Read the new highlight from the Americans for UNESCO website on the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO.
The National Commission is a unique institution, created by Congress so that sixty non-governmental organizations, chosen by the Commission itself, would each appoint a member. Thus 60 percent of the body are not named by the government, but by civil society.
This was once a star studded body, with representatives not only of educational, scientific and cultural organizations, but also members named by the American Federation of Labor/Congress of Industrial Organizations, the national Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers. Meetings were attended by many hundreds of organizations when the National Commission was headed by Milton Eisenhower, and included luminaries such as Pulitzer Prise winning poet and playwright Archibald MacLeish and soon to be Senator William Benton.
Today's National Commission is, I fear, only a pale reflection of that early body. Still, it plays an important role, and may with time regain its strength and status!
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
The U.S. National Commission for UNESCO
Read the new highlight from the Americans for UNESCO website on the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO.
The National Commission is a unique institution, created by Congress so that sixty non-governmental organizations, chosen by the Commission itself, would each appoint a member. Thus 60 percent of the body are not named by the government, but by civil society.
This was once a star studded body, with representatives not only of educational, scientific and cultural organizations, but also members named by the American Federation of Labor/Congress of Industrial Organizations, the national Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers. Meetings were attended by many hundreds of organizations when the National Commission was headed by Milton Eisenhower, and included luminaries such as Pulitzer Prise winning poet and playwright Archibald MacLeish and soon to be Senator William Benton.
Today's National Commission is, I fear, only a pale reflection of that early body. Still, it plays an important role, and may with time regain its strength and status!
The National Commission is a unique institution, created by Congress so that sixty non-governmental organizations, chosen by the Commission itself, would each appoint a member. Thus 60 percent of the body are not named by the government, but by civil society.
This was once a star studded body, with representatives not only of educational, scientific and cultural organizations, but also members named by the American Federation of Labor/Congress of Industrial Organizations, the national Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers. Meetings were attended by many hundreds of organizations when the National Commission was headed by Milton Eisenhower, and included luminaries such as Pulitzer Prise winning poet and playwright Archibald MacLeish and soon to be Senator William Benton.
Today's National Commission is, I fear, only a pale reflection of that early body. Still, it plays an important role, and may with time regain its strength and status!
In memorium
Thursa Bakey Sanders, 90, who was once personal secretary to Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and playwright Archibald MacLeish, died April 11 at her home in McLean. She had Alzheimer's disease. In 1945, while working closely with MacLeish (who was then assistant secretary of state for cultural and public affairs) and Adlai Stevenson (then a special assistant to the secretary of state), Mrs. Sanders assisted in the creation of the United Nations charter in San Francisco and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in London.
In memorium
Thursa Bakey Sanders, 90, who was once personal secretary to Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and playwright Archibald MacLeish, died April 11 at her home in McLean. She had Alzheimer's disease. In 1945, while working closely with MacLeish (who was then assistant secretary of state for cultural and public affairs) and Adlai Stevenson (then a special assistant to the secretary of state), Mrs. Sanders assisted in the creation of the United Nations charter in San Francisco and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in London.
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