CISV USA REMEMBERS DORIS AND
RUSTY ALLEN
Prepared for CISV’s 2002 Annual international Meeting
For over fifty years, children returning from CISV
Villages have found it difficult to talk about their
experience. Words cannot describe the special spirit
that is CISV. Nor can words alone account for the lives
of Doris and Rusty Allen.
Now that Doris has finished her life’s work and joined
her husband Rusty in their next journey together, it is
appropriate to reflect on their efforts to leave this world
better than they received it. Although most of us know
the story of the birth of the CISV idea, few fully
appreciate the road Doris and Rusty traveled to bring
CISV from dream to fact.
It was Doris that was inspired while reading the New
York Times on a park bench in New York City in August
of 1946. It was an idea that she committed to writing
immediately and first spoke of in public a short time
later at a meeting of the American Psychological
Association. But it was the Allen family, Doris, Rusty
and indeed their young son Rusty, Jr., that transformed
vision to reality.
It was not easy. It was not fast. And, for several years,
setbacks were more common than success. In one of
her early efforts, Doris traveled, at her own expense, to
Mexico City in an effort to enlist support for CISV from
the recently created UNESCO. In a speech about her
journey later that year, Doris’s determination to
succeed leaps from the pages. She chose to ignore
the State Department’s suggestion that she remain
home. Though she was present as an observer, she
attended delegates’ receptions and meetings as
though she belonged. At one point, she snuck onto an
official delegates bus and took an empty seat at an
invitation-only dinner. She was unabashed in her
efforts, and not surprisingly, her unforgettable sparkle,
warmth and sincerity led to the personal contacts and
friendships that would make up for the lack of official
support. In a particularly engaging passage, Doris
revealed her fears and declared that her goal was to
remain a “social scientist with a plan instead of an
insistent woman with an idea.” And I think she would
be pleased to know that she achieved that goal every
moment of her century with us.
Although these early efforts by Doris did plant seeds
that would later bear fruit, her most important ally
remained her husband Rusty. Just as Doris gave birth
to the idea that became CISV, so too did Rusty
become its father. This was a two-parent household.
When it became clear that official support would not
be forthcoming, it was Rusty that declared the project
would go forward, but that support would have to
come from the community of Cincinnati. And this
became the model that CISV continued to follow – one
that , in hindsight, ensured that CISV would take root
as a community based, volunteer organization. Rusty
Allen became the first CISV Fundraising Chair.
Rusty and Doris made sacrifices for this dream that
should not be forgotten. They were both personal and
financial. For the 1951 Village, unlike today, all of the
delegates’ travel costs were paid by CISV. The
financial sacrifices of the Allen family were substantial
– and no doubt required a change in lifestyle by the
family. Coupled with the unending personal
commitment of their time and talent, Doris and Rusty
must be recognized as among the largest individual
donors of CISV .
Because CISV remains a work in progress, the full
measure of these sacrifices and investments by the
Allen family cannot yet be seen. But we know that
regardless of future growth, Doris and Rusty did
change the world. All over the world, in classrooms
and offices, in the halls of government and business,
children transformed by the CISV experience are now
adults. More and more CISV alumni are parents whose
own children are learning the joy of togetherness and
the sadness of departure.
CISV has now lost both its parents. Our fondness and
gratitude to Rusty are reawakened by our goodbyes to
Doris. CISV will continue its journey alone. We will
grow and change as all children must. But we cannot
escape the heritage left to us by the life work of Doris
and Rusty Allen…the passion of commitment to an
idea of merit… the willingness to sacrifice to achieve
important goals…and a great love for the personal
connections that give each CISV program, each CISV
activity, and every CISV gathering that special spirit
that we call CISV. This is our inheritance from Doris
and Rusty and one that we will treasure always.
Written by Brett Vottero
Memorial Service for Doris Twitchell Allen
CISV National Board Meeting
October 25, 2002