Video Transcript

John E. Reinhardt—Entering USIA Instead of State in the 1950s:

This would have been about 1953 or 54.  The man showed up, the great recruiter showed up.  Not looking for me.  I was a teacher.  He was looking for students, people who were going to graduate from Virginia State College.  And, as it turned out, not many students were interested.

So, he left papers and applications and the like, and went his way.  I went home and told my wife that this sounded interesting.  So, with her connivance and encouragement I applied for, I didn’t know what.  But it was something connected with the Department of State.  And to my surprise I got a favorable answer back.  I was not ready to quit teaching.  This seemed like a happy year abroad some place, if I were selected.  To make a long story short, when I finally came to Washington at State’s urging I was sent not to the State Department – didn’t even see inside the State Department, didn’t know where it was located.  I was sent to some agency called the United States Information Agency, that I had never heard of, frankly.  This was not exactly what I had in mind when I applied.  I was going to the Department of State.  The fact is that the Department of State was not looking for many black people in those days. 

They were recruiting them for the United States Information Agency, by and large.  I have many friends who came in at the same time, and none of them came into the Department of State.  There were black officers in the Department of State, but a handful.  You knew the names, like five.  And I was not one of them.  I was going to the United States Information Agency, if I wanted the job in the Foreign Service.