Interview with Michael Bailkin, April 5, 2023
Project: Peace Corps: The Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Oral History Project
Interview Summary
Michael Bailkin served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in India from 1963-65 working as a poultry extension agent based in the government poultry farm in Durg. He discusses joining the Peace Corps after military service and before completing college, the excellent training he received at UC Davis, and trainees’ reaction to JFK’s assassination during training. He discusses India’s then socialist orientation and President Nehru’s initial coolness to hosting PCVs, but Indians’ admiration of President Kennedy. He discusses interactions with Russians and friends working at the nearby Russian-built Bhilai steel plant. He praises Peace Corps laissez-faire supervision of PCVs at the time, which he thinks contributed to PCVs’ successes, their lasting friendships and the significant impact Peace Corps service had on his career. He discusses experiencing no culture shock in India but experiencing it upon his return. He discusses creating a venture capital firm to support RPCVs’ social enterprises in the U.S. and abroad.Interview Accession
Interviewee Name
Interviewer Name
Interview Date
Interview Keyword
Peace Corps (US) India (Country of Service) Agricultural Extension (Peace Corps program) 1963-65 (years of service) India 5B (agriculture program in which he served) motivation to join the Peace Corps Peace Corps Training Durg (town in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh in which he served) Dr. Marti (Bengali Indian civil servant with whom he worked) Danny Meade (Anglo-Indian friend, who worked at the steel plant Peter Condy (fellow India 5 volunteer and now serving as mentor to RPCV Ventures social entrepreneurs) RPCV Ventures ( a social impact investment company he created) JFK assassination (historical context) Cold War competition between the US and Russia (historical context) Viet Nam War (historical context).Interview Rights
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Bailkin, Michael Interview by Evelyn Ganzglass. 05 Apr. 2023. Lexington, KY: Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries.
Bailkin, M. (2023, April 05). Interview by E. Ganzglass. Peace Corps: The Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Oral History Project. Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries, Lexington.
Bailkin, Michael, interview by Evelyn Ganzglass. April 05, 2023, Peace Corps: The Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Oral History Project, Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries.
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