A SALUTE TO CITIZEN DIPLOMACY

A History of the National Council for International Visitors

National Council for International Visitors • 1420 K Street, NW, Suite 800 • Washington, DC 20005
Tel. (202) 842-1414 • E-mail: [email protected] • Web site: http://www.nciv.org
© 1999 by National Council for International Visitors
Published in 2000
 Honoring Citizen Diplomats
W
hat do a hog farmer from Illinois, an auto company executive from Detroit, a
software guru in the Silicon Valley, a banker from Fort Worth, a school teacher
in Memphis, and a rancher from Montana all have in common? They all serve
as volunteers and citizen diplomats who host participants in the State Department’s Interna-
tional Visitor Program and other exchanges. They welcome foreign leaders into their offices,
classrooms, and homes. As a returning International Visitor from India recently told a group
of 300 WorldBoston supporters gathered to honor Seiji Ozawa as International Citizen of the
Year, “You welcomed a stranger; you sent home a friend.”
Each year, thanks to a Congressional appropriation, the U.S. Department of State brings
approximately 4,500 foreign leaders and specialists to the United States for 21-day cultural
and professional programs. These U.S. experiences are custom-tailored to enable these Inter-
national Visitors to exchange perspectives with U.S. counterparts in their professional fields
and to develop a better understanding of the history, heritage, and values of the United States
and of the aspirations we all share.
Early on, the State Department wisely decided that the International Visitor Program
would be most productive and that the credibility of the Program and its participants would
be best preserved if the day-to-day administration of the Program was in the hands of the
private sector, that is, nongovernmental organizations. Consequently, the depth of citizen
involvement in foreign affairs reflected in the International Visitor Program and the private-
public sector partnership that sustains it is unique and unprecedented anywhere in the world.
The National Council for International Visitors (NCIV) is a professional association represent-
ing these private–sector partners, including program agencies and 98 community organiza-
tions throughout the United States.
We are celebrating the 60th Anniversary of the International Visitor Program throughout
the year 2000. Inevitably this celebration focuses attention not only on the many distin-
guished alumni who have participated in the International Visitor Program over the years and
the U.S. government officials who established it, but also on the citizen diplomats—mostly

4
volunteers—who have generously welcomed these foreign leaders into their homes, schools,
and offices throughout the United States. Each year more than 80,000 volunteers are involved
with NCIV member organization activities: serving on boards, organizing programs, and
hosting professional meetings, cultural activities, and home hospitality. These citizen diplo-

Each year more than 80,000 volunteers are involved with

NCIV member organization activities.

mats strengthen U.S. relations with other countries, as one of our members phrases it, “one
handshake at a time.”
As NCIV’s Executive Director, it is my privilege to visit our member organizations and
work closely with the community leaders who give them shape and vision. Daily I witness
their impressive dedication, professionalism, and wide-ranging capabilities as they work with
participants in the International Visitor Program and other exchanges.
Some of you may be familiar with the original advertisement used in 1860 to recruit Pony
Express riders.
Wanted: Young, wiry skinny fellows under the age of 18. Must be expert riders willing to risk
death daily. Wages $25 per week. Orphans preferred.
If I were to rewrite this ad for the volunteers who are drawn to NCIV member organiza-
tions, it would read:
Wanted: Young-at-heart of all ages. Must be well-organized, eager to learn, and willing to risk
breaking stereotypes daily. Wages won’t be discussed. Idealists preferred.
While NCIV volunteers come from all walks of life and represent the diversity of their
communities, they are all idealists. They want to make a difference. Through their efforts to
welcome the world to their communities, they work diligently to build stronger ties with the
countries these international visitors represent.

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 How did this remarkable network get started? Who were the early pioneers? What
motivated them to establish nonprofit organizations and to play such an active role in a field
that previously had been largely the purview of traditional diplomats? It is a fascinating story
that deserves to be told. And so the NCIV History Project was born. We decided to collect
the histories of each of our community organizations for the NCIV Archives* and to capture
their essence in a book designed to document this saga of citizen diplomacy and to serve as
tribute to the remarkable people who serve as citizen diplomats.
Like most initiatives at NCIV, we assembled a group of dedicated volunteers to accomplish
our goals. Jerrold Keilson of World Learning, Inc. orchestrated their painstaking efforts to
collect, analyze, and preserve NCIV member history. He researched and wrote the well-
crafted narrative that constitutes the first section of the book. Sora Friedman and Emily
Mallory were instrumental in contacting each of the Councils to gather information, check
facts, and compile Section Two. Wally Mertes ensured that the lifelong volunteers would be
recognized for their service to citizen diplomacy. Kristin Rusch and David Payton devoted
long hours to creating the visually appealing layout of the completed document. None of this
could have been accomplished without the enthusiastic support and cooperation of staff and
volunteers of the local Councils themselves and our collegues at the Office of International
Visitors, U.S. Department of State. To Jerrold and everyone involved we owe heartfelt thanks
for A Salute to Citizen Diplomacy.

Sherry Lee Mueller, Ph.D.

Executive Director
National Council for International Visitors

*
NCIV papers as well as the histories of our member organizations will be sent to the University Libraries of the University of
Arkansas, Fayetteville. The University Libraries house a number of collections concerned with international educational and
cultural exchange. The Special Collections Division is the repository for the papers of the late Senator J. William Fulbright as
well as the historical collection of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (formerly CU and now ECA). The Council
for International Exchange of Scholars and NAFSA: Association of International Educators, two organizations directly
involved in the administration of exchange programs and services, have placed their records here. Special Collections also
holds the records of the Fulbright Association, a membership organization of Fulbright scholar alumni.

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 U.S. Citizen Diplomacy
and the
International Visitor Program
by Jerrold Keilson

Section One

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 As a native of Jacksonville, I wanted
to share this great city with these
foreign visitors, and all of us wanted
them to leave with an unforgettable
visit. I really wasn’t prepared to
receive anything in return, except,
perhaps, friendship. It wasn’t long
before I began to realize that these
visitors were providing me with an
education that one simply can’t
purchase. They opened my eyes to
their cultures and languages; but
most of all they made me realize
that they viewed America and Ameri-
cans from their own perspectives,
which could be very different from
the way we viewed ourselves.
—Maria Condaxis, former Executive Director,
founding Board member and first President,
Jacksonville, Florida, International Resource Center

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I
n March 1993 Gabor Bencsik, a journalist and Secretary General of the Hungarian
Journalists Association, came to the United States through the sponsorship of the U.S.
Information Agency’s International Visitor Program. While on his five-week trip
around the country to learn about the role of journalism, he was a guest at the home of Doug
and Susan Hand of Rock Falls, Illinois, a rural community. He enjoyed the hospitality pro-
vided by Mr. Hand, a fifth grade teacher, and his family. Included in the Hand household is
one Elwood P. Dowd, a child-sized doll. Mr. Bencsik and Elwood struck up a fast friendship.
Doug Hand uses Elwood as an assistant in his fifth-grade class, teaching the children that
any dream is attainable. Each year his students write to people around the world in the hope
that Elwood will receive an invitation to visit their countries. When an invitation arrives,
Elwood travels via UPS to his host and returns with souvenirs and pictures, which are then
used in the classroom to help the students learn about other cultures. Mr. Bencsik was so
taken with Elwood that he immediately extended an invitation for him to visit Hungary.
Upon his return, Mr. Bencsik arranged for Elwood, Mr. Hand, and members of his class to
visit Hungary. Parents and students in Rock Falls raised the necessary funds from the commu-
nity, and in March 1994 a group of five children, Doug, and Elwood traveled to Budapest for a
week. They stayed with Hungarian families, toured the city, and visited a hospital bearing
teddy bears from a U.S. benefactor for the sick children. The children visited a local school, an
orphanage, and the Hungarian Children’s Group that sponsored them. Wherever he went,
Elwood Dowd explained to Hungarians his belief that all children had to have a dream, and
that he was the personification of children’s ability to achieve their dreams. On their own
initiative, the American children decided to use only $100 each of the spending money they
had raised and to donate the rest, giving $500 to organizations at each of the three locations
they visited. The director of the orphanage cried when she accepted the donation from the
students. Later in their visit they met and had tea with the president of Hungary, Arpad

9
 Goncz. At the conclusion of their visit, Elwood invited five Hungarian students to visit Rock
Falls for a week. Years later Elwood Dowd, Doug Hand, and Gabor Bencsik continue to talk
and share information via email.
The tale of Elwood Dowd is but one of many thousands of stories about person-to-person
and community-to-community ties that are created and fostered through the International
Visitor (IV) Program. This program, the result of a U.S. government-funded public diplomacy
initiative, has touched the lives of both individuals in the United States and participants in
more than one hundred countries around the globe. Elwood Dowd’s story resulted from a
special and long-standing partnership between the U.S. government and a national network of
community-based nonprofit organizations, known collectively as the National Council for
International Visitors, through which citizens play an important role in diplomatic affairs.

Foreign Policy Issues at the Millennium

At the end of the twentieth century, diplomatic historians who engage in a retrospective
examination of international affairs will undoubtedly write of a tumultuous century fraught
with foreign policy challenges. On the one hand, the twentieth century has been marked by
some of the most horrific events in the history of humankind. The scourge of war covered the
globe, and the destruction it caused reached new levels. In the nineteenth century, fighting
tended to occur between soldiers. In the twentieth century, war erased the boundaries be-
tween combatants and civilians. Nazi Germany targeted entire populations in conquered
countries for extermination. The Soviet Union targeted millions of its own citizens. The
United States dropped hydrogen bombs on two Japanese cities. In the aftermath of World
War II, the world divided itself into two opposing camps; each camp developed nuclear
weaponry of such power that they could destroy the planet ten thousand times over. Though
the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 marked the end of the cold war, today, despite the

10
lessons we might have learned from the past, nations still engage in genocide. Countries both
powerful and weak still retain nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction capable of
obliterating life on earth.
On the other hand, the world is closely linked as never before. Technological changes have
resulted in global interdependence across many sectors. The impact of faster, more secure, and
less expensive means of travel and communications have tied nations together in a way un-
imaginable just a few decades ago. The effects are visible in economics, in health concerns, in
environmental protection issues, in cultural relations, and in those areas that used to be
considered the “internal affairs” of a nation.
Global economic interconnectivity means that what used to be merely domestic issues now
have global impact. Changes in internal economic policies in Europe or Asia may have a
significant impact on American businesses, as demonstrated most recently in the Asian eco-
nomic crisis of 1996-1998. Concerns in Europe over genetically altered crops affect U.S.
agricultural exports and the American farmer. Civil unrest in Nigeria, Iran, or Iraq threatens
global oil supplies. International conventions have been enacted in fields such as intellectual
property rights, patents, banking, and other financial services in order to provide more control
over operations in the global economy.
In the health field, disease transcends national borders due to improved transportation. A
person infected with HIV or Ebola virus may not have visible symptoms when he travels from
country to country and may bring the disease to new locales. Mosquitoes and other insects
that carry disease are often transported from place to place in shipments of agricultural prod-
ucts. In both instances a previously unaffected population’s lack of natural resistance to the
disease can result in serious outbreaks of illness and epidemics.
Effects of environmentally damaging activities also have global impact. To meet short-
term economic interests, both local communities and international corporations are razing

. . . any dream is attainable

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 Brazilian rainforests, affecting air quality throughout the world. The dumping of industrial
waste in the North Atlantic Ocean has a detrimental effect on fish supplies for people thou-
sands of miles away. Air pollution in industrial nations results in depletion of the ozone layer
in Antarctica.
Advances in communication technologies such as the facsimile and email make it more
difficult for tyrants and dictators to keep information from their citizens. The phenomenon
was first observed during the Tienanmen Square democracy movement in China in 1989,
when students faxed messages to supporters and news agencies around the world. Today,
images of conflict and repression are almost instantly available in people’s homes through
television and computers. When fighting started in Kosovo in the spring of 1999, Kosovars
and Serbs alike immediately fired off emails and set up Internet pages to plead their causes to
the global community.
The inclusion of these issues as a dimension of foreign policy has resulted in the inclusion
of new actors in diplomatic affairs, and to some extent in foreign policy’s fragmentation. In
the past, diplomacy was left to the professionals. Today there are a multiplicity of foreign
policy interests and players. For instance, the scientific community has an increasingly impor-
tant role in foreign policy deliberations. Local government officials and businesspeople have a
greater stake in foreign policy issues than before. The average citizen is aware of events
around the globe and is willing and eager to express his or her opinion. The citizen diplomat
has become an important player in the implementation of U.S. foreign policy.

U.S. Foreign Policy in the Twentieth Century

At the beginning of the 20th century, the United States was just beginning to flex its intellec-
tual, military, and economic muscle in international relations. For most of the previous cen-
tury the avowed policy of the United States, as first articulated by George Washington in his

The world is closely linked

as never before

12
Farewell Address, was to “avoid entangling foreign alliances.” The rationale for this position
was quite pragmatic. Throughout the 19th century the United States was a new and relatively
small and weak nation. Both policymakers and citizens were concerned with domestic issues
such as geographic expansion to the West; pacifying the native Americans and taking control
of their land; economic growth; and wrestling with slavery, the Civil War, and its aftermath.
Most Americans had recently arrived from Europe and often had come to these shores with the
hope of leaving European conflicts behind.
A myriad of larger political factors also influenced American leaders’ perspectives on
foreign affairs. They were worried that alliances would lead to involvement in European
struggles that had the potential to divide the fledging nation, sap its strength, and leave it
vulnerable either to reconquest by a European power or to splintering into separate countries.
American forays into international affairs at that time focused on fundamental issues of free
trade and sovereignty, such as opposing British impressing of American sailors kidnapped in
international waters, or promulgating the Monroe Doctrine—not so much to preserve a U.S.
sphere of influence in the New World, but to keep the Old World powers at bay.
The consensus among historians is that active U.S. involvement in international affairs
began at the end of the 19th century with our participation in the Spanish-American War of
1898 and the acquisition of colonies and territory in the Caribbean (Cuba and Puerto Rico)
and Pacific (Hawaii and the Philippines). However, historians disagree about the reasons
behind this change in U.S. policy. One school of thought attributes it to U.S. desire to expand
trading contacts east into China by using Hawaii and the Philippines as jumping-off points.
Another school focuses on the war as a response to growing domestic political pressures, most
commonly represented by the stereotype of war-hungry journalists such as William Randolph
Hearst, who enflamed public opinion through hawkish selective reporting. Yet another school
attributes a growing interest in foreign affairs to the dramatic growth in and changing nature

13
 of immigration. Until the 1880s, the vast majority of immigrants had come from northern
and western Europe. Then the pattern changed, and there was a surge of immigration from
southern and eastern European countries. Some scholars assert that these immigrants retained
their historic allegiances and ties to their home countries, contributing to a growing concern
for events overseas.
Historians also disagree about the impact of the Spanish-American War within the United
States. Several have written of the significant domestic opposition to our role in the war, based
on concerns about the United States shouldering the responsibilities of a colonial power, the
so-called “white man’s burden” of caring for the native populations. Another, smaller group
was concerned about the ethical issues surrounding the conquest of another country. In the
end, disagreement continued within the United States as to what our proper role in interna-
tional affairs should be.
The next major foray into international affairs was U.S. involvement in World War I.
From the war’s beginning in 1914 through the presidential election in 1916, stated U.S. policy
proclaimed strict neutrality. However, American citizens did take sides, and there were clashes
between those supporting Britain and those supporting Germany. Finally, in 1917 the United
States entered the war on the side of Britain. The reasons for entering the war have long been
debated by historians. The fact remains, however, that the United States once again stepped
away from the isolationist policy promulgated by George Washington and actively engaged in
international affairs.
U.S. industrial might and the influx of American soldiers made a significant impact on the
war’s results. The United States was thrust into the position of playing a major role in the
peace negotiations at the end of the war. President Woodrow Wilson articulated his belief that
the United States was fighting to “make the world safe for democracy,” and this belief in-
formed his postwar negotiation strategy. In particular, it led President Wilson to support the

14
principle of self-determination, that each nation had the right to determine its own future. To
enhance the chances that conflicts could be resolved peacefully, he proposed establishment of a
League of Nations. This created a furor within America; many people believed that support
for the League meant abrogation of U.S. national sovereignty, while others strongly supported
the noble aims of the League. The controversy over U.S. ratification of the League treaty led
directly to the creation of community-based study and education groups, along with advocacy
groups that both supported and opposed U.S. involvement in the League of Nations. Of
course, the debate concluded with the rejection by the U.S. Senate of the League treaty and
with America’s retreat from active involvement in global affairs.
In the aftermath of World War I, through the 1920s and 1930s, the United States and
Europe faced several critical foreign policy challenges. These included the establishment of a
revolutionary communist government in Russia that preached global revolution and war
against capitalism, the rise of an imperialistic and expansionist fascist regime in Germany, and
the collapse of the global economy. One response by both policymakers and citizens was an
idealistic and ultimately naïve attempt to legislate and outlaw war. The U.S. Congress passed
legislation such as the Kellogg-Briand Act, which outlawed war as a legal response to interna-
tional crises. Private citizens established international exchange programs in an effort to
educate Americans about foreign policy issues. The Foreign Policy Association was established
to create community groups that brought in speakers and discussed issues of the day in a
nonpartisan, dispassionate manner. Other organizations such as the Institute of International
Education, founded in 1919, and the Experiment in International Living, founded by Donald
Watt in 1932, established programs that promoted exchanges between people from different
countries in order to help them understand each other and, it was hoped, be less willing to go
to war against each other.
The U.S. government also understood the need to come to grips with changing interna-

15
 The concept of exchanges is simple
tional realities. Many of the responses followed traditional diplomatic practices and channels.
For instance, the United States did not formally recognize the government of the Soviet Union
until 1933. Treaties were negotiated and signed with Britain, France, and other World War I
allies. At the same time, and in response to a growing isolationist sentiment throughout the
period, the United States demobilized its military forces, adopted stringent immigration
restrictions, and tried to remain aloof from much of the turmoil sweeping Europe. To the
extent that the United States was actively engaged in foreign policy initiatives, they were

As the situation in Europe grew increasingly grave, the U.S.

policy of isolationism was harder to justify.

limited to Mexico and Central America, the neighboring region that the United States had
traditionally claimed for its sphere of influence.
As the situation in Europe grew increasingly grave, the U.S. policy of isolationism was
harder to justify and maintain. State Department officials worried about the inroads being
made by Nazi propagandists in Central and South America throughout the 1930s. The
Peronist regime in Argentina, for instance, had developed close relations with Germany, and
U.S. government officials worried that Argentineans would be susceptible to Nazi propaganda.
Argentina’s proximity to the United States made this a pressing matter. In response, the U.S.
government began to develop its own programs to combat such propaganda and to influence
the thinking of key opinion leaders and decision makers.
One such innovation was government support for exchange programs. The concept of
exchanges is simple and extremely powerful. These programs bring together key people from
different countries to share knowledge, information, and approaches to an array of issues in

16
order to develop a common understanding of mutual problems and possible solutions. Oper-
ating outside the framework of formal government-to-government relations, they bring new
actors and fresh perspectives to foreign affairs. Exchange programs can lead to the creation of
strong, long-lasting linkages between people that go beyond the narrow confines of the
specific program, creating friendships and professional ties that transcend the limits of borders
and nation-states.

The Early Years of Exchange Programs

In response to the growing Nazi propaganda threat in Central and South American countries
that were deemed to be of critical strategic importance, the U.S. State Department in 1938
established the Division of Cultural Relations and the Inter-Departmental Committee on
Scientific and Cultural Cooperation with Latin America. A special thrust of this Division was
to promote cultural relations with Latin American nations being wooed by Nazi Germany.
Nelson Rockefeller was appointed the first Coordinator of Commercial and Cultural Affairs.
The first efforts at citizen diplomacy involved bringing approximately 40 Latin American
leaders to the United States for two-month programs. During those periods the participants
would travel by train across the United States, meeting with national and local government
officials, businessmen, and interested citizens. Once inaugurated, the program continued
throughout the war years.
The U.S. Department of State, the government agency responsible for U.S. diplomacy, was
not designed to act as a scheduler of meetings and coordinator of hotel and travel arrange-
ments. Thus, it sought out groups that it believed would be interested in opening their
communities to international visitors. Universities with strong Latin American departments
were an important resource. Scholars were able to discuss with visitors at length key aspects of
U.S.–Latin American relations, the benefits of democracy, and other foreign policy issues.

. . . and extremely powerful.

17
 However, the State Department also wanted to expose visitors to the lives of average Ameri-
cans. They wanted to involve community groups with an interest in foreign affairs as allies in
these diplomatic efforts.
One such ally was community-based affiliates of the Foreign Policy Association (FPA).
The FPA had been established in 1919 by individuals supportive of President Wilson’s efforts
to establish the League of Nations and to obtain ratification for U.S. membership through the
Senate. Local affiliates of the national FPA, typically called World Affairs Councils, had been
established in a number of cities throughout the United States. Their mission was to promote
greater understanding of foreign affairs and foreign countries by hosting educational pro-
grams, speakers, and discussions.
By the late 1930s, in response to growing isolationist sentiment, many of the World
Affairs Councils had lost members and financing. Some of the groups disbanded; others
looked for new programs and activities to revitalize them. When approached by the State
Department in 1939-1940, a number of these groups were willing, in fact eager, to assist this
new program.
Brooks Emeny, president of the Cleveland Council on World Affairs in the late 1930s, was
one of those consulted by Nelson Rockefeller as part of the effort to design the new visitor
program. Emeny recalled a discussion he had with Rockefeller in October 1939: “[F]rom my
own point of view the most important aspect of the full day’s conference was my success in
convincing all participants that the only way to achieve a continuing impact on public opinion
was through private community organizations, such as the Cleveland Foreign Affairs Council
… the Foreign Policy Association branches, and other similar groups.”1
Though Emeny had hoped that Rockefeller would provide additional funding to support
the private organizations, that funding never materialized. However, the Cleveland Council
did establish a Pan-American committee, headed by professor C. Langdon White of Western

18
Reserve University. This committee was responsible “for carrying out the various propaganda
and educational programs as directed by the Coordinator’s Office in Washington.…”2
In addition to the community-based international affairs organizations established through
the Foreign Policy Association and Council on Foreign Relations, newer grassroots groups also
quickly agreed to support the Rockefeller program. For instance, in 1938 a group of Iowa
citizens formed an organization to help European immigrants who were fleeing the impending

By the late 1930s, in response to growing isolationist

sentiment, many of the World Affairs Councils had lost
members and financing.

war and resettling in the United States. In 1941 this organization, along with other commu-
nity groups, coalesced around the mission to bring international students to Iowa in order to
help citizens understand each other and their cultures. Their first effort was to support pro-
grams for Panamanian students funded by the Rockefeller program. Initially called the Pan
American Board of Education, the group arranged professional programs and homestays for
nearly 150 Panamanian students during the war years.
Throughout World War II the State Department continued administering a relatively
modest number of exchange programs with Latin America, focusing mostly on journalists. In
1943 the Department established a program that brought a small number of Chinese visitors
each year. These token programs continued through the end of the war.

Exchanges During the Cold War

The next milestone in the establishment of a vibrant international exchange movement was
the passage of the Fulbright Act on August 1, 1946, named after Senator J. William Fulbright

19
 of Arkansas. Senator Fulbright had traveled extensively before World War II, and he under-
stood the importance of personal contact and exposure in promoting better understanding
among peoples of the world. In the aftermath of World War II, concerned about the growing
danger of war with the Soviet Union, Senator Fulbright proposed a program that he felt would
facilitate that contact and exposure.
“The prejudices and misconceptions which exist in every country regarding foreign
people,” Fulbright told a friend, “are the great barrier to any system of government.” If,

“The prejudices and misconceptions which exist in every

country regarding foreign people,” Fulbright told a friend,
“are the great barrier to any system of government.”

however, the peoples of the world could get to know each other better, live together and learn
side by side, “they might,” he believed, “develop a capacity for empathy, a distaste for killing
other men, and an inclination for peace.”3 Fulbright’s idea for an international exchange
program, along with initiatives such as the establishment of the United Nations and the
creation of regional defense arrangements such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
(NATO), marked the confirmation of the United States as a major player on the international
stage.
The Fulbright Act established a mix of educational and cultural exchange activities, such
as the well-known Fulbright Senior Scholars Program and a companion student exchange
program. The Act also established what the legislation called a visitors program. The early
days of the visitor component of the Fulbright Program focused on bringing to the United
States Germans without previous Nazi party affiliations who were thought to be future leaders
of a reconstructed Germany. The objective of the program, called the Foreign Leaders Pro-

20
gram, was to introduce the visitors to principles of American democracy and to acquaint them
with American people and institutions. This coincided with the desire of U.S. officials in
occupied Germany and Japan to send German leaders to the United States in order, as articu-
lated by a senior State Department official in 1949, “to strengthen the democratic forces
within Germany and … to influence German thinking in the right direction of peace and
democracy.”4 Among the notable alumni was Willy Brandt, who visited in 1954 and later
became Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany.
The Fulbright program also had the effect of engaging American citizens in foreign
relations in new ways, as the following story demonstrates. In the late 1940s a group of law
students from Germany enrolled at Southern Methodist University (SMU) Law School in
Dallas, Texas, under the aegis of the Fulbright Program. The dean of the law school, Clyde
Emery, was concerned that the students were lonely so far from home. He knew their basic
expenses were being covered by the State Department, but he worried about what they were
doing on weekends and in the evening. He shared his concerns with his wife, Lorinne, who
immediately took matters into her own hands. First she invited the German students to her
house for dinner. Then she called friends, representative of the upper echelon of Dallas society,
and arranged for them to offer hospitality as well. Professor Emery was struck by the positive
impact these gestures had on the German students’ morale, but continued to be concerned
that the students had limited spending money. After discussing this with his wife, Lorinne
Emery responded by organizing a group of her friends to take German language lessons from
the students at the rate of 50 cents per hour.
Lorinne Emery continued to arrange hospitality activities for German exchange students
throughout the early 1950s. She was extremely committed to the program and successful in
soliciting volunteers to provide hospitality. Starting in 1954, the Dallas business community
asked her to provide hospitality and professional meetings for businesspeople, marking the

21
 “. . . a capacity for empathy,
genesis of what is today the all-volunteer, community-based Dallas Committee for Foreign
Visitors.
In 1948, the passage of the Smith-Mundt Act dramatically expanded the scope and nature
of the Fulbright exchange program. The Smith-Mundt Act, modeled after Rockefeller’s
World War II Latin America visitor program, created the first-ever peacetime information
agency. Its mission was “to promote better understanding of the United States in other
countries, and to increase mutual understanding” between Americans and foreigners. A key
element of the Smith-Mundt program was the creation of a visitors program for foreign
leaders and potential leaders, called the International Educational Exchange Program (IEEP).
The Foreign Leaders Program established under the Fulbright legislation was subsumed into
this activity.
U.S. government officials were explicit in their determination that a critical purpose of
Smith-Mundt visitors programs was to combat Communist propaganda. In public statements
in 1953 and again in 1956, State Department reports articulated this purpose:
Today, when the Communists are trying to outbid the free world in winning the minds
of leaders in many countries, the U.S. International Educational Exchange Program …
is helping to convince neutral, uncommitted groups and individuals that the American
people are sincere in their search for a peaceful but just solution to the imperative
problems of the nuclear age.5
The program would offer visitors a “‘full and fair picture’ of American life and institutions
so that they could disseminate accurate, and presumably mostly favorable, information about
America to their fellow citizens upon their return home.”6
As government-sponsored exchange programs expanded to address geopolitical realities of
greater complexity than that of simply exposing potential German leaders to democracy, it
also became clear that there was a need for professional partners based in the cities and towns

a distaste for killing other men,

22
 Box 1. National Program Agencies
where the participants would visit. The State Governmental Affairs Institute 1950-1975
(Succeeded by Visitor Program Service and
Department simply did not have the resources later by the Program Division of Meridian
International Center)
to arrange programs for visitors throughout the
American Council on Education, 1956-1963
United States. State Department officials Committee on Leaders and
Specialists
revisited the model they had used during (Succeeded by Experiment in International
Living, 1963 to 1972)
World War II and sought out community
Institute of International 1972-present
organizations that would be able to host Education
foreign visitors, organize professional appoint- Africa-America Institute 1961-present
ments, provide hospitality, and arrange hotel Delphi International 1984-present
accommodations and other logistics. They also USDA Graduate School 1982-1997
began to seek out private, nonprofit organiza- Mississippi Consortium for 1998-present
International Development
tions able to administer and coordinate all
elements of exchange visitor programs at the Academy for Educational 1979-present
Development
national level. The first of these, the precursor
Phelps-Stokes Fund 1985-present
to today’s national program agencies, was the
Free Trade Union Institute 1985-present
Governmental Affairs Institute (GAI). Along (Succeeded by the George Meany Center
and later by the American Center for
with the American Council on Education, in International Labor Solidarity)

the 1950s GAI took over from the State Academy for State and Local 1985-1995
Governments
Department the responsibility for administer-
ing visitor programs in the United States. To date, more than a dozen private nonprofit
agencies have worked in support of the U.S. government’s programs (see Box 1).

Reliance on Community Groups

The IEEP program administrators at the State Department recognized the importance of
relying on community-based volunteer organizations to provide key administrative and

and an inclination for peace.”

23
 programmatic support. Though there is a long tradition of volunteerism in the United States
for the delivery of community services, volunteer organizations typically address local needs,
such as establishing a library or providing fire and ambulance services. Dependence on volun-
teer-based citizen groups for such a significant foreign policy initiative was striking.
Two factors contributed to the government’s desire to rely on community-based volunteer
groups to support its international visitor programs. First, the groups gave credibility to a
government-sponsored and -funded program designed to influence foreign leaders. Without
private involvement, international visitors could easily have believed the program to be a
propaganda tool of the U.S. government. However, by using the resources of local volunteer
groups to arrange meetings and hospitality in the community, and by relying on private,
nonprofit national program agencies to coordinate the national programs, the IV Program
clearly became something very different from a propaganda effort. It was the product of a
unique public–private sector partnership.
Second, local volunteers and community groups knew the resources available in their
community in a way that the State Department could not possibly know. As Secretary of
State Dean Rusk pointed out at a COSERV conference in 1965, “[T]he government simply
can’t do what you are doing. We can’t render that kind of individual, sensitive and personal-
ized service such as you can and do render in your own communities. This voluntary spirit is
of course a keystone in the understanding which other people may have of us.…”7
Some of the early community groups involved in supporting visitor exchange programs
had been members of national organizations such as the Foreign Policy Association or the
Council on Foreign Relations. The World Affairs Councils of Hartford, Connecticut; Cleve-
land, Ohio; and St. Louis, Missouri, are examples of community groups that added exchange
programs to their portfolios. For instance, the World Affairs Council of Hartford was estab-
lished in 1924 by a group of educators and business people to promote the discussion of

24
foreign policy issues. The Cleveland Council on World Affairs was established in the early
1930s as an affiliate of the Foreign Policy Association and began supporting international
visitors when the program first began in 1940. The St. Louis chapter of the Foreign Policy
Association was founded in 1926 and remained in existence for three years. It was resurrected

“The government simply can’t do what you are doing.”

in 1942 as the World Affairs Council and shortly thereafter began organizing programs for
international visitors.
As the government-funded exchange program grew and the number of visitors increased,
it became obvious to State Department officials and community leaders that the IV Program
needed additional supporting organizations throughout the United States. Some community
organizations were formed specifically to meet the growing need of the U.S. government to
support international exchanges. In 1952 Harriet Eliel, West Coast Regional Director of the
Institute of International Education in San Francisco, met with representatives of the Commit-
tee on Friendly Relations Among Foreign Students to establish a new organization to be called
the International Hospitality Center (IHC), the precursor to today’s International Diplomacy
Council. The IHC, according to its first president, Thomas Davis, was formed to “…dispel
false misconceptions of the American way of life and of basic American philosophy. These
misconceptions are dangerously prevalent among other peoples, due in part to ignorance, in
part to anti-American propaganda.”8
It is clear that the impetus for the formation of the San Francisco IHC was to create an ally
of the U.S. government in the Cold War against communism. President Davis, in his efforts to
expand the IHC Board, reached out to the business community with the plea for its “…wise

25
 Sharing a meal in a home
counsel so that the IHC might flourish as the central agency to provide a coordinated program
of assistance and hospitality to overseas visitors, substituting sound impressions of American
ideals and of their effect on our way of life.”9
During the height of the Cold War, the emphasis of the programs arranged by the IHC in
San Francisco and its sister organizations around the country was on the more personal aspects
of American life, particularly “home hospitality.” This was not naïve and ingenuous; the
conviction of those involved in the program was that individuals sharing a meal in a home
would engage in honest dialogue, share perspectives, and come to a deeper understanding
than could ever be achieved through traditional diplomatic negotiations. U.S. policymakers
also hoped that foreign visitors would take home their new perspectives and share them with
other citizens, thereby extending the impact of the program. The State Department’s report
on the visitors program in 1953 highlighted this aspect of the program:
The Communists are trying to convince the peoples of the world that international
communism, not democracy, is the answer to their problems.… The Educational
Exchange Program has proved that it is a sound antidote. It is building up a receptive
climate of public opinion overseas. In this atmosphere our actions, our motives, and
our policies can be correctly understood.10
A network of small communities in rural Illinois provides a powerful example of commu-
nity-based, hospitality-oriented programs. In the fall of 1956, Gertrude Trogdon, a resident of
Paris, Illinois, a small farming community, had recently recovered from a serious illness and,
motivated by religious inspiration, sought opportunities to make the world a better place. She

would lead to a deeper

understanding

26
decided to organize a group of Paris residents who would open their homes to international
students from various Chicago-based universities during the Thanksgiving holidays. She
believed that foreign students were most lonely during typical American holidays and that
they would welcome the chance to share Thanksgiving or Christmas meals and celebrations
with American families. That first Thanksgiving, 141 students and their families traveled
from Chicago to Paris in a car caravan in what was known as the Paris International Thanks-
giving Fellowship.
The following spring, the Trogdons were approached by Jack Carriage of the International
House at the University of Chicago. Carriage wanted to know if the Trogdons would be
willing to arrange programs in Paris for international guests coming directly from government
agencies in Washington, DC. They agreed, and began arranging hospitality for U.S. govern-
ment-sponsored international visitors.
By 1958 the popularity of the Thanksgiving Fellowship program had increased, and Mrs.
Trogdon felt that other Illinois communities might want to become involved. She began by
reaching out to nearby communities through church groups. As a result, at their May Fellow-
ship Day meeting in 1959, the United Church Women of Sterling and Rock Falls decided to
join the project. A similar group in Freeport, a neighboring community, also agreed to partici-
pate in the project.
During the 1959 Thanksgiving weekend, the new group provided homestays for 53
foreign students from 23 countries. There were single students, couples, and families. Tours
of farms, schools, factories, and businesses, as well as professional visits, were scheduled for the

than could ever be achieved

through traditional
diplomatic negotiations.

27
 weekend, along with an Open House and World Fellowship Tea at the YWCA. Other activi-
ties included a Saturday night Community Program, a candle-lighting service, and square
dancing by the Rock River Square Dancers.
Later that year, Reverend Don Bartholomew of the First Congregational Church in
Geneseo, Illinois, was conducting church services in neighboring Princeton when he noticed a
surprisingly large number of foreign faces in the congregation. Struck by this, Reverend
Bartholomew inquired as to why there were so many people from abroad in a small Midwest

Visitors returned with “glowing reports on the few days

living with the extraordinarily friendly families in the
‘real America.’”

town, and he learned about the International Thanksgiving Fellowship Program. He quickly
signed up, and the community of Geneseo joined the Fellowship network.
By the mid-1960s this network of four small Illinois communities expanded their univer-
sity-based programs to include supporting the International Visitor Program. Unlike their
sister organizations in larger cities, the programs and services provided by the Fellowship
groups included more homestays and home hospitality, more contact with farmers and small
business owners, and fewer formal meetings with experts, government officials, or local
leaders. As one Washington-based administrator of the IV Program said, visitors returned
from visits to these four Illinois communities with “glowing reports on the few days living
with the extraordinarily friendly families in the ‘real America.’ Now, whatever it is you have or
whatever it is you do in the Rock River Valley it would be wonderful if we could package it
and send it abroad. We would have friends throughout the world.” An international visitor,
upon concluding a stay in Geneseo, wrote in an evaluation report that “Americans really

28
believe in freedom, opportunity, and social progress. It’s not just something you’re trying to
feed us for your own ends.”11
It was not only in small-town America that concern for the well-being of foreign students
served as an impetus for the creation of local councils. For instance, in Buffalo in 1949
Eleanor Underwood and Ethel Cohan organized the World Hospitality Committee and devel-
oped a list of fifty local families willing to provide hospitality for visitors. Then, in 1953 the
University of Buffalo, concerned about cultural adjustment and hospitality for a group of
French visitors under the sponsorship of the International Cooperation Agency (the predeces-
sor of the U.S. Agency for International Development), sought assistance from local groups to
help orient and integrate the visitors into the community. These two separate strands united
in 1957 in a formal merger into one group, the World Hospitality Association, the precursor
to the Buffalo-Niagara Region Council for International Visitors. Similar events led to the
formation of the Rochester International Friendship Council.
Whether the volunteers were motivated solely by providing hospitality or by the interest
in countering communist propaganda, it became clear that the reliance on them was extremely
effective in giving the program power and credibility. As the San Francisco IHC said in its
promotional material:
When we open our homes to foreign visitors, we employ the most effective means of
presenting a true picture of the United States and help to correct the unrealistic and
often unfavorable views of Americans held by those abroad. The visitors that the
Center serves are for the most part men and women of great influence. Giving them
an understanding of our sense of values by providing them with an opportunity to
observe our day-to-day living, and establishing bonds of friendship is the best way to
contribute to our own national security.12
Local businesses quickly appreciated the value of having and supporting local organiza-

29
 “Americans really believe in
tions capable of arranging meetings and supporting logistics for foreign delegations visiting
through international exchange programs. The advantages were clear: First and foremost
such organizations brought international visitors to the community, where they stayed in
hotels, ate in restaurants, used taxis and buses, and bought souvenirs and larger consumer
items not available in their home countries. Second, since visitors were selected by the U.S.
Embassies overseas for their potential as leaders in their own countries, local business leaders
understood the value of these contacts in creating future opportunities for trade. Businesses
also relied on local international visitor councils to arrange for speakers to educate the people
in their community on important foreign policy issues. In communities such as Dallas, Cleve-
land, and Pittsburgh, local business leaders became strong supporters of international ex-
change programs. An examination of Pittsburgh’s relationship with the program provides a
clear case in point.
In the early years of the 20th century, Pittsburgh was renowned as a major manufacturing
center, home to hundreds of steel mills. As the global economy changed, Pittsburgh entered a
period of economic and civic decline, along with other “rust belt” cities in the upper Midwest.
By the late 1950s, however, business, civic, and government leaders had come together to
create the “Pittsburgh Renaissance” to redevelop urban areas and revitalize the economy.
Innovative and experimental approaches to urban renewal, transportation, and support for
economic development were tried. The city became a magnet for international visitors who
wanted to visit both businesses and government officials to better understand the theory and
implementation of different community development models.
Four factors came together to lead Pittsburgh to advocate for the creation of a coordinat-

freedom, opportunity,

and social progress.”

30
ing body to handle the deluge of visitors to the city:
• Large corporations were being inundated with requests for appointments from foreign
visitors, and they wanted a clearinghouse to coordinate all the requests;
• Foreign scholars on exchange programs to local universities needed support to get
settled and to integrate themselves into the community;
• The “Pittsburgh Renaissance” phenomenon was attracting thousands of foreign
visitors and tourists who wanted to know more about economic development and the
city’s activities in this area; and
• There was a growth in community interest in foreign affairs and in the desire to meet
foreign visitors.
Business leaders in Pittsburgh had a long history of reaching out in partnership with
government and the community to support a public good. From Andrew Carnegie to the
Mellon family, as well as through lesser known individuals, business leaders had always been
active. Thus, when the need for a coordinating body to support foreign visitors became
apparent, business in Pittsburgh took a leading role in providing financial support, in serving
on the organization’s board of directors, and in opening their corporations to international
visitors. As stated in an early planning document:
To fill this vital area of international exchange, Pittsburgh citizens are initiating the
Pittsburgh Council for International Visitors. This Council will serve and be sup-
ported by the organizations and institutions which represent the broad interests and
activities of the City. It is a cooperative endeavor in the finest Pittsburgh tradition.
The Organizing Committee of the Pittsburgh Council for International Visitors itself
represents industry and business, unions, and community organizations.13

31
 Changes in Exchanges
With President Kennedy’s election in 1960, U.S. foreign policy began to evolve in new direc-
tions. The Peace Corps, the Alliance for Progress, and the establishment of the U.S. Agency
for International Development, a new agency addressing the economic and developmental
needs of emerging nations, all reflected a more engaged and activist foreign policy. Under
President Kennedy’s leadership, the foreign policy emphasis shifted from reactive anticommu-
nism to a proactive effort to improve living conditions around the world. There was a growing
desire to educate people about the true differences between the United States and the Soviet
Union by encouraging them to see the reality of America with their own eyes.
The “Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act of 1961,” also known as the
Fulbright-Hays Act, codified previous legislation and reaffirmed the objective of arranging
exchanges in order to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States
and the people of other nations. It also reiterated the organizational structure within which
international exchange and information programs were administered. The statement of
purpose clearly states the high ideals embodied in the legislation:
The purpose of this Act is to enable the Government of the United States to increase
mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other
countries by means of educational and cultural exchange; to strengthen the ties which
unite us with other nations by demonstrating the education and cultural interests,
developments, and achievements of the people of the United States and other nations,
and the contributions being made toward a peaceful and more fruitful life for people
throughout the world; to promote international cooperation for educational and
cultural advancement; and thus to assist in the development of friendly, sympathetic,
and peaceful relations between the United States and the other countries of the
world.14

32
 In 1953 President Eisenhower had created the United States Information Agency (USIA),
separate from the State Department, to administer all international information programs.
Cultural and exchange programs remained a part of the State Department, within the Bureau
of International Cultural Affairs, until 1978, when it was merged with the information pro-

“Establishing bonds of friendship is the best way to

contribute to our own national security.”

grams to become a separate agency called the United States International Communication
Agency (USICA). The name was changed back to USIA in 1982, and it remained a separate
agency until October 1, 1999, when all information and exchange functions were reincorpo-
rated into the State Department.
To demonstrate the importance he placed on international information programs, Presi-
dent Kennedy appointed nationally renowned journalist Edward R. Murrow as director of
USIA in 1961. Murrow, who had become famous as a war correspondent, described the
challenge of USIA’s work as follows: “It has always seemed to me the real art in this business
is not so much moving information or guidance or policy five or ten thousand miles. That is
an electronic problem. The real art is to move it the last three feet in face-to-face conversa-
tion.” Thus, the U.S. government recognized that the personal contacts and connections that
are the stock in trade of the IV Program represent the true art of international communica-
tion. Chester Bowles, U.S. Ambassador to India in the early 1960s, acknowledged the critical
role of citizen diplomats when he addressed a COSERV conference in 1963: “As hosts to
foreign leaders, exchanges, and participants in training programs in this country, you are a
vital link in the international relations of the United States. No Ambassador from this coun-
try to another nation is more important than you.”

33
 In response to changing circumstances, both the type of visitors recruited and the struc-
ture of the program changed. Visitors were no longer exclusively senior government officials
and political leaders, but were also “second and third echelon officials who … were usually
anxious to have serious and substantive discussions with their U.S. counterparts.”15 More
visitors represented business, education, and the media rather than simply government, and
the focus shifted to a greater concern for social issues such as race relations and economic
growth issues. Not surprisingly, the number of visitors from the developing world increased
dramatically.

“You are a vital link in the international relations of the

United States.”

Community Groups Come Together

Changes in the objectives of the IV Program were paralleled by changes in the network of
community groups that supported it. In part, changes were driven by the program’s growth
and success. Three of the major challenges faced by the IV Program and its supporters were:
• Coordination among national program agencies and between program agencies in
Washington and local councils;
• Communication among local councils to develop best practices, share lessons learned,
and coordinate activities; and
• Generation of sufficient locally based financial support to sustain the organizations and
keep the program successful.16
The need for greater coordination among community groups had become apparent in the
late 1950s and had spurred action among community leaders who supported visitor exchange

34
 Box 2. ICCSIV Founding Members
programs. The earliest efforts to
address coordination issues occurred in Executive Committee of the Interim Council
February 1957, when representatives Chairman Marnie Schauffler, Philadelphia
Vice Chairman James M. Davis, Ann Arbor
of local international visitor councils Secretary-Treasurer Florence G. Cassidy, Detroit
Members-at-Large Katherine C. Bang, Cleveland
held a three-day conference in Wash- Hugh Jenkins, Washington
ington to discuss the future of the Gordon J. Kloph, Buffalo
Mrs. Chase Going Woodhouse,
exchange program. One important Hartford
Full Membership of the Interim Council
outcome of the meeting was the
Mrs. Rex Baker Houston
establishment of a committee to study Dorothy Bauman New York
Elizabeth Blanc Denver
the question of forming a national Gladys Brooks Minneapolis
Walter Coombs Los Angeles
association of community groups that
Lorinne Emery Dallas
would provide services to international Paul McMullen Seattle
Margaret O’Donoghue Washington
visitors. The committee was chaired Mrs. Allyn Smith San Francisco
by Dr. Harry Wann, director of the
Washington International Center, and
included Marnie Schauffler of Philadelphia, Allyn Smith of San Francisco, Florence Cassidy of
Detroit, Willard Daetsch of Buffalo, and Dr. James Davis of the University of Michigan. In
the course of the year’s study, regional conferences were held in Denver, Hartford, Minneapo-
lis, and Philadelphia to gather various perspectives on the matter.17
When the groups reconvened in February 1958, they agreed that establishing a coordinat-
ing council or clearinghouse would better meet the needs of the program. Thus the Interim
Council for Community Services to International Visitors (ICCSIV) was established. (See Box
2 for a complete list of founding members.)
The ICCSIV met intermittently throughout 1959 and 1960. By late 1960 ICCSIV
members had reached a consensus that a national body was necessary; in November of that

35
 year the Interim Council established the National Council for Community Services to Interna-
tional Visitors (NCCSIV). In April 1961 the NCCSIV met for the first time, elected an
executive committee, and adopted the acronym
Box 3. COSERV, NCIV Executive Directors
COSERV. Katherine Bang of Cleveland chaired
Helen Ringe 1961-1966 the executive committee. Other officers
Arthur Richards 1966-1968
Robert Aylward 1968-1981 included Dr. William Baker of Buffalo as vice-
Alan Warne 1981-1985
Richard Deasy 1985-1995
chair, Gladys Brooks of Minneapolis as secre-
Sherry Mueller 1996-present tary, and Dr. James Davis of Michigan as
treasurer. At this time COSERV received its
first core funding from the State Department,
which enabled the organization to hire professional staff.
COSERV, the umbrella organization for the national program agencies and the local
councils for international visitors (CIVs), undertook major organizational initiatives in the
1960s. COSERV’s small professional staff consisted of Helen Ringe as Executive Secretary and
Ruth Frank as Publications Director. It established an office in Washington and held major
national conferences in 1965 and again in 1969, along with a series of regional conferences
throughout the United States. Simultaneously, a growing number of U.S. government-funded
programs began relying on the COSERV network for specialized services. The International
Cooperation Agency (later USAID) sought out COSERV members to help support some of the
thousands of people it brought to the United States for training each year. By 1971
COSERV’s membership roster had grown to 88 community organizations and 33 national
program agencies. (See Box 3 for the names of COSERV executive directors.) In 1979
COSERV changed its name to the National Council for International Visitors (NCIV).

36
Seeing Ourselves through Others’ Eyes
As discussed earlier, membership in COSERV continued to expand in the 1960s as communi-
ties were exposed to the IV Program and became excited about providing hospitality to
foreigners living in their community. In Huntsville, Alabama, for instance, the 1960s saw the
growth of a community of foreign military personnel. Similar to Clyde Emery and his concern
regarding the integration of German law students into the Dallas community in the late
1940s, Col. William Macpherson, the Commandant of the Ordnance School, was concerned
about the need to integrate military personnel and their families into local life. Col.
Macpherson asked the city government to explore the formation of a local group to help
bridge the gap between the two populations, and in March 1965 the Huntsville-Madison
County Council for International Visitors was established. T. Pickens Gates, the first president

“We do not have to agree with another man’s creed or

religion to love him. We can love him without trying to
convince him of our way of life. One of our many purposes
is to see that these visitors go back home as friends.”

of the council, characterized the mission of the council as follows: “We do not have to agree
with another man’s creed or religion to love him. We can love him without trying to convince
him of our way of life. One of our many purposes is to see that these visitors go back home as
friends.”18
In 1961, as one of its earliest acts, COSERV expressed interest in establishing a group in
the southeastern part of the United States to arrange meetings for international visitors eager
to learn about the civil rights movement. A COSERV board member from Cleveland con-
tacted Betty Haas, a relative in Atlanta, and tried to interest her in starting a group there.

37
 Betty was interested and asked COSERV for help. Lorinne Emery, the founder of the Dallas
CIV, agreed to visit Atlanta to speak to a group of 25 potential volunteers. As the story goes,
Lorinne was such a powerful and impassioned speaker that in the time it took Betty Haas to
go outside of the church meeting room to help someone with parking, the rest of the group
agreed to establish a CIV and elected Betty president.19
Betty Haas and the members of the Atlanta Committee for International Visitors made

Cooperation between the African American and white com-

munities who supported the CIV was one of the first moves
towards integration in Atlanta.

special efforts to reach out to Atlanta’s African American community, a courageous move
given the tense state of race relations at the time. It was one of the first CIVs to include
African Americans as host family volunteers and board members. The Atlanta Committee
relied extensively on faculty from the network of historically black colleges in the city, includ-
ing Clark Atlanta, Morris Brown, and Spelman. Cooperation between the African American
and white communities who supported the CIV was one of the first moves towards integration
in the city.
That the Atlanta Committee was able and willing to work with the African American
community in Atlanta was a reflection of a unique confluence of forces in Atlanta. As in much
of the South, Blacks and whites did not live or work together. At the same time, Atlanta’s
political and business elites — both white and black — understood that economic health was
inextricably tied to the perception that the city enjoyed good race relations. In spite of de-
cades of separation, throughout the early part of the twentieth century Atlanta’s elites had
struggled to develop ways of working together to promote at least the appearance, if not the

38
reality, of good race relations. The 1949 election of William Hartsfield as mayor marked the
beginning of an “alliance between Atlanta’s civic-business leadership and the African Ameri-
can community that would last until the mid-1960s. In exchange for the black community’s
political support for the business-civic leadership, the latter promised a more congenial racial
climate.…”20
By the 1950s white Atlantans saw themselves as residents of a global community and
aspired to make Atlanta an important international city. Business and political leaders were
concerned that the growing civil rights movement and demands for jobs, better housing, and
better schooling would be seen as disruptive to business and thus would threatened their
vision. Because they already had a working relationship with the African American commu-
nity, it was a natural outgrowth to attempt to include African Americans in their vision of a
global Atlanta. Thus the Atlanta Committee’s efforts to reach out to the African American
community were an organic evolution of prior practices.
The Atlanta Committee rapidly took stands that promoted integration. For instance, the
Committee played a significant role in integrating the Atlanta Biltmore Hotel, the city’s
premier hotel at the time. Colette Senghor, the wife of Senegal’s president, was a visitor to the
city in the early 1960s, and it was appropriate for her to stay at the Biltmore, though at the
time the hotel did not admit Blacks as guests. Betty Haas was able to persuade Biltmore’s
management that the reputation of the entire city would be hurt if they would not allow her
to stay. Mrs. Senghor was the first person of color to stay at the Biltmore, and her stay was
directly attributable to the intervention of the Atlanta Committee.
The International Visitor Program affected Atlantans as deeply as it affected the interna-
tional visitors. Volunteers learned a great deal about other countries and the similarities that
linked people. They recognized the hypocrisy of treating African and Asian visitors with
respect and courtesy and not doing the same for African Americans in Atlanta. Ultimately,

39
 the Georgia Council for International Visitors brought the world to Atlanta and enriched
Atlantans’ understanding of it.
Atlanta was not the only city where a CIV was formed to improve perceptions of its
community. Fred Darragh, a successful Little Rock, Arkansas, businessman, decided in the
early 1960s that he personally had to take some action to combat the image of Little Rock as a
backwards community in the aftermath of the Central High desegregation crisis of 1957.
Fred had traveled widely for his business, and he was frustrated by the need to defend Little
Rock to his overseas business partners. He knew the way the international media portrayed
Little Rock was not accurate, so he garnered community support to establish an organization
to provide southern hospitality to foreign visitors as a means to combat the city’s negative
image.
Other CIVs established during the 1960s also were honest in showing both the positive
and negative aspects of their communities to international visitors. For instance, the Mem-
phis, Tennessee, Council for International Visitors has been fortunate to have a core group of
volunteers who have supported the program for many years and who have offered visitors an
honest portrayal of life in their community. Mattie Sengstacke, a member of the prominent
Sengstacke publishing family of Chicago (Chicago Defender) and Memphis (Tri-State Defender),
helped insure the cultural and racial diversity of the Council from the very outset. Sengstacke
recruited and supported African American members of the community in developing pro-
grams, hosting social events, and becoming active Council members. Two other prominent
Memphis volunteers, Judge Russell and Gina Sugarmon, have continuously provided visitors
with access to and direct, firsthand knowledge of the history of the civil rights movement.
Judge Sugarmon has shared his expertise and insights with over 200 groups and individuals in
the years that he has been involved in the program.
It was not only in the South where involvement with international visitors helped Ameri-

40
cans see themselves more clearly and learn from what they saw. Sue Ohrenschall, a volunteer
and Board member of the International Diplomacy Council in San Francisco, recalls the event
that crystallized her understanding of the power and importance of the IV Program to all
parties:
I remember in the 1960s Bob [her husband] and I hosted a visitor from Uganda. He
was actually the Ambassador to the U.N. from his country and he appeared very
distinguished. We were surprised when we found out that he had changed hotels from
the Westin St. Francis to the Booker T. Washington. The Booker T. Washington
Hotel was a dingy little place in the Fillmore [district] and when Bob and I picked
him up he was sipping coffee in a smoke-filled room amidst predominantly black men
drinking and playing pool. We asked him why he had switched hotels and he replied,
“I wanted to see how my people live in your country.”21
The International Visitor Program showed the visitor America, warts and all. At the same
time, it forced Americans to see their country through others’ eyes, and certainly motivated
some of them to seek to improve it.
While the International Visitor Program had unanticipated effects within the United
States, it also created connections between Americans and citizens on the other side of the Iron
Curtain. At the height of the Cold War, with increasing tension between the United States
and the Soviet Union, the IV Program offered a neutral space for people from opposing sides
to sit around a table, share a meal, and make personal connections. For instance, in 1978 a
group of ten high-ranking officials from the Soviet Union were invited to participate in a
visitors program. Midway through their program they decided that they wanted to visit
Detroit because, as one said, “We wanted to see where the workers are.” The Detroit Interna-
tional Visitors Council (IVC) was able to quickly arrange a program that allowed the Soviet
visitors opportunities to meet with autoworkers, as well as with local officials and

“I wanted to see how my people

live in your country.”
41
 businesspeople. At dinner one night during their visit, one of the Soviet visitors announced
loudly that he was in charge of all atomic weaponry for the Soviet Union. After the delegation
left Detroit, Gretchen Hitch, executive director of the IVC, was visited by CIA agents who

The importance of the

International Visitor Program is that it
operates on a community-to-community,
person-to-person level. It has impact
through face-to-face-meetings; and
because the persons involved on both
sides are apt to be leaders, you get a big
multiplier in terms of influence.
—John Richardson, Undersecretary of State
for Cultural Affairs, 1969-1977

42
were curious to know what she and the Soviets had talked about during the dinner. According
to Hitch, they had spent most of their time discussing the comparative strengths and weak-
nesses of Russian classical composers.

The International Visitor Program Comes of Age

In the early 1980s, U.S. business leaders were beginning to understand the need to be involved
in the growing global economy. New markets in Latin America and Asia, and the integration
of Europe into a single marketplace, were important contributing factors. Local businesses
sought community-based groups that were able to help them develop international business
contacts and handle the protocol and hospitality aspects of those visits appropriately. The
Councils for International Visitors, already established, had the experience, contacts, and
systems to provide those services. In many of the new growth areas, such as in California and
the South, local groups arose where none had been before to meet the need.
The establishment of the Charlotte, North Carolina, Council for International Visitors
(CCIV) is an example of how local businesses saw the program as a means to establish com-
mercial relationships. In the 1980s Charlotte was growing economically, and the city leaders
saw great opportunities for additional business development. However, one limitation was the
lack of exposure to potential international partners. In addition, the local social service agency,
International House, which was to be the home to the CIV, wanted to demonstrate it had
services of interest to the business community. Establishing a CIV meant that the Charlotte
business community had a mechanism to reach out to international contacts, to make Char-
lotte better known globally, and to attract investment.
The San Jose-Silicon Valley International Visitor Program is another example of a local
group with an economic development focus. The impetus for the formation of this group
came in 1993 when Kit Wallace, executive director of the San Francisco-based International

The IV Program showed the visitor

America, warts and all.

43
 Diplomacy Council, contacted businesses in the San Jose area to explore ways they could
participate in the International Visitor Program in order to meet the demand of visitors who
wanted to visit high-tech and computer firms. The concept was intriguing to city and busi-

The proposal to cut IVP funding created a huge uproar

among the hundreds of thousands of volunteers who
supported the IV and other exchange programs.

ness leaders. The Office of Economic Development took the lead in contacting the U.S.
Information Agency to explore how to become involved in the program. Local business
leaders and community groups agreed to support the program and to house it at the World
Forum, which itself was a global affairs and education organization. Not surprisingly, the
focus of many visitor programs is the technology field.
Craig Sullivan, chairman of the board of The Clorox Company in Oakland, California,
believes that corporate support for the IV Program “provides Clorox with access to distin-
guished visitors from all over the world and opportunities to create ties for future business.”22
Ed Rendell, mayor of Philadelphia, said:
The International Visitor Program is a sound investment that has meant as much to
the Philadelphia and American communities as it has to our distinguished guests from
abroad.… In addition to creating jobs through the federal and foreign dollars that are
spent each year in our hotels, restaurants and stores, it has stretched our marketing
dollars and brought valuable contacts directly into our offices and factories.23
The decade also witnessed important developments in the IV Program in response to
changing foreign policy priorities. Significant events of the late 1970s and early 1980s that
led to a heightening of Cold War tensions included the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan; the

44
seizing of U.S. diplomats as hostages in Iran; the destabilizing effect of multiple warhead
missiles; the Sandinista success in Nicaragua and civil war in neighboring Central American
countries; and concerns about ties between the Soviet Union and the growth of Muslim
fundamentalism.
With the election of Ronald Reagan as president in 1980, U.S. foreign policy entered a
new phase. In its first budget, the Reagan administration proposed significant cuts in both
foreign aid and support for exchange programs as part of its overall effort to reduce the role of
the federal government while increasing defense expenditures. Included in this package was a
proposal to significantly cut the International Visitor Program. This proposal, however,
created a huge uproar among the hundreds of thousands of volunteers who supported the IV
and other exchange programs. Congress and the Administration, inundated with calls and
letters from those who supported the program, and buffeted by media protests such as the
New York Times editorial “America Surrenders,” quickly backed down. Instead, the Adminis-
tration and USIA, under the leadership of Charles Wick, prompted by Senator Claiborne Pell
of Rhode Island, doubled the size of exchange program budgets. In addition, new flexible
programs were created to respond to specific needs, such as the voluntary visitor program, the
Young African Leaders program, and special programs for Russians and East Europeans.
In addition to USIA, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) also
became involved in international training programs. In 1982 USAID instituted a global
training program that ultimately brought tens of thousands of young leaders from the devel-
oping world to the United States for long-term academic and short-term technical training
and observational study tours. In 1984 the Kissinger Commission urged USAID’s adoption of
a special program targeting Central American community leaders, called the Central and Latin
America Scholarship Program (CLASP). The Kissinger Commission felt that by bringing
thousands of these young community leaders to the United States for short-term training, the

45
 U.S. could teach them the skills they needed to help develop their country. An important part
of the program was the “Experience America” component, in which these young leaders
learned about American culture and values through visits with American families and commu-
nities around the country. The local councils for international visitors were natural coordina-

The success of the IV program demonstrates the importance

of citizen-to-citizen exchanges and their ability to create
linkages that often are not possible through more traditional
diplomatic channels.

tors for this program, and many of them became heavily engaged in providing that support.
Other special activities such as “Mid-Winter Seminars,” which were available during the
Christmas holiday break for those in U.S.-based academic programs, also became part of the
CIV repertoire during this period.

The Visitor Program Matures

The late 1980s and 1990s witnessed major foreign policy changes that have had a significant
impact on the nature and direction of the IV Program. Most important, between 1989 and
1991 the world witnessed the collapse of the Soviet Union and its Eastern European empire.
U.S. foreign policy, which for so many years had focused on combating the Soviet Union,
required, and is still waiting for, a thorough rethinking that would establish key U.S. foreign
policy interests. Even now the foreign policy establishment continues to wrestle with defining
its mission.
The early 1990s also saw important changes in the U.S. government’s support for publicly

46
funded exchange programs. Congress began to question the purpose and value of these
programs as part of an overall evaluation of the entire foreign affairs portfolio. After a decade
of strong government support in the 1980s, the 1990s witnessed a significant change in the
emphasis of the program. While support for exchanges between the United States and the
developing countries of Africa, Asia, and Latin America remained static or declined, there was
a dramatic increase in support for exchanges between the United States, the states of the
former Soviet Union, and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Specialized programs
were introduced, such as the Freedom Support Act, known as the Bradley Bill, which sup-
ported exchanges among high-school age students in former Soviet countries and the United
States, and Community Connections, which created linkages between business and local
government leaders of the United States and countries of the former Soviet Union.
Not surprisingly, these events have had a major impact on the local Councils for Interna-
tional Visitors. Some have seen their federal financial support shrink dramatically; in many
cases it now represents only ten percent or less of their budgets. The demand for new types of
programs, such as USIA’s Community Connections, has required councils to create new
services and expand their portfolio of programs to focus even more on business linkages. At
the same time, many innovative councils have developed strategic plans, improved their
internal management, and have begun to provide additional services to their business constitu-
encies. For instance, a handful of CIVs offers fee-for-service programming directly to busi-
nesses. Others offer assistance with translation and interpretation, or provide consulting
services for businesses wishing to work internationally. While no single approach is a panacea,
it is clear to local councils that diversification of funding sources is a key element to long-term
financial sustainability.

47
 baseball games and concerts,
The International Visitor Program Today
Today the International Visitor Program brings more than 4,500 visitors from around the
world to the United States. During the typical three-week program, visitors participate in a
customized study tour. Either individually or in small groups, visitors travel to up to five cities
and towns scattered throughout the United States. In communities large and small, visitors
meet with their professional counterparts to talk about relevant issues and to share experiences
and perspectives while learning about American customs and culture. They attend baseball
games and concerts, banquets and barbecues. They may share meals with “typical” American
families in their homes, and may even stay for the night or a long weekend. Visits are sched-
uled to ensure that participants experience all aspects of America, from big cities to small rural
communities, from rodeos to symphonies, along with business meetings with U.S. professional
counterparts. The exchange of information is not one-way, however. Through visits to
schools, informal presentations, and media interviews, visitors share their cultures with Ameri-
cans.
The IV Program is remarkable as an example of a public-private partnership. Some of the
costs for the program are paid for by the U.S. government; a significant percentage of the
costs, however, is paid through donations to the community groups that handle the programs
in 98 communities throughout the United States. Some of the staff that arrange programs are
paid professionals; more than 80,000 others volunteer their time to support their local coun-
cils. It is estimated that U.S. community groups donate nearly $12 for every one dollar that
the U.S. government spends on the International Visitor Program.
The success of the IV Program demonstrates the importance of citizen-to-citizen ex-
changes and their ability to create linkages that often are not possible through more tradi-
tional diplomatic channels. The IV Program’s success highlights the critical role played by the
network of volunteer community groups that, together with program agencies, comprise the

48
National Council for International Visitors.
Clearly, the nature and scope of the IV Program has evolved over the years, and it is still
evolving as the world moves into the 21st century. New technology, new issues, and new
funding sources all present challenges and opportunities that will shape the nature of the IV
Program and of the local groups that support it. Regardless of what the future brings, the key
to successful exchanges and communications is, as Edward Murrow said, for ideas to traverse
the three feet from one person’s mouth to another’s ear. Communication over such short
distances is fraught with challenges and problems that demonstrate just how difficult good,
clear communication really is. The files of all CIVs are filled with stories about crossed wires
and miscommunication over the years. These gaffes represent the challenge of intercultural
communication, and they demonstrate how important it is that all participants in a conversa-
tion understand each other. A few examples follow.
A visitor once complained to IVC Detroit staff that after being shown an American home’s
wonderful electrical appliances, he was taken into the backyard by his host to help him cook
his dinner outdoors over a charcoal fire. The pleasure of an American barbecue was lost on
him.
Another guest was driven around a fancy Detroit neighborhood. Though he oohed and
aahed about the size and obvious luxury of the large and beautiful homes, he was more than a
little disturbed that so many of the residents seemed to be in the process of being evicted. He
didn’t realize at first that he was witnessing weekend garage sales.
A visitor from Britain, a handsome young member of Parliament, recently visited North
Carolina. He was met in the office by a young woman, a volunteer for the IVC, who had
arranged his program. It was one of her first programs, and she was very excited by the
opportunity to meet her visitor. During the briefing she described all the professional appoint-
ments, then explained to him that she had planned for them to go to dinner after the meeting,

banquets and barbecues

49
 What is the impact of all these exchanges and visits?
and then engage in a little shagging. At this the British visitor turned bright red, apologized,
and said that though he found her attractive he didn’t think it would be appropriate for them
to shag so soon after meeting. She was confounded by his response, since in North Carolina a
shag is a popular folk dance; in Britain it is a euphemism for making love. Once they sorted
that out, they went out and had a pleasant time shagging the North Carolina way.

Reverberations of the IV Program

In the final analysis, what is the impact of all these exchanges and visits? What is the long-
term impact of the IV Program on the visitors who come, the Americans who host them, and
the communities where they live? Does involvement in the IV Program improve international
relations? Does it help people from other countries to better understand the United States?
Does it help Americans better understand themselves? For those who supported the program
with some expectation of business developing from it, were they pleased or disappointed in the
long run?
Americans who work with or volunteer for the International Visitor Program acknowledge
that it brings them into contact with potentially valuable international contacts and that it
expands their contacts within their own community. Some U.S. volunteers have consummated
business deals that developed from the International Visitor Program. For instance, in 1993
the mayor of a large southern Polish city came to America on an IV Program. As part of his
program he visited the Research Triangle Institute in North Carolina, where he tasted peanut
butter for the first time. The mayor believed that peanut butter had the potential to be a
large and important commodity in Poland. As a result of his visit, he signed a joint venture
agreement to develop a peanut butter manufacturing capacity in Poland for the domestic
market. North Carolina firms now export peanuts to Poland, where local firms make peanut
butter. Thousands of Polish children are now able to experience the satisfaction of a peanut

50
butter sandwich.
Likewise, a volunteer from Minneapolis developed a long-term business relationship with a
visitor from Sweden whom he hosted. The visitor was a journalist and producer of children’s

A visitor once complained to IVC Detroit staff that after

being shown an American home’s wonderful electrical
appliances, he was taken into the backyard to cook his dinner
outdoors over a charcoal fire.

television programming; the host was the owner of a video production business. As a result of
their home hospitality, the two collaborated on producing five hours of children’s program-
ming; the Swedish visitor became an agent for the American in Europe, and they later estab-
lished a successful business newsletter on Swedish-American business opportunities.24
More often the impact of the International Visitor Program occurs on a smaller scale. For
instance, one city manager from Russia noticed that in rural areas in the United States people
raised a little red flag on their mailboxes to indicate that there was mail to be picked up. By
adopting this innovation, he was able to increase mail-delivery productivity significantly,
reducing costs and providing better service to his constituents. This is not an earth-shattering
result, but it does make a difference in people’s lives.
Visitors to Nashville, Tennessee, are often as interested in visiting the Grand Ole Opry and
hearing country music as they are in their meetings with local government officials. One
visitor, a disc jockey from the former Yugoslavia, bemoaned the difficulty of obtaining a
sufficient number of records (in the days before compact disks) for his radio station. Upon
hearing this, the American disk jockey at the radio station where the Yugoslav was visiting

51
 The visit to the U.S.
immediately arranged for two large boxes of records from his personal collection, each weigh-
ing more than 75 pounds, to be shipped to the Yugoslav visitor’s radio station, at the
American’s expense.
The small changes that grow from an International Visitor grant make a difference in
visitors’ lives. Their understanding of and perspectives on the United States shift and deepen,
often dramatically. The files of each CIV, of national program agencies, and of USIA and USIS
posts abroad are filled with memos that recount the often life-changing nature of the visitors’
experiences:
• “The modest goal of better mutual knowledge and friendship was surpassed into
downright love for America, and our [Italian] doctors not only will stay in touch, but
also promise to return.”25
• “Ms. Callejas [Honduras] was quick to comment on what a great country she found
the United States to be. Many of her experiences with Americans helped to dispel the
myths that we are a distant, aloof people.”26
• “As the two [Chinese] writers approached the front gate [of the White House], they
noticed a number of protesters maintaining their vigil even on this bitterly cold day.
One woman was demanding an end to nuclear testing, while a man protested U.S.
support of the government of South Korea. This scene amazed Ms. Wang, who knew
little of American-style democracy. She was fascinated that Americans actually know
where their president lives, that a person can stand on the president’s doorstep, so to
speak, and say what he wants.”27
• “At the time of his visit, a leader of an Islamist group in Tunisia was very anti-Ameri-
can. The visit to the U.S. transformed him completely. Upon his return, he wrote a
series of six articles entitled ‘What I Saw’ in which he reversed his positions on
America and our people by 180 degrees.”28

52
transformed him completely.
While the major component of the IV Program is for foreign visitors to learn how Ameri-
cans live and work, Americans also learn much from their foreign guests. Long-term profes-
sional relationships may develop through which professionals share new approaches, research
results, exchange industry literature, and in other ways collaborate on common issues.
Increased comfort levels with other cultures also help people to be more comfortable with
the growing diversity within the United States. People involved with the IV Program at the
local level are often more comfortable working with a multicultural workforce, and are more
knowledgeable of the customs and mores of different peoples. Local businesses gain additional
sophistication in dealing in an international environment, which translates into increased
ability to do business globally.
Recent studies have tried to measure the impact of the program on American volunteers.
In 1999 students at Alverno College in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, conducted two studies that
attempted to capture, anecdotally, the influence of the IV Program in the United States.29
Influence manifests in a number of ways. Two of the more important ones are increased
personal networking opportunities and greater understanding of global interconnectedness.

Networking Opportunities
American volunteers frequently comment that their participation in the IV Program has
offered them friendship and contacts around the globe, and provided them with opportunities
for learning about other cultures that they would not have otherwise had. One volunteer
related that she planned a family vacation to Turkey and contacted a former visitor, the
governor of a province. The Turkish official drove with his family to where she was staying, a
distance of some ninety miles, simply to take the volunteer and her family to dinner.30
Genvieve Fridland, a long-term volunteer in Memphis, recounts the story of how she and her
daughter visited China and linked up with a former participant from that country, who had

53
 become a “man of influence.” He arranged special side trips and other amenities in order to
provide hospitality similar to what Mrs. Fridland and her family had offered him years before.

Increased Global Understanding

The most powerful outcome of the International Visitor Program is the perspective it provides
to its visitors and American participants about the rest of the world. The program brings the
world to the American volunteers, offering them the opportunity to learn about other coun-
tries and ways of life without leaving home.
Americans who volunteer for the IV Program have also said that as a result of their partici-
pation they feel an increased appreciation for American democracy and freedoms, in large
degree because those freedoms are absent in many other places in the world. Rights that are
taken for granted in this country are highly valued elsewhere; as the American volunteers see
the United States through others’ eyes, their perceptions of their own country change.
A volunteer from Albuquerque, New Mexico, had hosted and maintained correspondence
with a visitor from Malawi. After not hearing from the visitor for some time, she learned that
he “had been put in prison as a political prisoner, was denied medical treatment, and died
there.”31 Her experience is not uncommon. As a result of their experiences with international
visitors, American hosts often gain a deeper understanding of and appreciation for democratic
values.
Others have commented on the impact the program has had on their interest in foreign
affairs. Whereas previously foreign policy was something that happened “out there,” the
American participants suddenly are able to attach a name, a face, or a person to what they
read about in the newspaper or view on CNN. Increased understanding of other cultures and
knowledge of other countries are important benefits, both for the volunteers and for their
families. Quite a number of volunteers have mentioned that their children travel more inter-

1940 1948 1953 1959

Nelson Rockefeller
1946 Smith-Mundt Act
1952 United States
1957 The Bureau of
named Coordinator, establishes Information Agency International Cultural
Commercial and Fulbright Act International International (USIA) established Councils for Relations assumes
Cultural Affairs for establishes funding Educational Information under Eisenhower’s International Visitors exchange role from
the American for exchange Exchange Program. Administration (IIA) Reorganization Plan meet in Washington, Bureau of Public
Republics. programs. takes over exchange No. 8. DC. Affairs.
54 and information
programs.
 nationally than other children because they have been exposed to and are interested in other
countries. Presumably this will help those children in their professional careers.
A WorldBoston member recently hosted a barbecue for an AIDS/HIV control group from
Botswana. She was left with a vivid impression of one of the guests. He was sitting on the
couch with her two young children. “He had such wonderful stories to tell them about his
country and the animals in the village. I’ve never seen them so quiet and attentive in all my
life! I am one of the few mothers who has children that keep asking, ‘When are we going to
Botswana?’” And as a volunteer from Freeport, Illinois said, “My daughter can intelligently
discuss countries her classmates cannot locate on a map—you can’t buy that.”32

Closing Thoughts
In conclusion, the International Visitor Program has been a powerful tool for bringing people
from different countries together to talk with each other. It has not created many multimil-
lion dollar deals—that was never its intention—but it has resulted in valuable connections for
smaller businesses. It has not solved the world’s problems, but it has helped people better
understand what those problems are.
The IV Program has succeeded in bringing people together to help them better appreciate
the fact that we all share similar hopes, fears, and concerns. We all want to live productive,
useful lives. We all want to make a contribution to our communities. We all bring some
spiritual dimension to the way we live. By talking together, sharing food, sharing professional
concerns, and sharing lives, we begin to understand these common human aspirations. We
build bridges across cultures.
To close, I think back to a visitor program I worked on a number of years ago. This was a
multi-regional project that brought together twenty people from different countries to look at
how foreign policy is made in the United States. During the opening icebreaker sessions, the

1978 1982 1999

1961 U.S. public diplomacy
1979 USICA is renamed United
1997 International Visitor
moves to U.S. Interna- States Information Program moves to State
Fulbright-Hays Act tional Communication COSERV changes name Agency (USIA). To date, of more than Department as part of the
passed. Agency (USICA); to National Council for 100,000 International Bureau of
program renamed International Visitors Visitors hosted, 177 Educational and Cultural
International Visitor (NCIV). achieved positions of Affairs.
Program (IVP). chief of state or head of 55
government.
 visitors stood up and introduced themselves to their colleagues. The visitor from Israel, a
radio journalist, stood up and made his introduction. As he sat down the Egyptian visitor
immediately stood up, out of order. We didn’t know what to expect. “If I can beg my col-
leagues’ indulgence,” he said, “I, too, am a journalist. An Egyptian journalist. In Egypt of
course we do not have the best relationship with our Israeli neighbors, even though we are so
close to each other. You all know the historical reasons why.” He paused. “But I have to tell
you that we can receive Israeli radio. For many years I have listened to Israeli radio. In
particular, I have listened to the commentaries and reporting of a certain Israeli journalist. I
have always thought his reporting was honest and true. I have always respected him as a
journalist and colleague, and regretted that I would never be able to meet him. But here, in
America, I have just heard the voice of my esteemed Israeli colleague, and have just met my
esteemed Israeli colleague. This is a wonderful program, that can bring together neighbors
who can’t talk with each other because of political reasons.” He walked over to the Israeli,
who by this time was also standing. They embraced, to the applause of their colleagues from
around the world.
As the State Department’s International Visitor Program and the community groups that
have contributed to, implemented, and supported the program since its inception look ahead,
they should celebrate the accomplishments, both tangible and intangible, that have been
achieved so far. They are a strong foundation for the future.

56
Endnotes
1
Brooks Emeny, A History of the Founding of the Cleveland Council on World Affairs, 1935-1948, (Cleveland: The
Cleveland Council on World Affairs, 1975) 100-101.
2
Emeny 101.
3
University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, “The Fulbright Program, 1946-1996: An Online Exhibit,” available
September 1999: http:\\cavern.uark.edu/depts/speccoll/fulbrightexhibit.
4
Dean Mahin, “The Department of State’s International Visitor Program 1948-1968,” International Educa-
tional and Cultural Exchange, Fall 1968: 1.
5
Mahin 4.
6
Mahin 2.
7
Katherine F. Rozei, “At the Intersection of Business and Race Relations in Atlanta: The Georgia Council
for International Visitors,” atlantahistory: A Journal of Georgia and the South XLII Winter 1999: 39.
8
Jennifer M. Trask, A Retrospective on Citizen Diplomacy in the San Francisco Bay Area, (San Francisco: Interna-
tional Diplomacy Council, August 1999) 3.
9
Trask 4.
10
Mahin 4.
11
Marcia Helke, Geneseo International Fellowship Program Report, (Geneseo: Geneseo International Thanksgiv-
ing Fellowship Program, 1999).
12
Trask 5-6.
13
Gail Shrott, communication with author, September 1999.
14
U.S. Government Printing Office, “Committee on Foreign Relations, Committee on International
Relations, Legislation on Foreign Relations Through 1994,” Vol. II, (U.S. GPO, 1995) 997-998.
15
Mahin 8.
16
For a good synopsis of the creation of NCIV, see John Gibson, The International Visitor Program: The United
States Government and the National Council for International Visitors, October 1997: 22ff; and John Gibson, “Public
Diplomacy: Public-Private Cooperation to Represent the United States to the World,” International Educator,
Spring 1998: 51-56.
17
Gibson, Public Diplomacy, 25. See also Miriam Murtha, “COSERV Then and Now 4,” Exchange, Spring
1972.
18
International Services Council of Huntsville–Madison County, Inc., NCIV History Project, (Huntsville:
International Services Council of Huntlsville–Madison County, Inc., 1998) 1.
19
For additional details on the founding and early years of the organization see Anne Hansen, History of the
Georgia Council for International Visitors, 1962-1998, (Atlanta: The Georgia Council for International Visitors,
1998).
20
Rozei 44.
21
Trask 7.
22
U.S. Information Agency, Building International Bridges, (Washington: USIA, 1995) 43.
23
Building International Bridges 39.
24
Cerbins, J., S. Meier, and R. Miller, Domestic Social and Economic Impact of the International Visitor Program,
paper prepared for Applied Research, SSC 353, Alverno College, May 1999: 59-60.

57
 25
Sherry Mueller, 1995. “Impact of the USIA International Visitor Program: ‘Success Stories,’” paper
prepared for a workshop at the NCIV Biregional Conference, San Diego, Ca., April 1995: 36.
26
Mueller 37.
27
Mueller 38.
28
Mueller 41-42.
29
Kochs Adams and Wolf Mason, Domestic Social and Economic Impact of the International Visitor Program, paper
prepared for Applied Research, SSC 353, Alverno College, March 1999; Cerbins et al.
30
Cerbins et al. 13.
31
Cerbins et al. 16.
32
Sherry Mueller and Jennifer Hawkins, “Why Volunteer,” International Educator, Vol. V, Number 3, Spring
1996: 29.

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58