In 1961, when Brandeis Professor Lawrence Fuchs was named director of the Peace Corps for the Philippines, he turned to our classmate Elizabeth Fitzgerald Howard's husband Lawrence, a young assistant professor of international affairs in his department, to join him as associate director
Citizen of the World
In 1961, when Brandeis Professor Lawrence Fuchs was named director of the Peace Corps for the Philippines, he turned to our classmate Elizabeth Fitzgerald Howard's husband Lawrence, a young assistant professor of international affairs in his department, to join him as associate director. Even though the Howards had just bought a house, and had two young children, four and two, they decided to accept Fuchs's offer. They were impressed with President John F. Kennedy ['40] and excited by the promise of the Peace Corps. "I have a real interest in multicultural issues," Betty said, and "this was a terrific experience. I felt like a real Filipino, like a citizen of the world."
Betty functioned as a kind of surrogate mother to Peace Corps volunteers, providing home-cooked food, a place to sleep before they got settled, and a sympathetic ear. It was an exciting time to be in the Philippines, she recalled. The country had elected its first president and the Peace Corps was in its formative stages, with volunteers who were highly committed and wanted to give a good impression of Americans.
The Howards returned to the United States two years later, just as the Civil Rights movement began to heat up. Betty and Larry channeled their efforts into promoting integration through the Episcopal Society for Cultural and Racial Unity, whose goal was to bring black and white Episcopalians together to get to know one another. In St. Louis, they wrote to the bishops to urge the appointment of black deacons and protested the terrible conditions of the St. Louis housing projects, which had mostly black tenants.
In Pittsburgh, where they now live, Betty, a member of the search committee for a new parish priest for Calvary Church, one of Pittsburgh's major churches and a largely white congregation, urged her fellow committee members to recruit qualified women and black candidates. In 1996, Rev. Harold T. Lewis, a black candidate who was clearly the most qualified, was appointed.
But Betty's special contribution to increasing understanding about the experience of black families is to write award-winning books for children about the positive facets of African-American life, "based on real stories from my real family." In 1995, Betty gave the keynote address at an international children's literature conference at the University of South Africa in Pretoria, and conducted workshops on writing family stories for teachers and librarians from black townships. Betty, who is president of the Class of 1948, recently retired as professor emerita from West Virginia University and will be turning more of her family's stories into enchanting books for children.
