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The visible and outward body of the old Field Service is gone forever. It exists today only in memory (…) Yet the Field Service still lives and will live as long as the memory of any of us survives. As the years go by, opportunities will be found to perpetuate the old associations born during the war. (A. Piatt Andrew, AFS Bulletin, April 1919.) To evoke the memories of AFS’s origins in Paris is to celebrate the culture of a common enterprise that continues to help adventuresome young people from one country to discover and share in the lives of people from another. The story starts with the growth of an American Colony in Paris.
In the second half of the 19th century, under Napoleon III, Paris became a Mecca for young students of art and architecture. The American Colony became concerned for the welfare of these new arrivals, and set in motion initiatives which culminated in the creation of the American Hospital of Paris. Meanwhile, there emerged from civil war in America and from European wars, an international movement to bring civilian assistance to wounded soldiers. This was officially recognized by the Geneva Convention of 1864 and symbolized by the reversed colors of the Swiss flag. It would provide opportunities for young Americans, under the banner of the “red cross”, to assume heroic roles on the battlefields of 1870 and 1914-18. This little booklet has been designed to introduce you to the places where much of this happened --- or is commemorated. |
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Chapter One |