Project India: How College Students Won Friends for America

by Judith Kerr Graven

It is 1952. Communism is spreading through Asia. Students at UCLA develop a bold new idea - a youth ambassador program that will send a diverse group of real Americans to the politically strategic country of India to speak directly with Indian peers. Despite rough conditions and tough questions about American policy, Project Indians prove youth have a role to play in international diplomacy, a key precursor to the development of the Peace Corps. A member of Project India 1958, Judith Kerr Graven documents the program that for 18 years provided more than a million Indians with a new perspective about Americans. Scouring sources from the State Department to Project Indians' personal diaries, Graven delivers a humorous and touching portrait of young people working to promote international understanding against a backdrop of political turmoil - a newly independent India struggling to feed itself, and an America on the brink of social revolution.

432 pages, Paperback

First published August 5, 2014

Reviews

[Xulon · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Project India: How College Students Won Friends for America” is the inspiring story of some college students who wanted to make a difference, and did. In 1952, students at UCLA decided to take international diplomacy into their own hands and go to promote international understanding. Judith Graven, a member of Project India, gives a detailed and intimate perspective on the trials and successes of the groundbreaking program which ultimately led to the formation of the Peace Corps. Humorous and insightful, Graven does a wonderful job of telling the important story of young people’s hope and persistence.