The Cincinnati CISV chapter hosted the very first Village in 1951. This inaugural village, held at Saint Edmunds Camp near Glendale (a suburb of Cincinnati), was attended by 54 eleven-year-old children from Austria, Britain, Denmark, France, Germany, Mexico, Norway, Sweden and the USA.The idea for Children’s International Summer Village (CISV) was conceived by Dr. Doris Allen in 1946. Dr. Allen was a specialist in growth and development and believed the ultimate solution for world peace started with young children. Dr. Allen and her husband, Rusty, worked nearly five years fundraising for the 1951 Village, which included paying the travel expenses for all the delegates to fly to Cincinnati, where the Allen’s lived.
The 1951 Cincinnati Village was a huge success, and two years later the Cincinnati chapter began sending delegations to other countries. John Vonderpough, a currently active Cincinnati CISV member, was sent to “Village #20” held in Norway in 1959.
Cincinnati’s CISV chapter is particularly vibrant and strong because of the tremendous amount of volunteerism from its older members – CISV is for life! Many of our current board members traveled as junior members of CISV when they were children. Many of our volunteers have children who were in CISV years ago and remain involved because of CISV’s mission and the positive influence CISV had on their children.
The Cincinnati CISV Chapter invites all adults and children to join our mission of creating a more peaceful world. We have members from all over the Greater Cincinnati area including Mason, Milford, West Chester in Ohio as well as Ft. Thomas, Kentucky. Please contact any of our board members for more information at cincinnati@cisvusa.org.