Close
Not finding the information you're looking for? Please contact the Archives research staff.
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2006-073-001
Eloise Coker Hunter served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Saint Lucia from 1966 to 1970. She joined the Peace Corps in response to President Kennedy's call to service. In St. Lucia, Coker Hunter taught health and physical education to primary school students during the day, and served as choreographer of the Creative and Performing Arts Society of Castries in the evening. In 1971, she returned to Philadelphia where she taught health, physical education, and English at the high school level for 35 years. She maintained an interest in foreign travel throughout her life. Note: Interview ends abruptly. Interviewed and recorded by Paula Estornell, August 18, 2006. 1 tape (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2019-078
Daniel Jasper served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Turkmenistan from 2008 to 2010 and as a Peace Corps Response volunteer in St. Lucia from 2013 to 2014. In Turkmengala, Turkmenistan, a small town near the Iranian border, he taught English to elementary, secondary, and adult students, and helped develop English language testing protocols and 4th and 5th grade English language curriculum. After returning to the U.S., Jasper earned a Masters degree in public policy from Duke University and worked at several non-profits as part of the Peace Corps fellows program. With Peace Corps Response in St. Lucia, he helped pilot-test the teaching of chess as a mandatory part of the elementary school curriculum. He also taught chess at youth detention centers. Jasper talks about the importance of understanding and respecting the perspective of the person you are trying to help. He also reflects on the various ways communities cope with different forms of poverty. Interviewed and recorded by Evelyn Ganzglass, April 27, 2019. 1 digital audio file.
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2019-065
Lew Hemmer served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Macedonia from 2011 to 2013 on a community development project. He later completed two more service terms with Peace Corps Response, first in Saint Lucia on a youth development project (2014-2015), and then on the island of Dominica with the Ministry of Education (2016). Hemmer had wanted to join the Peace Corps for a long time, and found a good opportunity once he had retired but his wife was still working. He joined at age 68 and was sent to Macedonia, where he worked at a non-governmental organization (NGO) for disabled adults to expand services and activities and to decrease discrimination. Hemmer established a sports and exercise program which eventually expanded to include community members, and in the process broke stereotypes about what older men could do. He talks about training and his difficulty connecting with the younger volunteers and language challenges, but he had success once he reached his site. After feeling restless upon returning home and wanting to contribute more, Hemmer volunteered to go to Saint Lucia to develop protocols to strengthen the resiliency of youth and decrease suicidal ideation, especially among young girls who were frequently bullied. He mentions the differences between being a regular volunteer and a Response volunteer. After returning home from his year in Saint Lucia, he saw another Response position perfectly suited for him and went to Dominica to work with autistic children. However, the island was very small and had few truly autistic kids, so due to lack of work and a knee problem he returned home early. Interviewed and recorded by Candice Wiggum, March 21, 2019. 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. White House Staff Files of Harris Wofford
JFKWHSFHW-006-015
Collection
USPCPC
Photographs, 1961-1968 and undated. Black-and-white images of United States Peace Corps administrators and staff, both at headquarters and in the field, as well as images of volunteers working at their duty stations abroad. Photographers include Rowland Scherman, Paul Conklin and Abbie Rowe.