Black/African Americans have been disconnected from their African ancestry for centuries. Operation Crossroads Africa, founded in 1958, continues to connect and build bridges between North America and Africa.
This presentation examines how prominent an African American Minister, Dr. James H. Robinson, founded Operation Crossroads Africa, the organization President John F Kennedy modeled to start the US Peace Corps program.
John F. Kennedy addressing Peace Corps volunteers
The Vision of Dr. James H. Robinson
The man who was the visionary behind Crossroads Africa, Dr. James Robinson, in many ways has not gotten the recognition he deserves. Dr. Robinson first traveled to Africa in 1954 on behalf of the Presbyterian Foreign Missions Board and saw sweeping changes taking place throughout the continent. He went to Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, where he was introduced to several giants in African history: Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, who later served as the first president of Nigeria.
In some traditional West African religions, the crossroads represent a place of power where anything can happen. It is fitting then that the Reverend Dr. James Herman Robinson chose to name his organization Operation Crossroads Africa because he recognized Africa as being at a figurative crossroads where one road led to rebirth and the other led to crisis. What is remarkable, however, is that the crisis he saw on the horizon was not for Africa per se but for Christian missionary efforts in Africa.
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In 1954, Robinson correctly identified the need for a different type of Christian mission centered around a holistic understanding of people’s needs and respect for their agency. It was clear to James Robinson that missionaries could be tossed out just like the agents of the various crowns that had formerly controlled African countries.
It was during this time that he first developed the idea for a program to bring young college students to Africa. The idea brought together his experiences in Harlem with a practical needs-based theology and his experiences talking to people about what their needs were and building partnerships from there.
Early Life and Influences
James Herman Robinson was born in 1907 in a poor community in Knoxville, Tennessee. He eventually went to high school in Cleveland, Ohio and graduated from Lincoln University near Philadelphia in 1935 as class valedictorian. He was president of the Class of 1938 at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. Also, in 1938 Robinson founded the Church of the Master in Harlem. He was described as a dynamic preacher and one of the most well-known personalities in New York City.
He also organized and directed the Morningside Community Center, which had day care and after-school youth activities, two summer camps (Rabbit Hollow and Forest Lake in New Hampshire), a credit union, and a psychiatric counseling service. Rev. Robinson was ahead of his time as he advocated for a practical holistic theology centered around caring for people’s mind, body, and soul.
As a member of the NAACP and the Urban League, in 1952 Robinson was identified by the US State Department as a subversive, and threatened with the revocation of his passport. Much later, he would be called to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee, and would be named in the FBI's investigation of the sociologist St. Faith of Our Fathers Living Still (Church of the Master, NY).
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The Genesis of Operation Crossroads Africa
After his 1954 trip, Dr. Robinson started talking to students at colleges across the United States. In 1957, talking to students at Occidental College in California, he shared his vision of young people who would engage in experiences with counterparts. The students said, We’re ready to go. Operation Crossroads Africa was established in 1958.
In the summer of 1958, the pilot program started out in five countries of West Africa, with 75 participants.
Operation Crossroads Africa group in Ghana, 1964
Impact and Legacy
Dr. Robinson’s goal is to complement and help the new African nations build infrastructure and improve education. Over the years, OCA volunteers built water systems, healthcare centers, schools, orphanages and communities centers for villages throughout Africa.
In 1960, when John F. Kennedy was elected, he learned about the work of Operation Crossroads Africa. He also had an opportunity to meet Haskell Ward, who first went to Africa with Operation Crossroads in 1962. Ward went on to serve as a Volunteer with the Peace Corps in Ethiopia 1963-65 and as director of recruitment and selection for Operation Crossroads Africa 1967-69.
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There is no doubt Dr. Robinson had a tremendous influence on the creation of the Peace Corps. In June 1962, President Kennedy hosted the Crossroaders on the South Lawn at the White House.
Talking about some of the many difficulties facing emerging nations in Africa - and the greatest concerns among the leaders of a dozen new nations he had met - Kennedy said, “The problems they face today, in every case, they have told me, were far more difficult than the problems they faced in the fight for independence.
Operation Crossroads Africa Volunteers in Togo, 1969
WHAT CROSSROADS HAS BEEN DOING for a number of years led to the establishment of what I consider to be the most encouraging indication of the desire for service - not only in this country, but all around the world - that we have seen in recent years.
Dr. Robinson became an advisor for the Peace Corps. Crossroads is still in existence and working to promote understanding of Africa and the African diaspora. Unfortunately, because of the pandemic, no volunteer groups went out last year or this year. My hope and my prayer is that there will be teams going out in 2022.
After a lifetime of service to the church and the world, Rev. James Herman Robinson passed on in 1972. We are fortunate to have in the holdings of PHS an audio tape of his funeral service. We also hold a 1963 set of interviews with Robinson and participants in the Youth Ecumenical Caravan in Africa.
Through Operation Crossroads Africa, Drs. Charlotte and David Brown worked on medical projects and helped run several hospitals in Africa, in particular the Eastern Clinic in Mobai, Sierra Leone from 1962 to the present.
Key Figures Associated with Operation Crossroads Africa
The following is a list of key figures associated with Operation Crossroads Africa:
- James H. Robinson
- John F. Kennedy
- Haskell Ward
- Charlotte and David Brown
In 1961, Robinson was appointed consultant on African affairs for the United Presbyterian Church. During 1965, by appointment of President Johnson, Robinson served as Chairman of the Youth Activities Committee of the International Cooperation Year and as Chairman of the Youth Section of the resulting White House Conference, which Johnson established to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the United Nations.
The Operation Crossroads Africa records will be useful for researchers who are interested in studying the relationship between private organizations and cultural exchange programs, particularly as they relate to Africa.
Exhibit - Photographing Operation Crossroads: The Perry M.
Although nuclear testing and nuclear weapons raises many concerns, Operation Crossroads was considered a success for Photographic Unit 1.52. Extensive amounts of still images and film footage were captured during and after the tests.
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