Interview with William Reese, November 9, 2021
Project: Peace Corps: The Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Oral History Project
Interview Summary
William Reese served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Brazil from 1971-1974 living and working as a social worker/community organizer in a community-based redevelopment project in Alagados, a run-down area in Salvador, Bahia. He subsequently served in increasingly senior Peace Corps staff positions in Brazil and then at Peace Corps headquarters as training director and acting regional director of the Latin American division, and as director of Peace Corps' 20th anniversary commemoration. He discusses issues related to language and cultural adaptation training and minority recruitment. He says his volunteer and staff positions launched his career in non-profit international development working in Brazil and other countries while leading Partners for Americas and the International Youth Foundation. In these positions he hired 200+ Returned Peace Corps Volunteers. He concludes by discussing Peace Corps’ domestic dividend; the relationship between Peace Corps, USAID, and the State Department; and the role of the National Peace Corps Association where he is a board director.Interview Accession
Interviewee Name
Interviewer Name
Interview Date
Interview Keyword
Brazil (Country of service) Peace Corps Volunteer Job: Urban Community Development 1971-1974 (Date of service) Peace Corps staff 1974-1979 (Date of service) Peace Corps headquarters staff 1979-1981 (Date of service) Partners for America International Youth Foundation John Wirth Richard Celeste Loret Ruppe Salvador (Brazil) Diversity in the Peace Corps Peace Corps training USAID advisory committee National Peace Corps Association Asset-based community assessment Afro-Brazilian culture United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Peace Corps directorsInterview LC Subject
Peace Corps (U.S.) Peace Corps (U.S.)--Brazil Brazil Acculturation Communication and culture Culture Culture shock Intercultural communication Interpersonal communication and culture Interpersonal relations Interpersonal relations and culture Language and culture Language and languages Lifestyles Manners and customs Voluntarism VolunteersInterview Rights
All rights to the interviews, including but not restricted to legal title, copyrights and literary property rights, have been transferred to the University of Kentucky Libraries.Interview Usage
Interviews may only be reproduced with permission from Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries.Restriction
Interviews may only be reproduced with permission from Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries.
All rights to the interviews, including but not restricted to legal title, copyrights and literary property rights, have been transferred to the University of Kentucky Libraries.
Add this interview to your cart in order to begin the process of requesting access to a copy of and/or permission to reproduce interview(s).
Reese, William Interview by Evelyn Ganzglass. 09 Nov. 2021. Lexington, KY: Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries.
Reese, W. (2021, November 09). Interview by E. Ganzglass. Peace Corps: The Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Oral History Project. Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries, Lexington.
Reese, William, interview by Evelyn Ganzglass. November 09, 2021, Peace Corps: The Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Oral History Project, Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries.
You may come across language in UK Libraries Special Collections Research Center collections and online resources that you find harmful or offensive. SCRC collects materials from different cultures and time periods to preserve and make available the historical record. These materials document the time period when they were created and the view of their creator. As a result, some may demonstrate racist and offensive views that do not reflect the values of UK Libraries.
If you find description with problematic language that you think SCRC should review, please contact us at SCRC@uky.edu.
Persistent Link for this Record: https://kentuckyoralhistory.org/ark:/16417/xt71hnrbgq46h