Correspondence, manuscripts, photographs, and publications documenting Reuss' proposal for a Point Four Youth Corps and public reaction to the plan, the founding of the Peace Corps (for which he drafted the authorizing legislation), the establishment of a binational Peace Corps project with West Germany, and the establishment of Peace Corps volunteer training programs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and Marquette University. 1.6 cubic feet. Gift of Congressman Henry S. Reuss, 1981.
Henry S. Reuss (1912-2002) was a Democrat who represented the 5th Congressional District of Wisconsin in the U.S. House of Representatives, 1955-1982. He had strong interests in international affairs and the conservation of natural resources and he opposed the tactics of Wisconsin Senator Joseph R. McCarthy (Republican) that he used for weeding out alleged Communist influence in United States government.
Following Reuss' proposal and the public's reaction to a Point Four Youth Corps, Reuss authored legislation to establish the Peace Corps, which was achieved in 1961. Among the emerging nations of the underdeveloped world, President Kennedy saw the Peace Corps as a means to counter revolutionary sentiments and the then widespread notions of "Yankee imperialism."