Gift of Annette Gruber, October 2004.
The collection is open for research.
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MSS 565, The Delaware Council for International Visitors Records, Special Collections, University of Delaware Library, Newark, Delaware.
Processed and encoded by Evan Echols, October 2008.
The Delaware Council for International Visitors (DELCIV) was formed in May 1972 through the cooperation of the University of Delaware, the American Association of University Women (Delaware Division), and the Philadelphia Council for International Visitors and acted as a regional member of the National Council of International Visitors. The organization provided hospitality for short-term sponsored international visitors and offered housing, information, interpreter services, and escort to places of interest.
The number of visitors hosted by DELCIV averaged from 100 to 300 a year. The visitors were often from the U.S. State Department, educational foundations, and other accredited agencies. It also served as local resource center for other groups working in international programs of any kind. The organizational headquarters were housed in Wilmington, Delaware, in office space provided by the Red Cross and staffed with volunteer help. The DELCIV organizational structure consisted of four officers (president, vice president, secretary, and treasurer) and a twenty-one member board of directors. Many of the people in leadership positions were also members of the American Association of University Women.
Because of the increasing difficulty of finding younger volunteers and the changing needs of visitors, the DELCIV disbanded in early 2002. As a final act the organization donated ten thousand dollars to the University of Delaware International Student Emergency Loan Fund.
The Delaware Council for International Visitors (DELCIV) records, 1972–2001, documents the activity of a regional hospitality organization. The collection contains 1.3 linear feet of material organized topically into three series, including correspondence, board minutes, calendars, bylaws, visitor profiles, pamphlets, and other printed material relating to the organization.
Series I. consists of various printed material produced by and relating to DELCIV from 1971 to 2001, organized chronologically by year and month. In addition, the series contains the DELCIV bylaws and policy manual, additional correspondence, photographs, and information about the state of Delaware to be given to visitors.
Series II. contains the profiles and itineraries of international visitors, material specific to visitors from Africa, information regarding the visit of Polish scientists to Delaware, and letters of thanks from various international visitors.
Series III. consists of material from two organizations related to DELCIV, the International Visitors Service Council and the National Council for International Visitors, as well as material relating to the Sister Cities Program.