Diplomatic History and the Meaning of Life: Toward a Global American History

Diplomatic History

Volumn 21, Issue 4, 1997, Pages 499-518

  Hoffman, Elizabeth Cobbs ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0042687159     PISSN: 01452096     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/1467-7709.00086     Document Type: Article

References (71)

1. John Higham, "The Future of American History," Journal of American History 80 (March 1994): 1300.
2. Michael J. Hogan was perhaps the first to use the term the "New School" of diplomatic history, although he was referring to the corporatist school in particular. See Hogan, "Corporatism: A Positive Appraisal," Diplomatic History 10 (Fall 1986): 363.
3. Michael H. Hunt, "The Long Crisis in U.S. Diplomatic History: Coming to Closure," Diplomatic History 16 (Winter 1992): 115-40. Hunt comes close to making this announcement, but stops a bit short. I wish to acknowledge that Stephen Rabe, in his own Bernath Lecture, sounded even earlier the optimistic note that I intend to second. See Stephen G. Rabe, "Marching Ahead (Slowly): The Historiography of Inter-American Relations," Diplomatic History 13 (Summer 1989): 297-316.
4. Michael H. Hunt, "The Long Crisis in U.S. Diplomatic History: Coming to Closure," Diplomatic History 16 (Winter 1992): 115-40. Hunt comes close to making this announcement, but stops a bit short. I wish to acknowledge that Stephen Rabe, in his own Bernath Lecture, sounded even earlier the optimistic note that I intend to second. See Stephen G. Rabe, "Marching Ahead (Slowly): The Historiography of Inter-American Relations," Diplomatic History 13 (Summer 1989): 297-316.
5. See Elizabeth A. Cobbs, "Decolonization, the Cold War, and the Foreign Policy of the Peace Corps," Diplomatic History 20 (Winter 1996): 79-105. In my forthcoming book (All You Need is Love: The Peace Corps and the Spirit of the 1960s [Cambridge, MA, 1998]) I contend more explicitly with the international factors that supported the rise of an anti-authoritarian youth movement in this decade.
6. See Elizabeth A. Cobbs, "Decolonization, the Cold War, and the Foreign Policy of the Peace Corps," Diplomatic History 20 (Winter 1996): 79-105. In my forthcoming book (All You Need is Love: The Peace Corps and the Spirit of the 1960s [Cambridge, MA, 1998]) I contend more explicitly with the international factors that supported the rise of an anti-authoritarian youth movement in this decade.
7. Address by A. J. Dowouna-Hammond (minister of education) at a meeting of Principals of Teacher Training Colleges, 29 December 1960, RG 3/1/456, National Archives of Ghana, Accra (hereafter NAG).
8. E. K. Okoh to the principal secretary, Ministry of Education, re: "Free and Compulsory Education," 15 December 1960, RG 3/1/456.
9. B. W. A. T. Knight (principal secretary of the Ministry of Justice) to the principal secretary of the Ministry of Education, Re: "Compulsory Primary Education," 15 December 1960, RG 3/1/456.
10. J. S. Kaleem (regional education officer, Northern Region) to principal secretary, Ministry of Education, 4 March 1961, RG 3/1/456.
11. Quoted in Gerard T. Rice, The Bold Experiment: JFK's Peace Corps (Notre Dame, 1985), 21.
12. Sargent Shriver, Point of the Lance (New York, 1964), 11, 70.
13. Kennedy quoted in Rice, The Bold Experiment, 23; Harris Wofford, Oral History Interview, John F. Kennedy Library, Boston, Massachusetts.
14. Kennedy quoted in Rice, The Bold Experiment, 23; Harris Wofford, Oral History Interview, John F. Kennedy Library, Boston, Massachusetts.
15. U.S. embassy Rio de Janeiro to Department of State, 28 March 1961, RG 59, 800.00 PC/3-961, National Archives, Washington, DC.
16. Accra embassy to Department of State, 19 April 1961, RG 59, 800.00 PC/4-161.
17. Harris Wofford, Of Kennedys and Kings: Making Sense of the Sixties (New York, 1980), 269.
18. Interview, Samuel George Ayi-Bonte, Accra, 14 January 1995.
19. Interview, Kojo Botsio, Accra, 13 January 1995. Kojo Botsio served as minister of education and welfare in Kwame Nkrumah's first cabinet, and later as foreign minister. See Daniel McFarland, Historical Dictionary of Ghana (Metuchen, NJ, 1985), 53. Also, interview with K. B. Asante.
20. Francis N. Nkrumah, "Education and Nationalism in Africa," Educational Outlook, November 1943, Kwame Nkrumah Papers, SC 21/4/6. Kwame Nkrumah subsequently dropped the name "Francis."
21. Mimi Stein, A Special Difference: A History of Kaiser Aluminum and Chemical Corporation (Oakland n.d.), 116-17. Also based on conversation with K. A. Gbedemah, 19 January 1995, Accra.
22. K. B. Asante interview. According to Asante, "Nkrumah perceived Kennedy as a real friend of Africa and of Ghana. He believed he had a special relationship with Kennedy."
23. Asante interview.
24. Accra embassy to Department of State, 22 April 1961, RG 59, 800.00 PC/4-161.
25. Asante interview.
26. Progress in Education in the Gold Coast, foreword by Kojo Botsio (Accra, 1953), RG 3/1/55. Also see, same file, "A Plan in Action," March 1955.
27. Progress in Education in the Gold Coast, foreword by Kojo Botsio (Accra, 1953), RG 3/1/55. Also see, same file, "A Plan in Action," March 1955.
28. Records of the Ministry of Education, RG 3/1/55. Also see Alex Newton, West Africa: A Travel Survival Kit (Hawthorn, Australia, 1992), 290.
29. Gold Coast Education Department Report, 1957-38, RG 3/1/154.
30. Report on Tamale Government School, attached to note from Gerald Power, director of education, 14 February 1941, RG 3/1/55.
31. Accra embassy (Russell) to Department of State, 22 April 1961, RG 59, 800.00 PC/4-161.
32. Wofford, Of Kennedys and Kings, 269. See also interviews with Botsio and Asante.
33. Accra embassy (Russell) to Department of State, 25 April 1961, RG 59, 800.00 PC/4-161.
34. Accra embassy (Russell) to Department of State, 25 April 1961, RG 59, 800.00 PC/4-161.
35. Lagos embassy (Palmer) to Department of State, 25 April 1961, RG 59, 800.00 PC/4-161. Shriver was especially pleased with Nyerere's unequivocal support. "Because of Nyerere's high standing personally, most of the Africans in Ghana and elsewhere considered our meeting in Accra a favorable development," Shriver wrote to presidential adviser Walt Rostow. Shriver to Rostow, 16 June 1961, National Security Files, box 284, file: "Peace Corps, 1/61-12/61," Kennedy Library, Boston, Massachusetts.
36. Wolford, Of Kennedys and Kings, 271.
37. Nehru quoted by Wofford, Of Kennedys and Kings, 272.
38. Botsio interview.
39. Asante interview.
40. August 1962 article, "The Peace Corps Wins Its Way," reprinted in Pauline Madow, The Peace Corps (New York, 1964), 135.
41. August 1962 article, "The Peace Corps Wins Its Way," reprinted in Pauline Madow, The Peace Corps (New York, 1964), 135.
42. "Memorandum for Secretary of State," undated, President's Office File, box 85, file: "Peace Corps, 1/61-6/61," Kennedy Library.
43. Samuel George Ayi-Bonte, Thirty Years of the Peace Corps in Ghana (Accra, 1991), 4.
44. George Packer, The Village of Waiting (New York, 1988), 99.
45. Eric Sevareid, "Pure Intentions Backed by Pure Publicity," Washington Star, 25 December 1962.
46. Imoru Egala (minister of foreign affairs) to Francis Russell (American ambassador), exchange of notes, reprinted in Ayi-Bonte, Thirty Years, 4.
47. Wofford, Of Kennedys and Kings, 269.
48. Brent Ashabranner, A Moment in History: The First Ten Years of the Peace Corps (New York, 1971), 62.
49. Author's telephone conversation with John Demos, 7 June 1996; Nkrumah quoted in Ghanaian Times, 2 January 1962.
50. George Padmore Library (Accra), Kwame Nkrumah Papers, Major Policy Files, box 409-442, file: Office of the Advisor to the Prime Minister on African Affairs, "New Years Messages."
51. Country Report, Ghana, 15 November 1963, RG 490, Country Program Evaluations, Box: Ghana-Guiana, 1962-66," National Archives.
52. Quoted in Madow, The Peace Corps, 66.
53. Yaw Agyeman-Badu, "The Attitude of African Nations towards American Aid: The Case of Ghana and Nigeria" (Ph.D. diss., University of South Carolina, 1980), 226, 228.
54. Tina Thuemer, "Raid on Entebbe, or My Three Days as a Mercenary," in To Touch the World: The Peace Corps Experience (Washington, 1995), 78.
55. K. B. Asante and George Ayi-Bonte both believed that the CIA never planted agents as Peace Corps volunteers in Ghana ("It's all nonsense," as Ayi-Bonte put it), and Kojo Botsio thought that the Peace Corps "took line care not to involve themselves in politics." Quotes from oral history interviews.
56. Interview, George Carter, 14 March 1995, New York, by telephone.
57. Minutes of director's staff meeting, 15 May 1962, Peace Corps Microfilm Hard Copy, box 1, file: 5/1/62-5/29/62, Kennedy Library.
58. Carter interview; Steve Bosworth to friends, 15 October 1963, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, box 31, file: Ghana Volunteer Information, Washington, DC.
59. Report by Richard Richter, 6 January 1965, RG 490, Country Program Evaluations, box: Ghana-Guiana, 1962-66, file: "Ghana 1965, Report by Richard Richter."
60. Shriver quote from minutes of the director's staff meeting, 6 December 1961, PC Microfilm Hard Copy, box 1, file: 11/1/61-12/23/61; report by Richard Richter, 6 January 1965, 32, RG 490, Country Program Evaluations, box: Ghana-Guiana, 1962-66, file: "Ghana 1965, Report by Richard Richter"; report by Ruth Olson, 23 December 1963, regarding comments of PCV Lorna Fitz, RG 490, Country Program Evaluations, box: Ghana-Guiana, 1962-66, file: "Office of the Inspector General, Country File, 1963-64, Ghana."
61. Country Report, Ghana, 15 November 1963, RG 490, Country Program Evaluations, box: Ghana-Guiana, 1962-66, file: "Office of the Inspector General, Country File, 1963-64, Ghana."
62. Report by Richard Richter, 6 January 1965, RG 490, Country Program Evaluations, box: Ghana-Guiana, 1962-66, file: "Ghana 1965, Report by Richard Richter."
63. Report by Joseph C. Kennedy, 17 February 1969, RG 490, Country Program Evaluations, box: Ghana-Guiana, 1962-66, file: "Ghana, 1967."
64. Quote in Timothy P. Maga, "Battling the 'Ugly American' at Home: The Special Protocol Service and the New Frontier, 1961-63," Diplomacy and Statecraft 3, no. 1 (1992): 130.
65. Evening News, 4 November 1964, obtained from the Central Intelligence Agency, FOIA, Reference number F93-2022; Steve Bosworth to friends, 15 October 1963, National Museum of Natural History, box 31, file: Ghana Volunteer Information.
66. Kojo Botsio interview.
67. Quote from Asante.
68. Agyeman-Badu, "Attitude of African Nations," 182, 226. Agyeman-Badu compares press coverage of U.S. policy on apartheid, decolonization, the Peace Corps, the debt crisis, and development aid.
69. Denis Brogan quoted in Geir Lundestad, "Moralism, Presentism, Exceptionalism, Provincialism, and Other Extravagances in American Writings on the Early Cold War Years," Diplomatic History 13 (Fall 1989): 536.
70. See 1961 U.S. Information Agency poll on the Peace Corps cited in Cobbs, "Decolonization," 83-84.
71. Melvyn P. Leffler recently made a similar point when he declared in his SHAFR presidential address that "I take the notion of freedom as seriously as I take the concept of capitalism." Leffler, "New Approaches, Old Interpretations, and Prospective Reconfigurations," Diplomatic History 19 (Spring 1995): 191.