Oral History Collection, ca. 1985-2012
| Archives of the American Field Service and AFS Intercultural Programs
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Abstract
Administrative/Biographical History
AFS Intercultural Programs, Inc. began as the American Field Service (AFS), which emerged shortly after the outbreak of World War I, when young Americans living in Paris volunteered as ambulance drivers at the American Hospital of Paris. AFS participated in every major French battle and carried more than 500,000 wounded during World War I. The ambulance service was reactivated during World War II, when ambulance drivers served in France, North Africa, the Middle East, Italy, Germany, and India and Burma. Following the war, 250 AFS ambulance drivers assembled in New York City to discuss the future of the organization and eventually launched the secondary school student exchange program that is now referred to as AFS Intercultural Programs, Inc. Beginning with the creation of the Archives of the American Field Service and AFS Intercultural Programs (AFS Archives) in 1980, the AFS Archives and AFS Intercultural Programs, Inc. staff have launched several initiatives to document the rich history of AFS through audio and visual oral history interviews with American Field Service ambulance drivers, present and former AFS Intercultural Programs staff, and student exchange program Returnees.
For more information on the oral history initiatives, see the individual series descriptions.
Subjects (links to similar collections) Administrative Information
The AFS Oral History Collection contains more than 150 hours of audio and visual interviews with World War I and II ambulance drivers, present and former AFS Intercultural Programs staff, and prominent student exchange program Returnees over a period of nearly two decades. The collection also includes select transcripts, photographs donated by ambulance drivers or taken during their interviews, written histories, and preparatory questionnaires and instructions for the interviews. The interviews give insight into various aspects of AFS history, including life as an ambulance driver in World Wars I and II, working with Stephen Galatti for the early student exchange programs, and the development and expansion of AFS Intercultural Programs, Inc.
For more information on the oral history initiatives, see the individual series and subseries descriptions.
On-line Images/RecordsDocuments and Files:
Legacy Project: Arthur Howe, Jr.
Legacy Project: DeWitt C. Morrill
World War I Driver Interviews: Edward A. Weeks, Jr.
World War I Driver Interviews: Edward S. Ingham
World War I Driver Interviews: Ingham C. Baker
World War II Oral History Project: Allan B. Prince
World War II Oral History Project: Bayard D. Clarkson
World War II Oral History Project: Charles B. Squire
World War II Oral History Project: Charles E. Johnson, Jr.
World War II Oral History Project: Charles P. Edwards
World War II Oral History Project: Clarence J. Reynolds II
World War II Oral History Project: Clifford J. Bissler
World War II Oral History Project: Dennis A. Weaver
World War II Oral History Project: Donald E. DeTray
World War II Oral History Project: Frederick E. Balderston
World War II Oral History Project: Henry W. Parkhurst, Jr.
World War II Oral History Project: James H. Scott II
World War II Oral History Project: Joseph S. Wolhandler
World War II Oral History Project: Kirk Browning
World War II Oral History Project: Lloyd S. Riford, Jr.
World War II Oral History Project: Norman C. Kunkel
World War II Oral History Project: Norman Shethar
World War II Oral History Project: Raymond M. Mitchell
World War II Oral History Project: Robert L. Barrel
World War II Oral History Project: Thomas M. Sawyer, Jr.
World War II Oral History Project: Thomas N. Cook
World War II Oral History Project: Walter B. Doyle
World War II Oral History Project: Ward B. Chamberlin, Jr.