelia "Mimi" Budd was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Nigeria from 1965 to 1967. Her training at Western Michigan University included study of the Hausa language, along with preparation for teaching at the secondary level. When Budd arrived in Kaduna in the Northern Region of Nigeria, she was surprised to find that she was expected to teach in a primary school. After her first year of successful teaching, inter-tribal tensions began to mount as the country moved toward civil war. Romantic involvement with an Igbo military officer also placed Budd in a precarious situation. The Peace Corps moved her to a safer location in the Midwest Region where she taught in a secondary school during her second year. Along with other volunteers, she was evacuated when the Biafran army moved into the area. That harrowing experience did not deter Budd from involvement with the Biafra relief effort after the Peace Corps. Interviewed and recorded by Phyllis Noble, 2 March 2017. 2 digital files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2016-037-002
(PART 2 OF 2) Henry John Drewal served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Nigeria from 1964 to 1966. His training at Columbia University included study of the Yoruba language. In Nigeria, Drewal was assigned to teach French and English at the African Church Grammar School in Abeokuta, a city in the Yoruba-speaking western region. He was also assigned to be the school's sports master, and focused on volleyball and tennis. Among his accomplishments was the construction of the school's first tennis court. During school holidays, Drewal organized and ran vacation arts camps for the primary school children. In his spare time, he continued his study of Yoruba and apprenticed himself to a Yoruba sculptor, an experience which had a profound impact on the rest of his life. After the Peace Corps, Drewal returned to Columbia University graduate school in African art history and anthropology, earning a Ph.D. At the time of this interview, he continues to do research in the history of African art and the diaspora. He is active at the Chazen Museum of Art in Madison, Wisconsin, and is on the faculty at the University of Wisconsin. Interviewed by Phyllis Noble, May 15, 2016 (3 digital files).