Interview with Ellen Hendrix
Ellen Hendrix has used her professional training and passion for global issues to serve the UNA through school and church programs. She shares about influences and opportunities which have motivated her.
Q: How did you become involved in the McLean County Chapter of the UNA?
A: Well, I lived through the war, through the early [discussion about] ideas of the United Nations. The idea of a new United Nations just grabbed me after being so upset over the …League of Nations. Living through the war, I followed very closely the ideas of it. I admired Churchill and Roosevelt. The United Nations was a big deal in my life as far as world affairs were concerned. I was not a member of UNA but I was a subscriber to the monthly magazine.
Then it wasn't [until] 1952 that I went to a seminar at the UN in New York. There I had direct contact. After that, I began doing a great deal of research. I got the chance to do a workshop at my church every afternoon for a week. A group of women met at Illinois Wesleyan [University] to study the UN. In 1953 there was my first seminar in New York. I studied the United Nations when I lived in Kirkwood, Illinois. I must have read every book at Illinois State University at that time! I learned everything I could learn.
Q: What motivated your participation? Did Adlai Stevenson's life and commitment to international affairs inspire your work in the local chapter?
A: I am a great supporter of Adlai. I voted for him every time he ran for anything! It was due to his stand on international affairs and his attitude toward unfortunate people.
Q: What activities were you involved in while you were a member of UNA?
A: I have been on the board. The most [significant] contributions of mine was when we spoke to kids at elementary schools. I went out to Irving School and talked to three different groups. I tried to tell them a little bit about the UN, and many of the kids were quite interested. The most interesting thing was that they were prepared. The kids covered the halls with projects on other countries in preparation for the visit by Ellen and other UNA volunteers. That was four or five years ago [1995-96]. The visit was important because if we don't start with the younger ones, they're never going to know about what the UN does!
Q: In what ways did you reach out to the community locally to promote the awareness of the United Nations? What are some seeds we can plant to help younger people understand the UN better?
A: I spoke to schools. I suppose films are helpful. UNICEF is a good starting point with children because most of them know something about UNICEF. Through their church or in school there are collections. The most popular time to collect with the schools is during Halloween. When UNICEF made its start outside of New York, the churches promoted the fund. We tried to contact all the classes in the schools. We went from classroom to classroom to tell the kids about the United Nations. We explained UNICEF and encouraged them not to go trick-or-treating on their own until we had our goal for the UNICEF collection. We were sending the kids out to collect. After they came back we had a party. The kids loved it! They took it really seriously.
Q: Why does the McLean County Chapter of the UNA annually recognize Adlai Stevenson at the gravesite?
A: The local tie. It is the one thing that we can do that has a little bit of visibility to it. And it carries on our respect for Adlai Stevenson and the things he stood for.
Q: What role did the local chapter have in establishing the Adlai E. Stevenson Memorial Lecture Series?
A: We have supported those. The president of our group [serves] on the committee to choose [speakers].
Q: What impact has the McLean County Chapter of the UNA had on promoting international peace and justice in the local community?
A: We have three main functions a year. Our meetings are not very eventful. Sometimes we have speakers but only once a year.
Q: What impact has the McLean County Chapter of the UNA had on helping make local-global connections in your life and the community's life?
A: Our group is small and I'm afraid we don't have much impact as a group in worldwide connections. There once was an idea to have speakers from our group to speak to other civic groups.
Q: How have you integrated your UNA experiences in the rest of your life?
A: Our church had the UN as one of their studies each year. I have always participated with some leadership in those. I found that the most interesting thing to me while learning about the UN is how little people really know about the UN. I mean specifically. They know it's there. But as its function became more [about] intervening in wars I think more people found out about the UN, but have not been willing to support it. They've tried to get something done and it hasn't worked out. They don't know why.
At the same time we did some study trips to Africa. One time we were in Zimbabwe. We were in a government building and going for our interview with officials. There was this stairway. But piled on this stairway there were big bags of powdered milk and it said UNICEF on them and that really gave me a thrill. To see it there ready to be distributed was great!
Q: How does belonging to UNA reflect your own values, beliefs and concerns?
A: UNA has affected my life because I grew up in it. …It's kind of like traffic out on I-55. It's going 75 m.p.h until somebody spots a police car. And then the traffic slows down.
Q: What kinds of contributions would you like to see the McLean County Chapter of the UNA make in the future?
A: I'd like to see more participation with schools. There's too much competition between teachers and other projects. They're essentially too busy to integrate UN work into their already packed plan for the year.
There needs to be more consciousness of what the UN does. I'm talking about all the organizations behind the scenes and how they make a difference. Those don't make the headlines. The organizations that make contributions to health. Their attempts to alleviate hunger and better living conditions. That needs to be stressed.