Interview with Stephen Spangler, June 7, 2023

Interview Summary

Stephen Spangler served as a Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV) in Panama from 1964-1966 in a community economic development program. He discusses joining the Peace Corps right out of college, the training he received in Puerto Rico and the University of Arizona, and his work helping the community raise money for and build four classrooms for the school in San José de David in western Panama. He talks about the Navarro family with whom he lived for a time, his recent connection with the family’s sons, and visits to Panama with his wife. He talks about gender inequality in Panama at the time and race relations in the US. He also discusses traveling from Panama back to the US by car with other PCVs and his involvement with the RPCV group, Friends of Panama. He discusses the influence Peace Corps service had on his world outlook, his career in USAID.

Interview Keyword

Peace Corps (US) Panama (Country of Service) Community Economic Development (Peace Corps program) 1964-66 (years of service as Peace Corps Volunteer) Puerto Rico Outward Bound Training Center (site of US-based training) University of Arizona (site of US-based training) Barriada San José de David in Chiriquí Province, in western Panama Jack Vaughn (second Peace Corps Director and US Ambassador to Panama among other positions) Covey water tank National Peace Corps Association Friends of Panama status of women in Panama Panama history John and Diane Allensworth (fellow Panama PCVs and friends) USAID in Vietnam 1967-69.

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