Carol,
Hi. I'm redirecting the message I sent to you for the entire listserv, b/c others may be interested. In writing my thesis, I found a rich written history that includes Peace Corps and VISTA especially, though not nearly enough on CCC and earlier. I would love to hear about what you find on those subjects.
Here are some of the best on the history that I found:
1. Twenty Years at Hull House, By Jane Addams (*Or one of several biographies of Jane Addams and her work)
2. National Service: A Promise to Keep, by Donald Eberly
3. "The Moral Equivalent of War" by William James, McClure's, 1910.
4. Participation of the Poor: Comparitive Community Case Studies in the War on Povity, by Ralph M. Kramer
5. A Call to Civic Service by Charles Moskos
6. People Power: Service, Advocacy, Empowerment, by Brian O'Connell
7.. The Politics of Peace Corps and VISTA by T. Zane Reeves. (**HIGHLY RECCOMMEND)
8. Maximum Feasible Misunderstanding, by Daniel Patrick Moynihan.
9. ACTION: The Times They Are A-Changin" by Thomas Pauken in "Steerting hte Elephant: How Washington Works, by Sanera, Michael, ed.
10. Maximum Feasible Participation: Origins and Implications by Lillian Rubin in "The View from below: Urban Politics and Social Policy by Susan Fainstein.
11. Origins and Implicaitons of hte AmeriCorps National Service Program (Resource Paper) by Robert Serow. (NSEE, 1995 ***HIGHLY RECCOMMEND)
12. Point of the Lance by Sargeant Shriver
13. The Bill by Steven Waldman
14. Of Kennedys and Kings: Making Sense of the Sixties by Harris Wofford
15. National Service, Citizenship and Political Education by Eric B. Gorham (***Highly Reccommend)
Two theoretical works that also helped were Rousseau's Emile and DeTocqueville's Democracy in America.
I remember some of these books (I think Moskos or Eberly or Gorham) describing the New York State Conservation Corps (name?) started by Governor Al Smith. As you probably know, FDR was the New York Governor immediately following Al Smith, so he was well aware of such a program when he started CCC. In addition, I wonder if any work has been done to connect the early ideas of national service to the Boys Scouts???
Regarding the question of how these past programs affected higher education is certainly a good one. In particular, Eberly and Moskos' ideas (which can be traced to William James) for a non-military form of service in parallel with the GI Bill may by provide rich material for your paper.
Also, you may look at the history of some alternative schools like Goddard, or Antioch or Berea where there were service is embedded into the curriculum as a part of the responsibility for attending. Also, several historically Black colleges like Spellman and Saint Augustine (an Episcopal school in NC-?) had strong service components - though many of these may not have been "national" service programs, the tradition of service is embedded in Higher education. So too, with the many Divinity Schools in which "service" was the primary aim of the educated citizen.
Finally, the history of Cooperative Extention programs at land grant institutions have very close ties to the national Morril Act. These set the tone for a national service/education connection.
GOOD LUCK!!!
Tom
At 03:11 PM 10/15/97 -0400, you wrote:
>Hello everyone! I am currenlty working on a project for my history of
>Higher Education class, and we're looking into how National Service
>programs have affected Higher Ed. Moving into the past (specifically past
>current initiatives such as AmeriCorps), does anyone know of some handy
>materials on National Service from this perspective. It goes back to the
>CCC with FDR, but what else? Anyone know of some good books, articles or
>web sites? Please respond only to me.
>
>Thank you,
>Carol
>
>
>
>****************************************************************************
>*****
>* Carol L. Clyde * clclyde@vwc.edu *
>* AmeriCorps* Community Service Assistant * (757) 455-3200 x3583 *
>* Office of Community Service * 1584 Wesleyan Dr. *
>* Virginia Wesleyan College * Norfolk, VA 23502-5999 *
>****************************************************************************
>*****
> "How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before
>starting to improve the world." --- Anne Frank
>
>
____________________________________________________________________
<bold><fontfamily><param>Times New
Roman</param><color><param>8080,0000,8080</param><bigger><bigger>"We who
lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the
huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may
have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything
can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms--to
choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's
own way."
- Viktor Frankl, "Man's Search for Meaning."
March 26, 1905 - September 2, 1997
</bigger></bigger></color></fontfamily></bold>
Thomas Shields, Director 295 Illini Union
Office of Volunteer Programs 1401 W. Green St.
<bold><italic>University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Urbana, IL
61801
tpshield@staff.uiuc.edu (217) 333-7424
http://www.union.uiuc.edu/ovp/ fax: (217) 244-4294
_______________________________________________________________________</italic></bold>