A GUIDE TO THE PEACE CORPS RECORDS OF WARREN d'AZEVEDO
A GUIDE TO THE PEACE CORPS RECORDS OF
WARREN d'AZEVEDO
Collection No. 93-40
WARREN d'AZEVEDO
Warren L. d'Azevedo received his B.A. degree from the University of California, Berkeley and his Ph.D. degree from Northwestern University in 1962.
d'Azevedo's graduate studies in anthropology centered on western Africa where he lived during a graduate fellowship. In 1962 while teaching anthropology at the University of Utah, he was asked to play a key role in developing and implementing the training of Peace Corps volunteer/trainees selected to teach in elementary and secondary schools in Liberia. Working with other area specialists, d'Azevedo developed a curriculum which would give trainees the cultural, historical, and to some degree, language knowledge necessary for success in Liberia.
d'Azevedo continued to serve as an area specialist for other Liberian Peace Corps training projects during the 1960s, teaching Peace Corps trainees at the University of Pittsburgh, Syracuse University, and San Francisco State College. He also advised programs in Nigeria and Sierra Leone.
Professor d'Azevedo was invited to teach anthropology in the combined psychology and sociology departments at the University of Nevada, Reno in 1963. In 1967, a separate anthropology department was established and Dr. d'Azevedo was appointed the first chairman. He retired as professor emeritus in 1988.
Processed by: Susan Searcy
Date: July 27, 1993
The Peace Corps records of Dr. Warren d'Azevedo are arranged into three subgroups:
I. The Peace Corps in Liberia.
II. The Peace Corps in Other Countries.
III. General Peace Corps Information.
Subgroup I. The Peace Corps in Liberia. 1961-1970. 1.5 cu. ft.
This subgroup is divided into three series: administration of the Liberian program, volunteers, and curriculum materials.
Abbreviations used in this guide include P.C. (Peace Corps) and P.C.V. (Peace Corps volunteers).
The bulk of this subgroup is found in Series 1, Administration of the Liberian Program. There is an important group of records documenting the establishment of the Liberian teacher training program. It consists of memos, correspondence between government administrators and d'Azevedo, and training manuals intended to be a practical "bible" of information for the volunteers. Guidelines provided for Peace Corps liaison officers and instructors are available, as are suggestions for training volunteers for Liberia which were written by P.C.V. serving in Liberia.
The arrangement of Series 1 is chronological.
Series 2 focuses on the volunteer trainees. It includes correspondence to d'Azevedo from volunteers in the field, volunteer newsletters, trainee evaluation materials, and a cultural awareness examination.
Series 3 consists of materials developed to instruct trainees on the teaching profession and on how to teach subjects such as science and English in Liberia.
Box 1
93-40/I/1 - ADMINISTRATION
I/1/1 Establishment of P.C. training programs for Liberia. 1961.
I/1/2 "Working Effectively Overseas." Prepared for the P.C. by the Institute for International Services of the American Institute for Research. [1961].
I/1/3 "Instructional Situations." Prepared for the P.C. by the Institute for International Services of the American Institute for Research. Aug. 1961.
I/1/4 P.C. Liberia Project beginnings. Jan.-May, 1961.
I/1/5 P.C. Liberian Project organization. 1962.
I/1/6 "P.C. Training Program for Service in Secondary & Elementary Education in the Republic of Liberia Conducted at the University of Pittsburgh." June-Aug. 1962. Includes weekly teaching assignments.
I/1/7 P.C. training development.
I/1/8 P.C. Project in Liberia. Training. [1962].
I/1/9 P.C. Trainees for Liberia III, training materials. June-Aug. 1962.
I/1/10 Programming, Liberia P.C. training. July 1962.
I/1/11 P.C. training personnel for Liberia. 1962.
I/1/12 P.C. administrative correspondence. 1962.
I/1/13 d'Azevedo's outgoing correspondence. Mar.-May, 1962.
I/1/14 Correspondence to d'Azevedo from P.C. volunteers in Liberia. 1963-1964.
I/1/15 "Final Report on the Peace Corps Training Program for Liberia, June 18-Aug. 12, 1962." "Preparation for Encounter: Training P.C. Volunteers for Community Involvement."
I/1/16 Guidelines for Peace Corps liaison officers. 1962.
I/1/17 Peace Corps trainees, Liberia III. June 14-Aug. 24, 1963.
I/1/18 P.C. training, Syracuse University for Liberia III. Summer, 1963.
I/1/19 P.C. training project for Liberia IV, San Francisco State College. Summer, 1964.
I/1/20 P.C. training materials. [1965].
I/1/21 P.C. training program, Fall 1965 for Liberia at San Francisco State College. Liberia III P.C. project syllabus, Syracuse University, June-Aug. 1963.
I/1/22 Schedules, Liberian training. 1965.
I/1/23 P.C. training program for Liberia, San Francisco State College. Fall, 1965.
I/1/24 Proposed in-country training program, Group XI, P.C. Volunteers, Liberia. [1965].
I/1/25 Administrative correspondence to d'Azevedo. 1966-1968.
I/1/26 "Some Suggestions for Training the P.C. Volunteer for Liberia." 1967.
I/1/27 "Liberian training manual, supplement for P.C. Volunteer Law Instructors." Fall, 1968.
I/1/28 P.C. training memos. 1969-1970.
I/1/29 Training manual, P.C. Liberia Secondary Education. Fall, 1969.
I/1/30 Liberian Fall education program training manual, 1970. Liberia Group XXIII secondary/university education performance criteria. "Liberia Looks at Peace Corps."
I/1/31 P.C. Experimental Battery Book 5 [for testing P.C. Volunteers/trainees].
Box 2
93-40/I/2 - VOLUNTEERS/TRAINEES
I/2/1 P.C. Liberia. Staff directory and volunteer assignment list.
I/2/2 Volunteer selection testing. July 1962.
I/2/3 Peer descriptions (review by P.C. trainees). [1962].
I/2/4 P.C. Training Project for Liberia, 1962: script for play and program for Completion Ceremony. Directory of volunteers.
I/2/5 P.C. trainees newsletter, "The Review." July [2] to Aug. 9, 1962. University of Pittsburgh.
I/2/6-9 P.C. Liberia training: student essays/exams. 1962.
I/2/10 Correspondence to d'Azevedo from volunteers in Liberia. 1962-1963.
I/2/11 Liberian Training Program, Education Development Center, Nov. 1967-Feb. 1968. Volunteer directory.
I/2/12 Liberian recipes.
93-40/I/3 - CURRICULUM MATERIALS
I/3/1 "Some Liberian English Usages" by William Welmers and Warren d'Azevedo. "Some Liberian Mission and Ring-Game Songs." "Chronological Outline of Events Significant to the Emergence of a Liberian Nation," by Warren d'Azevedo.
I/3/2 Liberian English. Diagnostic Test for English Sentence Patterns.
I/3/3 "The Societies Among the Krahn (Tchien) People."
I/3/4 "General Heuristic for the Analysis of Social Systems." "Teaching English Pronunciation with Minimal Pair Drills." "An Approach to Vocabulary Teaching." "English Language Drill Materials."
I/3/5 "Liberian Secondary Observation Techniques." "Shifting Tenses."
I/3/6 Liberian science curriculum and other curriculum materials.
I/3/7 Text books used in Liberian junior high schools. Jan. 1962.
I/3/8 "Who Dares to Bring? Some Problems Faced by Peace Corps Volunteers. A Case Study for Teaching in West Africa." 1965.
Subgroup II. The Peace Corps in Other Countries. 1961-1965. .25 cu. ft.
Professor d'Azevedo, in addition to serving as a key advisor in the creation of Peace Corps teaching programs in Liberia, both drew upon and served as an advisor to several other programs. This subgroup contains training manuals for programs in Sierra Leone, Nigeria, and Columbia.
Box 2
II/1/1 "A Training Program for Peace Corps Volunteers as Graduate Assistants at the University of Nigeria." Aug. 1961.
II/1/2 P.C. Columbia II Project training program syllabus. Feb. -April, 1962.
II/1/3 P.C. training project for teachers for Sierra Leone. Nov. 6-Dec. 22, 1961.
II/1/4 Teachers' College-Columbia University training program for Peace Corps Volunteers preparing for service as teachers in Sierra Leone. Nov. 6-Dec. 23, 1961.
II/1/5 Correspondence to d'Azevedo regarding the Sierra Leone training program at Roosevelt University. 1964-1965.
II/1/6 Sierra Leone Peace Corps training project at Roosevelt University. June-Aug. 1965.
Subgroup III. General Peace Corps Information. ca 1960s. .25 cu. ft.
This subgroup consists of general information about the Peace Corps programs, an annual report to Congress (1962), and an essay by a former Peace Corps volunteer.
Box 2
III/1/1 "Yanque, Go Home--And Maybe We Should," by Paul Cowan.
III/1/2 Peace Corps brochures.
III/1/3 Annual Report to Congress, 1962. Brochures.
III/1/4-5 Articles and brochures about the Peace Corps.
