Interview with Hodge Fuller
Hodge Fuller is also an active member of the McLean County UNA. In fact, he has been in charge of the yearly gravesite tribute to Adali Stevenson for the past thirty years. The service is held each year on the Sunday before UN Day (October 24). He is also a former president of the UNA-McLean County Chapter, having served three consecutive terms in the early 1970s.
Q: What about you Mr. Fuller. How did you become involved in the UNA?
A: I got out of the army in 1956. I think I was just going to live and work here. I was interested in civic work. When I joined Jaycees, someone suggested I join (the UNA). It wasn't a driving passion or anything. I know Buffie Ives was involved in a lot of the recruitment of all of the members.
Q: Did you ever speak with her?
A: Well I got quite close to her because I do the Stevenson gravesite service. My experience with her over the years was that she certainly came on strong and not everybody liked her. I did, I liked her a great deal. She'd tell you what to do….there wasn't a matter of asking. She had a lot to do with the early recruitment of the chapter.
Q: What kinds of things did you participate in?
A: I never really understood the depth of the group. But I remember the night we had the meeting with Joel Brooks…he went in to the World Health Organization that the UN has, wiping out leprosy and combating AIDS.
What happened to me was when you get in any organization somebody says you should be president. Somebody did say that, and I did.
Someone assigned me to the duty of putting a wreath on Stevenson's grave on UN Day. What we usually do is on UN Day we get a class to come out to do a few readings and have a group sing as part of the ceremony. Well, I belong to Second Presbyterian Church and I have a choir. I got one of the ministers—and he had 2 little boys growing up—so I took one of the little [“white”] boys and we went out to Western Avenue [Community Center] and picked a little "black" boy to participate in the wreath laying ceremony. I went out and bought them matching outfits. We got one of the choirs to come down and it was a very nice service. I thought it worked out well. The next year then they came and said “Would you like to do this again,” and I said, “Only if it is held on Sundays so that there is a respectable amount of people available to honor Stevenson.” Who's going to come out on a Tuesday afternoon? It's been thirty-some years now and I still do it and I love it!
I find now that the students really remember this thing that we do. It was just last Sunday when a little boy was telling me that he looked down at his shoes and said, "you know, I really like these shoes. These are the shoes that Hodge got me. Hodge has good taste." But I didn't have anything to do with the shoes. I just take the parents and pay for the clothes.
A couple of them have been in prison. A little boy had a lot of trouble with drugs. Well, when he got out, he called and we had dinner. So, at a grassroots level I feel like that's peacekeeping.
I remember one year when Buffie got down on her hands and knees in front of the kids and she said, "You don't know what you've done"—meaning that she valued the fact that the kids took part in preserving the memory of her brother. I am finding out that a lot of these kids somehow and someway put UN in their minds. They know that they've been a part of something.
The reason I stay involved is that I just love doing it! I'll be 70 this summer and I'll keep doing it. I just do it. I figure if somebody doesn't like it they'll tell me, but nobody ever has. I love it al, especially the shopping expedition. It's expensive, but it's my contribution.
Q: How did Stevenson impact your role in the UNA?
A: He inspired me. He could just speak so eloquently. Actually back in 1949, Lloyd Pfautsch was at [Illinois] Wesleyan [University] and he was the first to commission and work with the Collegiate Choir. He produced one number based on Adlai Stevenson's 1952 election speech. It was called “Litany for America.” He had six points that were just beautiful. The litany was based on these six points. It's really beautiful. Every couple of years they perform the litany at the gravesite service. I admire Stevenson. I never had a chance to meet him, yet I admired his statesmanship.
Q: Why do you feel that the gravesite service is so important to the local community?
A: Adlai is from here. I admired him so much. I think it's good for these kids to know that he was from our town. It's just something that's been satisfying.
Q: What's been your greatest accomplishment that you've had or the local chapter has had since you've been a member?
A: I don't know that anything really stands out. Our membership is going down. But, all clubs in the area are taking a toll. The shriners, and the other civic groups have decreased membership.
Q: What roles did the local chapter have in establishing the Stevenson lecture series?
A: That was a foundation they set up to get corporate and private contributions. They brought Dr. [Arthur] Goldberg out here [in 1966] by helicopter. I remember in 1985 when Henry Kissinger came to speak. He was one of the most delightful people. The money for the Foundation was used for speakers and the Fell Lecture Series.
[Note: The Adlai E. Stevenson Memorial Lecture Series: The First Twenty-Five Years 1966-1991, edited by John K. Boaz, is available from the McLean County Historical Society at the McLean County Museum.]
Q: What impact has the McLean County UNA had on promoting international peace and justice in our community? How do you make local global connections in your lives?
A:I keep up with current events and do the gravesite service each year with the kids and the church choirs. I very much enjoy it when the Model UN kids get back from New York each year. I think Bill Glass said it best "the nonviolent approach and integration of young versus old, and old versus young lacks social esteem, especially when countering bigoted thinking." But, we old folks can learn from the young people.
Q: What obstacles have you encountered in promoting the goals and objectives of the local UNA?
A: There's not enough recruiting at the college level. Not enough young people are interested in the group. There are generally no students in attendance. But the publicity needs to be better. Many believe we should do away with the UN…I like to align with activities that help people. That's why we need the UN, so that things continue to work. People make it work. People right here in McLean County.