Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign Affairs Oral History Project ELEANORE RAVEN-HAMILTON Interviewed by: Edward Dillery Initial Interview Date: November 18, 2009. Copyright 2012 ADST TABLE OF CONTENTS Background Born and raised in Ne York City BA from Rosemont College, Rosemont, PA, %une 1956 MA from American University of Beirut, ,ebanon, %une 196. Entered the Foreign Service in 195. A1100 Course Ne York City3 State Department 4isitors5 Center 195. ,eader 6rants 7ashington, DC, State Department3 4oluntary 4isitors Program 195.11959 Operations Marriage Resignation from the Foreign Service 1959 Ne Delhi, India3 7ife of USAID Officer, %ac9ues Raven 195911962 ,iving 9uarters and environment Birth of son Anglo1Indians Daily living Travels US presidential elections 7ashington, D.C. 7ife of USAID officer 196211964 Beirut. ,ebanon3 7ife of United Nations Development Officer 19641196. American University of Beirut, Masters degree studies Children5s education Environment The American University of Beirut State Department Arabic language program ,ebanese ethnic and religious mix 1 Palestinians San Francisco, California3 7ife of 7ells Fargo Officer 196.11969 Head start program Teacher, French1American Bilingual School Paris, France3 19691 19.5 Teacher, American School of Paris Teacher, Marymount school Medical problems Application to rejoin the Foreign Service Divorce Re1joined the Foreign Service 19.5 State Department3 Foreign Service Institute (FSI); Farsi 19.5 ,anguage training Family obligations Teheran, Iran3 Consular Officer 19.5119.. Transiting Beirut Environment 4isa volume Children5s schooling Corruption OPEC oil ministers Aidnapped by BThe %ackalC SA4AA (Secret Police) Capital flight Petrochemical industry The Shah Iranian students in US Ambassador Richard Helms Housing Mohammed Mossadegh Shah5s BcoronationC Persepolis celebrations of 2.500 years of Persian monarchy Economy Religions Farsi language Russia Anti1Sha students University of Teheran Terrorist groups 6ro ing unrest Ahomeini return President Carter visit 2 Abadan cinema fire Shah5s illness State Department3 4isa Office, Bureau of Consular Affairs 19..119E0 4isa security issues OPEC oil ministers5 captured Carlos RamireF (The %ackal) Palestinian ,iberation OrganiFation (P,O) Screening process Arab family feuds Security threats Iran 7orking 6roup Iran evacuation planning British aid in evacuations Iranian visa demands 4isa BvettingC process Henry Precht Department5s Operations Center Threats to Teheran Embassy Ambassador 7illiam Sullivan Iran revolution Shah admitted to US Embassy seiFed Canadian Embassy assistance Iranian local employees ChargG Bruce ,aingen Failed rescue attempt US visas in Iranian passports canceled Release of Teheran Embassy hostages Sheldon Arys ,akhdar Brahimi (Algerian diplomat) 7ork schedule Iran 6overnment Iranian citiFen visas applicants Preventing visa fraud Need for Farsi speaking officers 7eekly briefing cable to posts Arako Consulate Intervie ing visa applicants State Department3 Office of 6reek Affairs 19E0119E3 Mort D orken 6reek lobby Constantine Aaramanlis The 6reek colonels Spiro Agne 3 Ano ledge of 6reek history 4oice of America Cyprus partition 6reek elections Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou Socialist Party (PASOA) Ambassador Monteagle Stearns Presodent5s congatulatins, message SecState Alexander Haig visit 6reece re1integration into NATO European Union US16reek Agreements 7ork load P,O move to Tunis State Department3 4isa Office, Bureau of Consular Affairs 19E3119E5 Experience in BIron CurtainC country visits Atmosphere Economy Restrictions Surveillance Belfast, Ireland3 Consul 6eneral 19E5119E. Sectarian violence BPeace 7allC Anglo1Irish Agreement Husband5s activities Northern Ireland reaction Security Environment Political/Religious Parties Exchange programs 4isa applicants 6erry Adams Political leaders 6erry Adams Ireland/Northern Ireland relations E9ual housing Prisons Human Rights Catholic1Protestant marriages Schools Fair Employment and E9ual Opportunity la s Religious population divide Correymeela Center ,oss of industry 4 Universities State Department3 Office Director, BENE,UI Affairs 19E.11990 Belgium, Netherlands and ,uxembourg Investments in US President Bush visit to French/Dutch Caribbean Island 6reenpeace Dutch Caribbean Islands Dutch Possession legal status 6round ,aunched Cruise Missiles (6,CMs) Fall of Berlin all effects Dutch orld1 ide influence Mladic Hague trial Bosnia 7ar Diplomatic Exchange Program Dutch Environmental Issues State Department3 Oceans and Environmental and Scientific 199011993 Service Bureau South Pacific Regional Environment Program (SPREP) SPREP membership Diverse cultures 6reenpeace Environmental issues Extinguishing oil firs United Nations National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA) Territorial aters Jodiacs International data sharing Persian (Arab) 6ulf Oslo Peace Accords Arab/Israel ater issues Oil spills Monterrey meeting State Department, Foreign Service Institute (FSI); ,abor Officer 1993 Training The Hague, The Netherlands3 ,abor officer 19931199. Scope of responsibility ,abor Union federations Union/6overnment on ages and issues FN4 Union Embassy/Union relations 6lobaliFation 5 Rotterdam unemployment US/Dutch union relations 6,OBE project Marijuana legal issue Dutch treatment of drug use and addiction Money laundering State Department3 Bureau of International Narcotics and ,a 199.12000 Enforcement %onathan 7iner Transnational International Crime ,yon 6roup membership Cyber crime and paperless records %urisdiction issues Russians ,yon 6roup issues ,yon 6roup Record keeping Retirement 2000 State Department3 7AE (7hen Actually Employed) employee 200012004 European Bureau issues Retirement Comments on life in the Foreign Service INTERVIEW Q: It is November 18, 2009, this is Ed Dillery, and I will be interviewing Eleanore Raven-Hamilton. A small personal note, we were members of the same Foreign Service -100 class when I knew her as Eleanore Mc-roarty. Now we will start with the .uestions. So first could you tell us something about your early life, when you were born and where and something about your family. RA4EN1HAMI,TON3 I as born in 1935 in Brooklyn, Ne York. My father as a la yer, hile my mother as a homemaker. Both my parents ere active in the community and church. I came from a Catholic family, mostly Irish descent. My mother5s family had been in Ne England and Ne York for generations, and my father5s family had been resident in Brooklyn for at least six generations. In 1E9E, my paternal great grandfather played a role in making Brooklyn, once a separate city reachable by ferry from the island of Manhattan, a borough of Ne York City. The Brooklyn Bridge as built to connect Brooklyn to Manhattan, and my great grandfather, a member of the Brooklyn Borough Council as one of those voting to approve it. 6 My father, the oldest of five, graduated from Fordham la school in 1930, right after the 1929 stock market crash. 7hile he as in la school, he orked at one of the oldest la firms in Brooklyn and remained there for most of his career, eventually becoming a senior partner. ,ater, he became a %ustice in the State (Ne York) Supreme Court 11 in Ne York State the Court of Appeals in Albany is actually the highest state court. He also taught at the American Institute of Banking and as very active in the Democratic Party as his forebears had been. My father as a legal advisor to the Democratic Party and also ran several campaigns, including Averill Harriman5s campaign in Aings County (Brooklyn), hen he as candidate for governor. My father as also very active in community, professional and church groups and on an a ard from the National Conference of Christians and %e s, as ell as a ards from the Boy Scouts and other community groups. My mother as born in Manhattan and educated in Brooklyn, here she graduated from Berkeley Institute. She as a leader in church groups and in the community, especially orking ith omen5s groups to alleviate poverty. She also on an a ard from the National Conference of Christians and %e s. I as the oldest of four. I had a brother t o years younger, ho as killed in an automobile accident in 1965. My sister, five years younger than I am, has an MA in Education and has retired as a reading specialist in the Ne York public school system. She lives in Manhattan and is married to a la yer. They have t o children and three granddaughters. My brother, ten years younger than I am, lives in Connecticut. He started in the business side of radio and television and as one of the founders of MT4. Then, he orked at Citibank on its capital markets portfolio. No , he is a partner in an investment management firm. His ife orked for a non profit in Stamford, Connecticut, finding affordable housing for people orking in the area. They have three daughters and seven grandchildren. I have t o sons and three grandchildren. One of my sons has an MA in History and teaches in a public high school in 4allejo, California, here he coaches the team that takes part in the regional Academic Decathlon. His ife has an MA in special education, has orked in journalism, and is no in the education field in Marin County, California. My other son is a practicing architect and ecological urbanist. He is Associate Professor at the Ne York Institute of Technology. He has an MA in sustainable urbanism from Cambridge University and is ,EED certified. His ife has a Ph.D. in engineering and has developed soft are applications to help cities maintain their ater pipes. T o of