Rachel Andresen | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1907-04-08)April 8, 1907 Deerfield, Michigan, U.S. |
| Died | November 3, 1988(1988-11-03) (aged 81) South Lyon, Michigan, U.S. |
| Known for | foundingYouth for Understanding, volunteerism |
Rachel Andresen (April 8, 1907 – November 3, 1988) was an American social worker and founder ofYouth For Understanding (YFU), a non-profit organization dedicated to international exchanges of high-school students.
Andresen was born inDeerfield, Michigan on April 8, 1907.[1] She was the daughter of Reverend Earl Rice, a Methodist minister, and Josephine Mills.[2] Her parents motivated their seven children to be highly focused and productive, particularly with education. By the time Andresen was fourteen, she had read and consumed theHarvard Classics and the entire works ofShakespeare, which her father encouraged her to read.
She was very lively in high school and had participated in sports, drama, and music; she was also an accomplished pianist. Her nickname at Adrian High School was "Rollicking Rachel".[citation needed] She also did the unthinkable: she bobbed her hair, much to the dismay of her conservative parents. She graduated top of her class when she was sixteen years old. It was also at this time that she met her future husband, Henry Rose. Andresen attended theDetroit Conservatory of Music and received aBFA in music.[2]
 | This sectionneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.(January 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
After Andresen and Rose were married, she helped to support their income by giving piano lessons while he attended theUniversity of Michigan. They were one of the few married couples on campus. They had three children and Rose was beginning to establish himself in engineering when tragedy struck.
Rose died in theencephalitis epidemic of 1934, at the height of the Great Depression. Andresen was left with three children to raise alone and not many people opted to spend money on piano lessons at that time. Andresen decided that the only way she could make it was by returning to school. She then got a Bachelor's in Education fromWayne State University followed by anMaster's in Social Work from the University of Michigan in 1943.[2]
| This sectionneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.(January 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Andresen began her work with theYWCA in Detroit and also became the director ofCamp Talahi. During the rest of the year she did a lot of inner-city work in Detroit.
In 1942 she purchased a large farm house on 82 acres nearSouth Lyon, Michigan; this would become known as Pinebrook. It was transformed into both a summer camp and a hostel for international travelers year around.
Andresen met her second husband, Arvid Andresen, a Danish landscape architect, who was on excursion and stayed at the hostel.
On a late-1940s trip to Europe she pondered how to heal the damage done by World War II. Andresen became involved with theMichigan Council of Churches.[3][1] By the end of World War II, the Council was responsible for helping to re-build Europe by providing Michigan cattle and humanitarian assistance. Andresen was approached by theAnn ArborRotarians and theState Department to supervise anexchange student program in 1952 in order to help bridge the rift of post-war hatred.[2]
This began with a handful of German students who would live in Michigan for one year. The Army of the Occupation chose 75 students for the program.[4] Andresen was apprehensive of how well the concept of American families taking in students of a former enemy would be received. She managed to place all the students, many of whom barely had enough clothes to fit into one small suitcase.[5] At the beginning of the school year they stayed at Pinebrook before they went to their host families to attend high schools in various communities in Michigan. At the end of their academic year they stayed at Pinebrook again, speaking English and having been enveloped by American culture.
On the day the students left for home, hundreds of people – host families, teachers, and students from their schools – turned out to say goodbye. The students left with suitcases of new clothes, lifelong friends, and understanding.[5] Andresen realized it was impossible to hate someone (or even a country) one actually knows and understands on a family and community level. This was the basic concept ofYouth For Understanding (YFU). Andresen was YFU's founder and first executive director.[6]
The YFU program began at a very grassroots level, and evolved and snowballed into a giant organization in the 25 years Andresen was at the helm. What began with a small group of students from one country ended up as a vast and global network of peace and understanding. It became the world's largest non-profit youth exchange program by the time of her retirement in 1973.[5] She called the participants student ambassadors.[7]
In 1972, she was honored by President Nixon at a gathering celebrating the work of Youth for Understanding.[6] The following year, she was nominated for theNobel Peace Prize.[7] In 1974 she was appointed to the Commission for Volunteers in Michigan.
She championedvolunteerism,local politics andempowerment programs but she also relished having more time with her family and with her piano and her gardening. She continued to travel extensively abroad and in the states.
Andresen died on November 3, 1988, inSouth Lyon, Michigan, aged 81.[2][1]
In 1991, she was inducted into theMichigan Women's Hall of Fame.[8]