PC-839 Submission Guidelines

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Submission Guidelines
Thank you for your interest in contributing to the Peace Corps 50 th Anniversary Archive.
Your contribution will help ensure that the Peace Corps' rich legacy of service is
maintained for future generations.
We are currently accepting online submissions only, via the 50th anniversary website
www.peacecorps.gov/50. Your local copy shop or photo developer can assist you with
digitizing photos, negatives and slides. Many libraries and community centers also have
scanning and word processing equipment available for their patrons. Please follow the
technical specifications for digitization in the Photographs section below.

Stories
Telling Your Peace Corps Story is a great way to assure Americans have a better
understanding of the Peace Corps experience. It also helps bring to life the people
you've known, and the ways in which your experience has changed people's lives,
including your own.
Your story can be up to 1,500 words, and should be about some aspect of your Peace
Corps service. One story per contributor, please. At this time we are accepting stories in
English only.

Story Ideas
• It may be helpful to use the Peace Corps mission-to promote peace and
friendship-as a general guide for the subject matter of your story. You also
might want to think about how your story fulfills one or more of the Peace Corps'
three goals:
1. Helping the people of interested countries in meeting their need for
trained men and women.
2. Helping promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the
peoples served.
3. Helping promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of
Americans.
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Use your Peace Corps journals or diaries to get inspiration for your story.

Journals are a good source to jog your memory about a particular place or

incident. They also contain details that present a good sense of place and

atmosphere.

Look at photos from your service-they often help evoke memories of certain
experiences, or details about a particular place and time.
Think about your host community. Was there a moment when you realized that
you had been accepted as a member of the community?
Reflect upon your Peace Corps experience and what it meant to your life after
your service. What impact did it have on you? Did it open new doors in your

career or personal life? What has it meant to you over time?

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You can also browse other stories on the Peace Corps website for additional
inspiration, and see how other people have put their personal stories together.

Editorial Tips
• Capture what was unique, surprising, or important about your experience.
• Less is more-tell us your tale in 1,500 words or less.
• Have fun with it-and feel free to use humor, if it's appropriate to the subject.
• Make it personal-it's your Peace Corps experience.

Please note: do not include any personal identifying information such as Social
Security numbers, phone numbers, e-mail addresses or street addresses in the text of
your story.

Save your story as a Word or PDF document using the following file naming
convention:
FirstnameLastname_story. fi letype
Ex.

LillianMcCarthy_story.doc
JamesSmith_story. pdf

You can upload your story using the online submission form.

Photographs
Photographs can offer a glimpse of what your Peace Corps service was really like: your
everyday life, special events in your host community, the people you lived and worked
with, and the landscapes that shaped your world.
Up to 5 photos (color or black and white) will be accepted per contributor. Please note
thai ",,,'e r.an only accept your photos if you are the copyright holder. Generally speaking,
if you took the photo, or if you are the subject of the photo and it was taken using your
camera, the copyright would belong to you unless you have assigned the copyright to a
third party, such as a book publisher.
Editorial Tips
• Consider selecting a representative set of photos rather than focusing on one
subject or one type of shot (landscapes, portraits).
• Submit photos of daily life, work-related activities, food and transportation,
cultural celebrations, etc... ; please do not submit photos of vacation travel away
from your site.
• Did you return to your host country years (or decades!) after completing your
service? Photos of RPCVs reconnecting with host country friends and colleagues
are especially welcome.
• Think about a meaningful title for each of your photos-there is a space in the
photo submission form for this. Titles must not exceed 80 characters.

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Use the designated space in the submission form to describe the photo as fully
as you can; only you can provide the context of the photo and the details that will
bring it to life.

Technical Requirements
• Scanned photo resolution should be 300 dpi (dots per inch)
• Do not send .zip files
• Do not paste photographs into an MS Word document; send only the

graphics files

• File types .jpg and .tit are accepted
• File size of at least 2M B is preferred
• Save files according to this file naming convention:
FirstnameLastname_photonumber.filetype

Ex.

LillianMcCarthy_photo 1.jpg
LiliianMcCarthy_phot02. tif

You can upload up to 5 photos using the online submission form.

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