Interview with Willam John Kane, April 21, 2021

Interview Summary

William John Kane (Bill) served as a Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV) in Cameroon from 1962 to 1964 in the education sector. In 1959. he got interested in international service through the Point-4 Youth Corps, an early proposal for a National Service Abroad program. As student body President at Seton Hall University, he attended the March 1961 National Conference on Youth Service Abroad. His pre-service training at Ohio University included culture, pedagogy, and Cameroonian Creole. Kane was the youngest of five PCV’s assigned as Charter faculty for the new Cameroon College of Arts and Science (CCAS), a secondary school in Kumba, western Cameroon. He taught economics and the history of British economics. Kane also sponsored the university History Club. In his second year, CCAS relocated to Bambui. Topics discussed include the responsibility Group 1 felt for presenting a positive image of PC, JFK’s assassination, post-independence tensions between west and east Cameroonians and the joys of teaching. Kane also describes his living conditions and recalls the reverse culture shock he experienced upon returning to the U.S. Kane expresses his lifelong pride in having been a PCV.

Interview Keyword

Cameroon (Country of service) 1962-1964 (Date of service) Peace Corps Volunteer Job: Education National Conference on Youth Service Abroad Cameroonian Creole Tension Francophone Africa Anglophone Africa Cameroon College of Arts and Science Assassination John F. Kennedy Peace Corps Volunteer Job: Community Development

Interview LC Subject

American University Training Ohio University Colonization Independence East Cameroon West Cameroon (Cameroon) France Colonies Reverse culture shock Culture United States Education Teaching Teachers Peace Corps (U.S.) Cameroon Peace Corps (U.S.)--Cameroon Cameroonians Seton Hall University Kumba (Cameroon) Economics History Bambui (Cameroon) High school United Kingdom

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