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Photograph folder
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-1961-08-02-B
AR09, KN06
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-JOJM-01
This interview focuses on Cubans being trained in Guatemala in preparation for the Bay of Pigs and relations with Latin America during the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations, among other topics.
Oral history
John F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
JFKOH-TEM-03
This interview focuses on John F. Kennedy’s trip to Central America to meet with heads of state there and the Kennedy administration’s response to military coups in Guatemala and the Dominican Republic, among other issues.
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2006-057-008
Kim Nolte served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Guatemala from 1986 to 1989 on a nutrition project. Interviewed and recorded by Nancy Chorpenning, August 9, 2005. 2 tapes (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2020-054
Jenna Waites (then Jenna Butts) served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Guatemala from 2001 to 2003 on an environmental education and ecotourism project. She trained in Santa Lucia Milpas Altas prior to being stationed in the rural Mayan town of San Juan La Laguna, Solola department. She was assigned to teach environmental education but did not have local school support, so she looked for other ways to help. Waites teamed up with a local park ranger to implement a community ecotourism program, which differed from other aid programs that conditioned local residents to rely on others to provide for them. She continued her service in Danli, El Paraiso department, Honduras, from 2003 to 2004 in a water and sanitation program. Unfortunately, that government agency was not interested in what Waites could offer, so she sought work elsewhere. She ended up partnering with Action Against Hunger to provide expertise and guidance to local technicians on how to improve construction of water systems in rural areas. Interviewed and recorded by Christine Musa, January 22, 2020. 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Sound recording
Edward M. Kennedy Senate Files
EMKSEN-AU0009-030-002
Sound recording of the radio program "Face Off." Senator Edward M. "Ted" Kennedy of Massachusetts and Senator Alan K. "Al" Simpson of Wyoming debate the performance of the Clinton administration and Secretary of State Warren Christopher acting in support of constitutional democracy in Guatemala. The episode aired on Thursday, June 24, 1993, on the Mutual Broadcasting System.
Oral history
Robert F. Kennedy Oral History Collection
RFKOH-WAH-01
In this interview Harriman discusses his role in the State Department and how it developed over time; Robert F. Kennedy’s [RFK] work on the Special Committee for Counter Insurgency in Latin America; various criticisms of RFK’s travels and his work on the counter insurgency committee, especially by the younger generation; how Lyndon B. Johnson supported RFK in his 1964 Senate campaign; RFK’s trip to Africa; and RFK and Vietnam, among other issues.
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2008-055-001
Betsy Markland Schwartz served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Guatemala from 1963 to 1965 on rural community development projects. She was in training at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces at the time of President Kennedy's assassination. Once in Guatemala, Schwartz was assigned to the town of Quezaltepeque with two other new volunteers and initially worked in a CARE school lunch program. After several months, she married a fellow Peace Corps volunteer and the couple was reassigned to Flores in the northern Peten region. When Betsy became pregnant, the Peace Corps moved them to Aldea Lo De Bran on the outskirts of Guatemala City where she worked on Spanish literacy, health and sanitation, and building latrines. She eventually gave birth while still serving as a volunteer. After Peace Corps, the young family spent six years in Colombia and Ecuador. Schwartz went back to Guatemala for a visit in 1995. Interviewed and recorded by Robert Klein, March 1, 2008. 2 tapes (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2005-046-003
A. Michael (Mike) Marzolla served as a Peace Corps volunteer in three different countries. He began his service in Guatemala from 1973 to 1974, where he coordinated a school and community garden project. He also was a team member on a nutrition education research project with INCAP (Institute of Nutrition for Central America and Panama). In early 1975, Marzolla transferred to a reconstruction project in Honduras. From 1976 to 1977, he worked on a nutrition education project in El Salvador. Interviewed and recorded by Lou Spaventa, March 5, 2005. 3 tapes (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2004-028-007
Jean Dorothy Landeen served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Guatemala from 1967 to 1970 on a rural community development project. After completing a degree in landscape horticulture, she trained in Las Cruces, New Mexico, with a homestay in Guadalajara, Mexico. Once in Guatemala, Landeen was assigned to the village of Los Bracitos, where she worked on agricultural development projects such as land surveying, crop demonstration plots, and tropical fruit production. She ultimately developed a regional program to train farmers in how to graft and care for trees. She stayed a third year to help supervise the next cycle of volunteers who were continuing the fruit project. Interviewed and recorded by Robert Klein, April 7, 2004. 2 tapes (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2004-003-001
Norma Wilder Benavides served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Guatemala from 1963 to 1965 on a community development project. Her family was always internationally oriented. President Kennedy died while she was in training in Las Cruces, New Mexico, where she was the youngest in her cohort. Benavides was stationed in Guatemala City, where she initially worked with CARE to implement projects such as vegetable gardens, school lunches, milk distribution, and inoculation programs. After about a year, the CARE volunteers were transferred back to a Peace Corps director. Benavides also taught English, played on a semiprofessional basketball team, and participated in public relations activities for Peace Corps. She later lived in Costa Rica for 12 years while working on a refugee project, then became a bilingual therapist. Interviewed and recorded by Elizabeth Hodes, April 26, 2003. 2 tapes (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2004-002-016
Sarah (Sally) Connolly-Jordan served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Guatemala from 1967 to 1969 on a rural community development project. After working for United Airlines for nearly a decade, she applied to the Peace Corps. She trained at Las Cruces, New Mexico, with a home stay in Mexico. Connolly-Jordan was assigned to a small village outside of Retalhuleu, where she initially worked with the community's only school teacher as an aide. Eventually she began nutrition and health classes, opened a library, and coordinated efforts to build a bridge and hire another teacher. She considered her role to be a facilitator that connected people and resources. Connolly-Jordan was able to visit her site again 20 years later. Interviewed and recorded by Robert Klein, March 31, 2003. 2 tapes (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-MR-2002-016-013
Sylvia Pope served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Guatemala beginning in 1966 in a teaching program. She served alongside her husband Bill. The couple was assigned to teach English in Guatemala City. Interviewed and recorded by Paula McNult, June 3, 1998, as part of a Northeastern University public history class. 1 tape (web streaming files combined into 1 file). An user's guide is available in Box 70.
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2019-089
Doug Strange served as a Peace Corps volunteer in British Honduras from 1972 to 1974 as an architect. He continued his service in Guatemala from 1974 to 1975. Strange joined the Peace Corps after receiving a bachelor's degree in architecture. In British Honduras, he was stationed in the capital city of Belmopan and worked as an architect with the Public Works Department. He enjoyed traveling around the country to see where the buildings he was designing would be located. Strange served alongside his wife Claire, who taught Spanish at the local school. Their daughter was born during their first year of service. At the completion of two years, the couple requested an extension of service and they were assigned to Guatemala. Doug received 10 weeks of Spanish language training while Claire trained in plant identification (to plan a university botanical garden). In Guatemala they were stationed in Coban, where Doug worked in regional city planning. It was challenging because he had learned Spanish but the locals spoke Quiche, a Mayan language. In Guatemala, they connected more with other Peace Corps volunteers and enjoyed traveling around the country. Strange credits Peace Corps with giving him an understanding of cultural differences, which aided his international career as an architect, as well as an appreciation for giving back. Interviewed and recorded by Louise Liller, June 21, 2019. 1 digital audio file.
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2017-012
Glenn Blumhorst served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Guatemala from 1988 to 1991 on a crop diversification project. He and his wife (a nurse) were first stationed in Morales Izabal on the coast. Later they transferred to San Miguel Chicaj in the central highlands region, where a guerilla war had been going on for 30 years. There were many indigenous widows and orphans in the town, and the women were more willing to work with outsiders than the men. There were several attempted coups while they were in country. Blumhorst extended his service for a third year and worked to bring electricity to the town of Salama. He stayed in Guatemala for several more years, developing a model farm and piloting a medical shuttle plane for a hospital complex. Blumhorst was elected President of the National Peace Corps Association in 2013. Interviewed and recorded by Evelyn Ganzglass, November 30, 2016. 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2016-047
Rosemary Calhoon Takacs served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Paraguay from September 1988 through December 1990. She applied to the Peace Corps while she was working as an accountant and auditor, and accepted an invitation to work with small business and agricultural cooperatives. Takacs was among 40 volunteers who trained in-country on both the Spanish and Guarani languages, local culture, and business and cooperative laws of Paraguay. Following a coup that overthrew President Alfredo Stroessner’s government, her job focused solely on cooperatives licensed by the Ministry of Agriculture, which required her to draw heavily upon her auditing skills. Twenty-five years later, Takacs took a position with Peace Corps Response in Guatemala (August 2015 through February 2016) where she worked in small villages organizing farmers to sell their goat milk. She instructed the villagers in hygiene, contamination testing, marketing, and accounting. She also assisted in goat vaccination rodeos and studied their diets to improve milk output. 1 digital audio file. Interviewed and recorded by Ivan C. Browning, July 14, 2016.
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2020-005
Jason Scott Pielemeier served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Guatemala from 2001 to 2004 on an environmental management project. He was assigned to the town of Chisec in the department of Alta Verapaz in the lowlands of north-central Guatemala. Pielemeier worked with the municipal government to increase the benefits that the Mayan communities received from eco-tourism in the region. Despite initial community skepticism of outsiders, he was able to work with the locals to improve access to lagoons, caves, and archeological sites in the area. This led to an arrangement whereby the government of Guatemala gave local communities exclusive rights to manage tourism at cultural patrimony sites. Pielemeier also helped foster a youth group into an NGO, unionized the town's shoeshine boys so that they could attend school, and undertook a GPS project to help communities plot their land use. He discusses two bouts with dengue fever and the challenges of working in post-conflict communities. After the Peace Corps, Pielemeier worked for an additional six months in Chisec with Idaho State University and then pursued a career in law and human rights. Interviewed and recorded by John Pielemeier, August 7, 2019. 3 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2019-146
Clinton Kellner served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Guatemala from 2016 to 2018 in the youth and development program. He had a 30-year career as an environmental consultant prior to joining. Kellner served along with his wife, Madeline, and they were stationed in an indigenous K'iche' community in the highlands of Guatemala. He was surprised by the cold temperatures there and felt unprepared for the conditions. Clinton worked with middle school students and taught lessons on such topics as life skills, self-esteem, sexual education, and leadership. In the interview he reflects on the behaviors and disinterest of the children in the classroom, but he enjoyed challenging their notions of gender roles. Kellner was also able to travel to a variety of places in Guatemala during his service. Interviewed by Margaret (Mardi) Nott, June 21, 2019. 1 digital audio file.
Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2019-117
Madeline Kellner served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Guatemala from September 2016 to December 2018 in the healthy schools program. She joined the Peace Corps in her 60s after having served as a public agency executive director, city council member, and mayor. Kellner served alongside her husband, Clinton. Her 10-week in-country training combined 3 days a week of technical training at the Peace Corps office in Santa Lucia Milpas Altas with language and cultural training in the homes of the local host families. During training Kellner lived with a family in the Barrio La Cruz neighborhood in the town of Pastores. She talks about her work with the education and health departments as part of the Healthy Schools program to promote healthy behaviors and reduce malnutrition in the small town of Santa Catarina Ixtahuacan. She was the first Healthy Schools volunteer in the community and was assigned to a primary school. Kellner also discusses how the Peace Corps handled her temporary medical evacuation back to the U.S., and reflects on the different priorities that older volunteers have for their service. She encourages the Peace Corps to more actively recruit older candidates. Interviewed and recorded by Evelyn Ganzglass, June 22, 2019. 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).
Textual folder
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-074-017
This folder contains newsletters written by Nick and Julie Bosustow during their Peace Corps service in Guatemala.
Textual folder
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-074-016
This folder contains newsletters written by Nick and Julie Bosustow during their Peace Corps service in Guatemala.
Photograph folder
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-1963-07-10-C
AR38
Photograph folder
White House Photographs
JFKWHP-1961-12-14-C
AR14
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. National Security Files
JFKNSF-101-007
Textual folder
Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. National Security Files
JFKNSF-101-006
This folder contains telegrams and memoranda regarding elections in Guatemala and the candidacy of former Guatemalan President Juan José Arévalo, demonstrations related to the election, and a military coup overthrowing Guatemalan President Miguel Ydigoras Fuentes. Also included in this folder is correspondence between President John F. Kennedy and President Ydigoras discussing the Central American common market. This folder contains some Spanish-language material.