Catherine Milton : Interview for the John W. Gardner Legacy Oral History Project
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- Catherine Milton shares memories of her youth on the East Coast and her college years at Mount Holyoke. Milton describes how John F. Kennedy’s “Ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country” speech inspired her to become involved in public service and policy. She also recalls how witnessing injustice in the Jim Crow-era South inspired her to use her career to address problems in the world. Milton describes the trajectory of her early career, which eventually led her to Washington, DC. She recalls meeting her future husband Tom McBride and their shared passion for public service and comments briefly on McBride’s work in the Peace Corps and with Bobby Kennedy. Milton also describes meeting future Stanford president, Donald Kennedy while in DC and how he later paved the way for Milton and McBride to come to Stanford. Milton recalls the lack of attention to public policy and public service at Stanford upon her arrival and tells the story of the founding of the Public Service Center, later the Haas Center for Public Service. She remembers meeting John W. Garner for the first time and speaks about his mentorship both during her years at Stanford and later when she returned to Washington, DC. Milton describes the founding of the John Gardner Fellowship Program at Stanford and Berkeley. She concludes the interview by sharing memories of Gardner and advice he gave her as well as thoughts on his legacy.
Description
Type of resource | sound recording-nonmusical, text, still image |
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Extent | 3 audio files; 1 text file; 1 photograph |
Place | Stanford (Calif.) |
Publisher | Stanford Historical Society |
Date created | April 11, 2017 - 2017-06-29 |
Language | English |
Digital origin | born digital |
Creators/Contributors
Interviewee | Milton, Catherine | |
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Creator | Milton, Catherine | |
Interviewer | Abel, Suzanne | |
Publisher | Stanford Historical Society |
Subjects
Subject | Gardner, John W. (John William), 1912-2002 |
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Subject | Civil Society > United States |
Subject | Haas Center for Public Service (Stanford University) |
Genre | Interview |
Bibliographic information
Biographical profile | Catherine H. Milton is a leader in national service. In 1991, under President George H. W. Bush, she served as the first executive director of the Commission on National and Community Service responsible for the design and implementation of the national service programs that evolved into AmeriCorps and Learn and Serve. Under President Clinton she served as senior vice president of the Corporation of National Service. In that capacity Milton oversaw the development, launching, and funding of AmeriCorps and other national service programs, including establishing the quality standards, training, funding criteria, and evaluation. She also designed and directed the first national service leadership center, the Presidio Leadership Center. Milton is a higher education innovator. She was the founding director of the Haas Center for Public Service at Stanford University where she developed international and domestic service-learning programs. She served as Special Assistant to President Donald Kennedy of Stanford and developed Stanford in Washington, helping to create a robust public service environment that was enhanced by John W. Gardner’s return to campus in 1989 as the first Mimi and Peter Haas Professor in Public Service. She also helped to create Campus Compact, the national coalition of university presidents committed to engaging students in community service and the California Campus Compact. In 1990 she was co-founder of Youth Service California engaging more than 15,000 young people in service opportunities in the San Francisco Bay Area. As a criminal justice expert, Milton earlier held senior positions in the Treasury Department and the US Senate. She authored or co-authored six books on criminal justice issues, including Women in Policing. She served as a member of the US Attorney’s Task Force on Family Violence. While on the staff of the US Senate, she authored the first two significant pieces of legislation focused on victims of crime, both of which were enacted into law and made such innovations as the Victim Impact Statement and Victim Compensation a reality. In the non-profit realm, Milton served as executive director of Save the Children’s United States Programs for eight years and a member of the senior management team that oversaw the organization’s international operations in sixty countries. She served as president of Friends of the Children and helped to develop and implement its national expansion plan. Currently Milton is Chair Emeritus of the Board of the Firelight Foundation, which funds community-based organizations in sub-Saharan Africa. In her honor, the State of California established the annual Catherine H. Milton AmeriCorps Member Award at the twentieth anniversary of AmeriCorps. The Haas Center at Stanford also established the endowed Catherine H. Milton Fund for Student Innovation in Public Service. Milton is a 1964 graduate of Mount Holyoke College, where John W. Gardner began his career teaching psychology before World War II. |
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Transcript |
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Finding Aid | |
Location | https://purl.stanford.edu/fn056nt8035 |
Location | SC1355 |
Repository | Stanford University. Libraries. Department of Special Collections and University Archives |
Access conditions
- Use and reproduction
- The materials are open for research use and may be used freely for non-commercial purposes with an attribution. For commercial permission requests, please contact the Stanford University Archives (universityarchives@stanford.edu).
- Copyright
- Copyright © The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. All rights reserved.
Collection
John W. Gardner Legacy Oral History Project
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