Enos W. Curtin Collection, 1915-1993 | Archives of the American Field Service and AFS Intercultural Programs

Enos Wettlaufer Curtin was born in Buenos Aires in December 1894 and immigrated to the United States as a boy.  He studied at Columbia University and graduated from MIT with the Class of 1917.

In 1915 Curtin interrupted his studies at MIT to drive an ambulance overseas for the American Field Service (AFS), a volunteer organization serving with the French Army during the First World War.  He served with Section Sanitaire [Etats-] Unis (SSU) 2 in Bois le Prêtre, France, for three months.  Curtin served as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Artillery after the United States (U.S.) entered the war in 1917 and the AFS ceased to exist as an independent organization.  He served with the U.S. military again in World War II, first as a civilian on General Dwight D. Eisenhower’s staff in England, and then in the Special Services branch of the Army as an officer in charge of troop morale in England and North Africa.  After World War II, he was the Director of Operations for the Marshall Plan from 1949-1951.

Curtin remained active with the American Field Service for the remainder of his life.  Between World Wars I and II, he was the treasurer of the American Field Service Association (AFSA), the organization that coordinated ambulance driver reunions and initiated the American Field Service Fellowships for French Universities scholarship program.  During World War II, in addition to his official U.S. Army duties, he checked on AFS ambulance units in the field for Stephen Galatti, Director General of AFS.  After World War II, he was a member of the Board of Directors at the time the board voted to transform the organization into a high school student exchange program in 1947, and was Chairman of the Board of Directors from 1955-1957.  In 1966, he was Chairman of the Executive Committee, and was appointed Life Trustee.

In civilian life outside of his AFS-related activities, Curtin was a financial consultant and director of several corporations including the Madison Square Garden Corporation, the American and Foreign Power Company, the Fall River Electric Light Co., the New York Rangers, and the Paramount Corporation.  Curtin was also a trustee for the Lighthouse of New York, president of the National Society for the Prevention of Blindness, and a director emeritus of the American Foundation for the Blind, all advocacy groups for the blind.  He was a prize-winning steeplechase racer, and a top player in several racquet sports and pool.  He was married to Rose Howard Norton, and the couple had one daughter.

Enos Wettlaufer Curtin died in New York City on December 10, 1994.