University U.N. Center Promotes Study of Human Rights "Document A/777," Norman Corwin's radio dramatization of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, recently was made part of the study program of at least 45 schools in Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. Mrs. Mary C. Perkins, head of the U.N. Correspondence Center, University of Maryland, conceived the idea, and radio station WASH-FM in Washington helped carry it out. Following the appeal of the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO last December to help make the Declaration more widely known, Mrs. Perkins and her associates began providing teachers and club leaders with information and materials on human rights. A few weeks ago, the Corwin broadcast, originally heard over the Mutual network, was brought to the attention of the Prince Georges County League of Women Voters, a local group working closely with the Center. Members obtained the cooperation of league chapters in nearby counties and made arrangements with school leaders. Station manager Hudson Eldridge found time for the hour-long documentary by putting WASH-FM on the air an hour earlier, March 19. TV commentator Bill Herson of WNBW (NBC, Washington, D.C.) further promoted the project by interviewing Mrs. Frances Ross of the Prince Georges League and Mrs. Shelby Thompson of the Montgomery County group. The United Nations program was preceded by a 15-minute recording of the four national winners Pictured at one of the University of Maryland's broadcasts on human rights are, front row, left to right: Mrs. O. E. Baker, Mrs. Mary Lee Perkins, Sonja Behnke, Hilda Rosa, and Debbie Sweney. Standing, left to right: S. H. Quereshi, India; K. T. Chu, China; Norman Gurevich; Eduardo H. Zarantonello, Argentina; Fahkir Rassak, Iraq; and Parren J. Mitchell. of "The Voice of Democracy" contest recently sponsored by the American Legion. Radio stores and league members offered to lend FM sets to a few schools which lacked the equipment. An added feature was an audience-participation contest sponsored by the Prince Georges County League of Women Voters. The school with the highest percentage of listeners was awarded the new UNESCO Exhibition Album on Human Rights. (Continued on page 16) U.S. NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) Chairman: George D. Stoddard . . . Vice Chairmen: Detlev Bronk, Erwin D. Canham, Mrs. Henry Potter Russell. Executive Committee: William Benton, Mrs. Harvey N. Davis, Frederick S. Dunn, Milton S. Eisenhower, Robert M. Gates, Charles S. Johnson, Waldo G. Leland, Raymond F. McCoy, Earl J. McGrath, C. J. McLanahan, Stanley H. Ruttenberg, Mrs. Raymond F. Sayre, A. J. Stoddard, Robert L. West, George F. Zook. Other Members: Barclay Acheson, Frank Altschul, Ellis Arnall, Paul D. Bagwell, Keith Beery, Jaime Benitez, Karl W. Bigelow, Livingston L. Blair, Miss Selma Borchardt, Chester Bowles, Miss Helen D. Bragdon, Homer C. Brown. Ben M. Cherrington, Wayne Coy, Everette L. DeGolyer, Henry Grattan Doyle, J. W. Edgar, George Harold Edgell, John T. Edsall, Luther H. Evans, David E. Finley, John Hope Franklin, Miss Rosamond Gilder, Willard E. Givens, Arthur E. Goldschmidt, Rabbi Herbert S. Goldstein, Willard E. Goslin, Parl Green, Ross G. Harrison, Mrs. John E. Hayes, Ralph E. Himstead, Lewis G. Hines, Mrs. Douglas Horton, Ernest M. Howell, B. W. Huebsch, Rees H. Hughes, Herbert C. Hursaker, Eric Johnston, L. C. Larson, Gunther R. Lessing, Rensis Likert, Milton E. Lord, Miss Myrna Loy, Archibald MacLeish, Mike Mansfield, James Marshall, Roscoe C. Martin, Richard P. McKeon, Justin Miller, Mrs. Grace L. McCann Morley, Reinhold Niebuhr, C. J. Nuesse, Charles E. Odegaard, Mrs. William Barclay Parsons, I. I. Rabi, H bert H. Race, Frederick D. G. Ribble, Rabbi William F. Rosenblum, J. T. Sanders, C. A. Scott, Miss K. Frances Scott, Paul Sheats, Lawrence M. C. Smith, Mrs. Margaret Chase Smith, Harold Spivacke, Elvin C. Stakman, P. G. Stromberg, Davidson Taylor, Stanley D. Tylman, Harold C. Urey, Mrs. Pearl A. Wanamaker, Howard E. Wilson, M. L. Wilson. Executive Secretary: Max McCullough, Department of State, Washington, 25, D.C. MAY 1951 UNESCO NATIONAL COMMISSION NEWS VOL. IV, NO. II COMMISSION TO DISCUSS "PRIORITY PROGRAMS" MAY 9-11; SUPPORT IS URGED FOR U.S. INFORMATION SERVICES The selection of "priority programs" to be urged at UNESCO's General Conference in Paris, June 18-July 11, plans for the Third National Conference in New York next September, and consideration of major activities in the U.S. for the coming year will be the highlights of the ninth meeting of the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO, convening in Washington May 9-11. Sessions are to be held in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce building, with the exception of the third plenary session, which will meet in the Library of Congress on the evening of May 9. Members of Congress will be guests at this session. In addition to these subjects, the Commission will consider several other matters which were discussed at a meeting of the Executive Committee in Washington, April 5-6. George D. Stoddard, Commission Chairman, presided over the two-day meeting. UNESCO Deputy Director General John W. Taylor attended the sessions and reported on recent developments in the organization. Edward W. Barrett, Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs, addressed a luncheon meeting of the Committee on the opening day, and that evening, was host at a reception at Prospect House, honoring Committee members, Mr. Taylor and the cultural attachés of member nations of UNESCO. The Executive Committee adopted the following resolution in support of the U.S. overseas information program : "The struggle between free nations and police states for the minds and loyalties of men is increasing in intensity. Free nations disseminate information in order that men can exercise freedom of decision. Police states distort and suppress the truth in order to mold the ideas of men into a pattern desired by the state. A recent outrageous example of such distortion of fact is found in the attempt of Soviet Russia and its satellites to brand the United States as the aggressor in Korea. "Free nations, to remain free, must accept the responsibility to spread the truth. We believe that all governments and all people with faith in the United Nations as the supreme instrument of international cooperation, should employ all modern means of communication in this campaign of truth. Since support of the United Nations is the cornerstone of United States foreign policy, and freedom of information is a United States tradition, we believe that the United States should increase substantially its efforts to disseminate knowledge around the world. Our support of such a campaign should be commensurate with our unbounded faith in the power of truth." Third National Conference Miss Constance Roach of the UNESCO Relations Staff reported on plans for the Third National Conference to be held at Hunter College, New York, N.Y., September 9-13. The Conference will stress support of the United Nations and its specialized agencies. Keynote address on "The Fact of Interdependence" will state the basic assumption underlying the necessity for collective action of nations on mutual problems.. "The United Nations: An Organized International Approach to World Problems" will be the theme of another session which will deal with settlement of international problems, better standards of life, dignity of the human person, and communications between nations and peoples. A presentation, "The Birth and Growth of a AS 4 .08 Foreign Policy," will follow a panel discussion led by congressmen, government officials and others. "The Effect on International Relations of Attitudes Held by Americans Toward Nationals of a Foreign Country and by Them Toward Us" is the theme of a dramatic presentation planned. UNESCO Activities in the U.S. The report of the Committee on U.S. Activities, submitted by C. J. McClanahan, was endorsed by the Executive Committee. Priority activities for the 1951-52 program will continue to be: (1) promoting increased understanding of, and support for, the United Nations and its specialized agencies, especially in connection with the Third National Conference; and (2) promoting activities among voluntary organizations, and through educational systems and mass media to secure increased understanding of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and increased application of its principles in U.S. laws and customs and in the practices of our community and national life. The National Commission also will continue to give support and guidance to such programs as improvement of teaching materials for international understanding, educational reconstruction, interchange of persons, tensions affecting international understanding, and cultural interchange. The last includes support of the ratification and implementation of the two international agreements sponsored by UNESCO-one to expedite the transmission of audio-visual materials, and the other, a far broader pact covering publications and many other types of educational, scientific, and cultural materials. International Program The Executive Committee reviewed certain phases of UNESCO's international program in relation to the Sixth Session of the General Conference of UNESCO to be held in Paris from June 18-July 11. Luther H. Evans reported on the meeting of the Executive Board in Paris last January. The Committee considered a proposed amendment to the UNESCO Constitution, made by the United Kingdom, by which member nations instead of individuals would be elected to the organization's 18-member Executive Board. In the discussion led by Walter M. Kotschnig, director of the State Department's Office of U.N. Economic and Social Affairs, it was pointed out the majority Jaime Benitez of Puerto Rico, center, is pictured at a recent meeting of the Program Committee of the U.S. National Commission for Unesco, with Elvin C. Stakman, left, and Luther H. Evans. of the actions taken by the Board require the backing of the governments of member nations in order to become effective. Furthermore, if the next General Conference adopts the proposed plan of holding sessions of the General Conference of UNESCO biennially instead of annually, the Executive Board necessarily will make more important decisions than heretofore-decisions requiring the support of governments. The Executive Committee approved the proposed amendment, which will be referred to the full Commission. The Committee also went on record as favoring, among other things: (1) establishment of priorities for the execution of approved projects; (2) drastic curtailment of the contract and fee system, with plans for enlisting more effective cooperation of organizations receiving subventions from UNESCO in carrying out certain studies, research surveys and meetings of experts which UNESCO would otherwise have to finance; and (3) formulation of publications policies and standards of UNESCO and planning for an increase of publications in languages other than English and French. (The Committee received a report that a working party of UNESCO's Executive Board had taken constructive action in regard to UNESCO's publications and will seek a review of policies and programs at the General Conference.) Howard E. Wilson reported on the UNESCO Regional Conference of National Commissions of the Western Hemisphere held in Habana in December. NEA TO OFFER NEW U.N. SERVICE TO TEACHERS, SCHOOLS To meet the growing demand for teaching materials and information on the United Nations and its work, the Committee on International Relations of the National Education Association (NEA), will inaugurate a United Nations Education Service next September. This nonprofit service will be available to all schools on a subscription basis with fees ranging from $20 to $50. In announcing plans for the new service, Howard E. Wilson, Committee chairman and member of the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO, said: Current international developments accentuate the importance of a realistic, up-to-date program of education about world affairs in our schools. Moreover, the United Nations and the United States Government have called on all school systems to teach about the United Nations-its program, its accomplishments, and its needs. Every day that passes makes this responsibility more urgent. Robert Reid, executive assistant to the NEA's Committee on International Relations, appeared before the March meeting of the Committee on U.S. Activities of the National Commission for UNESCO to explain the program and presented the NEA's new brochure on the plan. He said that a representative of the Service will attend U.N. sessions of interest to educators and give the teaching profession direct communication with the United Nations. Unit, a biweekly newsletter, to be published and distributed by the Service, will give firsthand information on the United Nations, together with suggestions to teachers on the presentation of this information to their classes. It will also contain news of audio-visual materials, books, pamphlets, conferences and coming events, in addition to citing examples of successful classroom practices and materials used by schools in the U.S. and other countries. Sample copies of Unit are available at the NEA. Other features of the Service include: (1) selection and distribution of kits, pamphlets, audiovisual materials, and other publications of national and international organizations suitable for teachers and students; (2) preparation of spot studies. and reports, including specially prepared teaching units, studies of international problems, handbooks for school observances of such special events as United Nations Day, and other publications; and (3) offer of direct assistance such as replies to inquiries, arrangements to visit the U.N., advice in planning conferences, information on teacher exchange, and other assistance to subscribers. Additional information may be obtained from the NEA's Committee on International Relations, 1201 16th Street, N.W., Washington 6, D.C. Executive Committee Approves Service At its April meeting, the Executive Committee of the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO considered the proposed plan in relation to its own program of teaching about the United Nations and recommended that the National Commission approve the appointment of three of its members to serve for one year on the NEA Advisory Committee for the Service. George D. Stoddard, president of the University of Illinois and chairman of the National Commission, has issued the following statement in support of the new Service: "The United Nations Education Service has been established in response to the need for information about the United Nations and to encourage contacts between education and the United Nations. "In these times of crisis it is evident that a better international understanding must be developed. So important is this need that 'The United Nations and its Specialized Agencies' has been made the theme of the Third National Conference for UNESCO which will convene in New York in September. "If not in the schools of the nation, where can the necessary foundation of such understanding be built up? Who can excel our teachers in this task of imparting to the next generation an understanding of the problem? "The difficulties heretofore have been the lack of good teaching materials and an absence of organized contacts between schools and the United Nations. But now these difficulties have been lessened. The United Nations Education Service of the NEA is ready to help meet the demands for increased citizen participation in world affairs. "I sincerely hope that teachers will take advantage of this unusual opportunity to contribute to a free world." |