John Paradis Stacy L. Pearsall
Published: 3/11/2021 3:46:00 PM
Sixty years ago this month, President John F. Kennedy signed an executive order that established the Peace Corps. Today, over six decades, more than 240,000 Americans have served in 142 countries.
Ted Nelson, a kid from Natick, was in his senior year at Amherst College on Oct. 26, 1963, when President Kennedy came to campus to speak at the groundbreaking of Robert Frost Library and to honor the poet Robert Frost.
“The problems which this country now faces are staggering, both at home and abroad,” Kennedy said that day, asking Amherst students to live a life of service. Ted was in the audience, captivated.