9:00: Inside and Out: Two views of the Peace Corps in Iran.
Dr. Jasamin Rostam-Kolayi, California State University, Fullerton, and Genna Wangnsess (1965-71 Shiraz, Tehran) PCIA Historian.
Rostam-Kolayi has attended several PCIA conferences to meet members and collect oral histories. She has documented many articles about the Peace Corps in Iran.
She is the author The New Frontier Meets the White Revolution: The Peace Corps in Iran, 1962-76. Below is the abstract.
The Peace Corps brought an estimated 1,800 Americans to Iran from 1962 to 1976, coinciding with the unfolding of Mohammad-Reza Shah Pahlavi’s Encielab-e Sefid, or White Revolution. This article surveys Peace Corps Iran’s fourteen-year history by dividing it into three distinct moments defined by changing social and political conditions in Iran and shifting US-Iranian relations. Initially, the Peace Corps Iran experiment built on earlier American foreign assistance programs, while coinciding with the roll-out of the White Revolution. Second, during its heyday in the mid-1960s, the Peace Corps inevitably became entangled with the White Revolution’s unfolding; both experiencing a phase of expansion and apparent success. Finally, as Iranian social and political conditions moved toward instability by the 1970s, Peace Corps Iran also seemed to have lost its direction and purpose, which ultimately led to a vote by volunteers to terminate the program. Based on accounts by US Peace Corps volunteers and the Iranians with whom they worked, the Peace Corps Agency, and the US State Department, this article argues that, ultimately, the Peace Corps Iran experience left a more lasting legacy on individuals than institutions.
A copy of this article as a PDF is available to PCIA members. To request a copy contact [email protected].
Genna Wangsness serves as PCIA Historian and views the history of the PC in Iran from the perspective of the volunteers.
When PCIA was formed in 2011 and Wangsness named Historian, the work of piecing together the history of Peace Corps Iran began—the bulk of PCI history was non-existent. Research began to answer innumerable questions, a few among the many were: When did Iran request volunteers, and for what? Where were volunteers trained? Who prepared for the arrival of the first volunteers? When did #65 Takht-e Jamshid Avenue open? Where were volunteers stationed and what did they do? Were volunteers successful? If not, why? How did Peace Corps Iran evolve over the years?
Wangsness will outline and present what has been found and documented over the past eight years. Through presentation of a draft written narrative and examples of background information, she examines what has been accomplished thus far and what is still out there waiting to be discovered. Plan on making your own contribution to the history by bringing old records you may have filed away.
In addition, Wangsness maintains the PCIA Memorial Book, the master list of those who served the Peace Corps in Iran, and detailed lists of each training group and will bring these to San Diego for display.