- “Atlanta, a City Built in a Forest” -
March 31, 2011
This blog post continues our retrospective. Please be a part of our 50th anniversary celebration in 2012 by leaving comments about your GCIV memories, your reasons for hosting, and your beliefs about the impact of our shared work.
The services provided to the international visitors from the beginning to the present day have remained the same: to supply a written program upon arrival with appointments fulfilling the objectives of the visitor, to arrange hotels and transportation as needed, to set up home visits with our host volunteers and to give as broad and balanced a look at Atlanta and Georgia and our culture as possible in the limited time a visitor or group was here.
It was one of our visitors who coined the phrase “Atlanta, a city built in a forest” while being interviewed by Hugh Parks, a columnist for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, who repeated the description in his newspaper column.
Marge and Dan McDonald recall entertaining an early group of Russian visitors in their home who were fascinated by all the electric gadgets and modern conveniences in the kitchen and enjoyed exploring their house from top to bottom. Recent visitors are much more sophisticated and demanding in their requests, wanting in-depth presentations rather than general overviews.
The host volunteers have changed as well over the 35 years since Atlanta Committee for International Visitors (ACIV) was founded (this history was compiled by Anne Hansen in 1998). In the beginning most volunteer hosts welcomed the visitors into their homes to show Southern hospitality to strangers and to learn about other cultures and distant lands. Now most hosts have traveled or lived abroad and want to practice their second language skills or continue a genuine interest in foreign affairs.
At the instigation of the Institute for International Education in Houston, the Atlanta International Student Bureau (AISB) was established in 1962 by the Atlanta Junior League under the leadership of Margaret Perdue and Connie Calhoun, then employed at the YWCA. Garland Davies was chairman of the junior League Task Force who assessed the needs of international students in metro Atlanta and recommended that an organization serving the international student population be formed. She served as chairman of AISB for the first three years and started the English classes for wives of the students. The AISB was later affiliated with the Institute for International Education office in Atlanta in the late 60s and continued matching international students at the various colleges and universities with host families. Many host families were volunteers with both AISB and ACIV.
Ada Almering, a volunteer English teacher for six years, recalls, “Most of the students were wives of international students, but there were also consular wives, chefs’ wives and foreign businessmen’s wives. In all they were fascinating women.” The classes were taught on three levels on Mondays and Thursdays first at North Avenue Presbyterian Church and later moved to First Presbyterian Church.
Gloria Stone, an early volunteer member of both ACIV and the International Women Associates wrote, “When I came to Atlanta from New York state in 1953 I was treated like an unwanted intruder – just because I came from a northern state! Anyone who came from another country might just as well come from Mars. A foreign language implied you were too stupid to speak English. A year or so after the Atlanta Council for International Visitors was founded I heard about it and immediately joined. I have been a member ever since and have thoroughly enjoyed entertaining visitors from all over the world. I truly believe organizations such as ours have had a tremendous impact and were very influential in bringing down the Iron Curtain.”
- GCIV in the Era of Civil Rights: A continuation of GCIV’s history. -
March 1, 2011
The new Atlanta organization, incorporated in 1963, operated out of the Haas back bedroom for about two years before moving to the Atlanta Biltmore Hotel and hiring its first staff person, Marion Eden. Host volunteers and resources were quickly developed to respond to visitor requests and within several years the organization began receiving more than 1,000 visitors a year. The focus of interest in the 60s was civil rights and visitors came to Atlanta to meet the leaders of the movement. Other early visitors were the international military personnel stationed at Ft. Benning, Maxwell Air Force Base, Huntsville and Ft. Rucker. City tours and hospitality were arranged by Mamie Taylor, a retired secretary from Georgia Power, who recruited many recently retired friends as volunteers who brought their organizational skills and office expertise with them. The African-American community was involved from the beginning as host volunteers and board members such as Grace Hamilton, Johnny Yancey and Freddye Henderson as well as faculty members Dr. Hilliard Bowen and Dr. Ed Jones and others from the Atlanta University complex. This cooperation between the African-American community and those from the white community is one of the first examples of integrated effort in the city which in the 60s was going through a racial adjustment period.
Betty Haas tells of working out an agreement with the Atlanta Biltmore Hotel to accommodate all the international visitors, including Africans, and this was instrumental in integrating that hotel in the early 60s. She also tells of arranging for a group of young West African leaders to be served at a cafeteria across the street from the hotel, only to have them refused service when their white escort interpreters sat at the same table.
Biltmore Hotel 1955, courtesy Atlanta Time Machine and GSU Pullen Library.
Harry and Billie Pfiffner, longtime GCIV volunteers, would often take visitors to the Hungry Club meeting at the downtown Butler Street YMCA. The Hungry Club, made up of leadership from the black community, had weekly speakers of civic interest and was one of the earliest integrated meeting places at the beginning of the civil rights movement.
Ambassador Andrew Young in 1944 speaking about his first year in Congress to the Hungry Club Forum at the Butler Street YMCA. Photo courtesty Atlanta History Center and Boyd Lewis.
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Our Mission & Vision
GCIV builds understanding and cooperation between the people of our state and the world. Our vision is that every Georgia citizen has the opportunity to become more globally engaged.
Upcoming Events & Delegations
- Wed 2/22/2012 - 2/26/2012: Libyan Delegation
- Wed 2/22/2012 - 2/26/2012: South African Delegation
- Wed 2/22/2012 - 2/25/2012: Greek Delegation
- Fri 2/24/2012: International Dining Experience