Close
Not finding the information you're looking for? Please contact the Archives research staff.
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2015-023
Martin R. Ganzglass served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Somalia from 1966 to 1968 as a lawyer. He served alongside his wife Evelyn. Their Somalia IV training group at Columbia University Teachers College included both teachers and lawyers. As one of the lawyers, Ganzglass would help the newly independent country translate laws into English and integrate the diverse colonial legal systems. Assigned to the National Police Force headquarters in Mogadishu, Ganzglass advised officials in the interpretation and enforcement of laws. Working closely with police leadership, Ganzglass faced numerous challenges, including several with potential international repercussions. He and Evelyn, who was teaching in a girls school, taught English informally in their home and socialized with Somalis and fellow volunteers. The two years in Somalia formed the foundation of their strong marriage and resulted in life-long friendships with several Americans and Somalis, including a family of political refugees. Interviewed and recorded by Patricia Wand, February 25, 2015. 1 tape (web streaming files combined into 1 file). Note: Audio skips due a technical problem with the original tape.
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2015-028
Evelyn Ganzglass served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Mogadishu, Somalia, from 1966 to 1968, with her husband Martin. They trained with the Somalia IV group at Columbia University Teachers College. After a brief in-country orientation, the couple was assigned to Mogadishu where Martin worked with the National Police Force and Evelyn taught English to elementary school girls in Primo Julio School. After the first year, Evelyn worked with the ethnographic National Museum to prepare for its re-opening, and conducted educational programs for school children and visitors. The couple taught English informally in their home and socialized with Somalis and fellow PC volunteers. Evelyn states that the years in Somalia formed the foundation of their strong marriage, and they made life-long friendships with several Americans and Somalis, including the Farah family whom the Ganzglasses sponsored as political refugees. 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file). Interviewed and recorded by Patricia A. Wand, April 22, 2015.
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2012-023
David Zakem served as a Peace Corps volunteer in four different countries: Somalia (1968-1969, agriculture); Swaziland (1969-1971, secondary education); Belize (1987-1989, community education); and Guatemala (1989-1992, maternal and child health care). He talks about leaving his project in Somalia because he felt the assignment would ultimately hurt the people with whom he was working. The Peace Corps headquarters agreed with his assessment of the situation and reassigned him to Swaziland. After establishing a career in international education and pursuing an advanced degree, Zakem rejoined the Peace Corps and was sent to Central America. In the interview, he discusses the influence of his Peace Corps experience on the rest of his life. Interviewed and recorded by Phyllis Noble, June 9, 2012. 2 tapes (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2019-082
Michael Kass served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Somalia from 1965 to 1967 in an education program. Michael and his wife, Tina, joined Peace Corps as a couple. His training began when he was a junior in college, through a Peace Corps program at Dartmouth College, after which he completed his senior year. Kass was initially offered an assignment in Togo, but couldn't go there as part of a married couple. Michael and Tina eventually accepted an invitation to serve in Somalia. Training for the Somalia group was conducted in Syracuse, New York. Their first assignment was in the village of Erigavo, and second year was in Hargeisa. Michael worked in the intermediate and secondary education programs. The interview includes a discussion of his experiences in both locations. Interviewed and recorded by Julius (Jay) Sztuk, June 10, 2019. 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2018-033
John Klima served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Somalia from 1962 to 1964, and in Brazil from 1971 to 1973. He met his wife, Emily, a fellow volunteer, during Peace Corps training and they got married secretly during their service in Somalia. Later as a married couple with three young children, they reenlisted and the family was sent to Brazil. While Somalia was a positive experience, Brazil was not. Klima served as an intermediary school math and science teacher in Amoud, Somalia, near the Ethiopian border. He describes how his Somalia I group was terminated a month early because of security concerns during the 1964 border conflict between Ethiopia and Somalia, and says he was accused by his students of being a CIA spy because of what Egyptian teachers had told them. He also discusses problems with the Peace Corps staff in Somalia that resulted in staff being fired and 4 volunteers being reassigned. Regarding his service as a lab technician in Recife, Brazil, Klima says that even though the Peace Corps allowed volunteers with families to join, the agency did not provide adequate support for his young family, which by then included 3 young boys; therefore his wife, who was supposed to be a volunteer, couldn't work and had to stay home with the children. Klima also questions whether the Peace Corps should have been propping up sugar cane growers that exploited their workers. Interviewed and recorded by Evelyn Ganzglass, 2 July 2018. 2 digital audio files (web streaming fiels combined into 1 file). [Correction: In the interview, Klima states that Herman Smith replaced Marshall Tyree, but after the interview he remembered that Herman Smith was Tyree's deputy. Sal Tedesco was the new director stationed in Mogadiscio, the capital of Somalia.]
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2018-023
Abby Thomas served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Somalia from 1966 to 1969. Thomas served as an English language instructor in a primary level boarding school in Bulhar on the Gulf of Aden in northern Somalia from 1966 to 1968, and then as an English as a Second Language (ESL) trainer for Somali Peace Corps volunteers in 1969. During the summer, she and three other volunteers visited towns in the South of Somalia as a traveling theater group. In the 1980s, Thomas served as a development consultant in Somalia and in 2018, she was an election observer in Somaliland. Prior to joining the Peace Corps, she had read that where you grow up determines your worldview and she sought an assignment in an isolated location to explore this idea in real life. Although her assignment was difficult, Thomas says that she accomplished what she set out to do. Much of the interview covers Somali language and cultural issues, including how she was treated as a woman, and her continuing connection with personal Somali friends she made. She also discusses the Peace Corps language and teaching training she received at Columbia Teacher's College. Interviewed and recorded by Evelyn Ganzglass, 4 and 6 June 2018. The final interview segment is an addendum that was completed two days later. 3 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2017-003
John Fanselow served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Nigeria from 1961 to 1963, and in Somalia from 1966 to 1968. He describes his work as a teacher trainer in Enugu, Nigeria, and how that informed his later career as a teacher trainer for Peace Corps headquarters, Columbia Teachers College, and worldwide. He says his use of teacher observation as an instructional technique in the Peace Corps later became a core method that he wrote several professional books about. Fanselow also tells a story of a fellow volunteer who was sent home due to the unflattering things she wrote about Nigeria on a postcard. He states that the Peace Corps transformed his life and he continues to be a mentor for many former volunteers and others he has met during his teaching career. Interviewed and recorded by Evelyn Ganzglass, 23 September 2016. 4 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2016-054
Lance Graef was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Somalia from 1964 to 1966. He taught history, geography, and economics in the Amoud Secondary School, one of two secondary schools in northern Somalia. Later, Graef also conducted research for a Somali government ministry in Mogadishu, the capital city in the southern region. In the interview, he talks about differences in culture between these two parts of the country. He recounts using his Peace Corps book locker as a lending library, and how he encouraged the students to break from the constrains of rote learning and write book reports. He also talks about encounters with Russians in Somalia during the Cold War. The interview concludes with brief recollections of his time as a Peace Corps staffer in Washington, D.C., as Peace Corps program officer in the Philippines, and then as a federal government employee and an international trade consultant. Interviewed and recorded by Evelyn Ganzglass, August 18, 2016. 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2002-014-003
Part of a series of research interviews conducted by Jonathan Zimmerman for his article "Beyond Double Consciousness: Black Peace Corps Volunteers in Africa, 1961-1971." Charles R. Baquet served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Somalia from 1965 to 1967. Interviewed in person, February 3, 1994. 2 tapes (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2002-014-022
Part of a series of research interviews conducted by Jonathan Zimmerman for his article "Beyond Double Consciousness: Black Peace Corps Volunteers in Africa, 1961-1971." Leander Jones served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Somalia from 1964 to 1966. Interviewed by phone, April 8, 1994. 1 tape (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2002-014-023
Part of a series of research interviews conducted by Jonathan Zimmerman for his article "Beyond Double Consciousness: Black Peace Corps Volunteers in Africa, 1961-1971." Lethronee Jones served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Somalia from 1964 to 1966. Interviewed by phone, April 6, 1994. 1 tape (web streaming files combined into 1 file).