On September 11, 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower introduced the People-to-People Program, “to enhance international understanding and friendship through educational, cultural and humanitarian activities involving the exchange of ideas and experiences directly among peoples of different countries and diverse cultures.”
Two students out of Colorado University, Rolf Kjolseth, of Boulder, Colorado, and Andreas Kohlschutter, of Berne, Switzerland, decided to put Eisenhower’s idea into action by driving a jeep from the United States to Rio De Janeiro, where they planned to sell the jeep and return to the United State by ship. Along the way, they hoped to meet people from all walks of life. They called their jeep “Columbus II”.
June 24, 1957, Albuquerque Journal
The trip was sponsored by the U.S. Information Agency and the Pan American Union. The two young men were supposed to write about their trip and send their stories to several newspapers, but I can’t find any articles with their by-lines. They even had their photo take with then Vice President Richard Nixon on the steps of the U.S. Capitol, but I haven’t located a copy of that yet.
June 13, 1957, Greeley Daily Tribune
According to multiple reports, the intrepid explorers drove their early CJ-5 south from Laredo, Texas, through Mexico, into Central America and, probably via boat, made it to South America. The photos below show the pair in Colombia.
November 11, 1957, The Marion Star, Marion, Ohio,
I could not locate any information following their stop in Colombia.
At the very least, Rolf made it back to Colorado, becoming an associate professor at the University of Colorado from 1971-2011. I don’t know if Rolf is alive or not, but he does have an email address associated with UC. Whether he monitors it or not, I couldn’t say, but I sent him an email. Hopefully someone will respond.
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