About the Research
In the early 1990s, historian Jonathan Zimmerman conducted a series of research interviews with Black Returned Peace Corps Volunteers and staff who served in Africa between 1961 and 1971. Most were interviewed by phone or in person over the course of 1994, reflecting on race, identity, and their Peace Corps service during the program’s first decade.
The interviews formed the basis of his article, “Beyond Double Consciousness: Black Peace Corps Volunteers in Africa, 1961–1971,” published in the Journal of American History (Vol. 82, No. 3, December 1995, pp. 999–1028). Drawing on W. E. B. Du Bois’s concept of double consciousness, the article examines how Black Volunteers navigated their identity as Americans serving in newly independent African nations.
Read the Research Paper Listen to Zimmerman’s Own Interview
Zimmerman himself served as a Peace Corps Volunteer, and his own oral history interview is archived in the Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Oral History collection of the University of Kentucky Nunn Center for Oral History. His research is an independent project and is not affiliated with OHAP.
Where They Served
Click a highlighted country to jump to its interviewees below
One interviewee, Drew S. Days III, served in Honduras — outside the map above. See his interview in the list below.
The 35 Research Interviews
Archived in the Returned Peace Corps Volunteer collection at the JFK Presidential Library & Museum (accession RPCV‑MR‑2002‑014). Click a name to open the interview.
Cameroon (2)
- Willie Wilkerson Jr. (1963–1965)
- Gloria Myklebust (1965–1967)
Chad (1)
- Patricia Darrah (1968–1969)
Ethiopia (4)
- Melvin Foote (1973–1975)
- Daniel Littlefield (1968–1970)
- William Seraile (1963–1965)
- Gwendolyn Williams (1963–1965)
Ghana (2)
- George Carter (1960s)
- Ophelia Gona (1961–1962)
Honduras (1)
- Drew S. Days III (1967–1969)
Kenya (3)
- Leon D. Dash (1969–1970)
- Roland H. Johnson (1964–1966)
- Matthew Plummer Jr. (1966–1967)
Lesotho (1)
- Patricia F. Eaton (1967–1970)
Liberia (3)
- LaCharles James (1966–1968)
- Carl E. Meacham (1964–1966)
- Marilyn C. Turner (1969–1971)
Malawi (1)
- Esther White Kaufman (1964–1966)
Nigeria (7)
- Walter Agers (1966–1968)
- James Bartley (1964–1966)
- Yvette Burgess (1961–1964)
- Collie Coleman (1966–1968)
- David L. Crippens (1964–1966)
- Gerald Durley (1964–1966)
- Charles Gray (1966–1968)
Somalia (3)
- Charles R. Baquet (1965–1967)
- Leander Jones (1964–1966)
- Lethronee Jones (1964–1966)
Tanganyika (present-day Tanzania) (1)
- Anne Wortham (1963–1965)
Togo (1)
- Homer L. Butler (1962–1964)
Uganda (2)
- David R. Closson (1966–1968)
- Yvette Hunt (1960s)
Peace Corps Staff (Multiple Countries) (3)
- Marie Gadsden (1965–1972)
- C. Payne Lucas (1960s)
- Carolyn Payton (1964–1970)