ABSTRACT
The story of Cold War cultural exchange has long focused on large-scale exhibitions and festivals, the tours of famous performing and visual artists, and the dissemination of films and writings by well-known film-makers and leading intellectuals. The United States (US)/Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) Cultural Exchange Agreement, which began in 1958, included performing artists, scientists, films, publications and exhibitions. The 1964 tour of the Soviet Union and Romania undertaken by the Oberlin College Choir under US State Department auspices was one such amateur tour. The 'Campus Observer' for a US weekly newspaper noted: Although the choir members are primarily concerned with the concerts, some of the most exciting moments apparently have been generated by the more informal events that create contacts with individuals rather than masses of people. The Oberlin College Choir tour demonstrates how valuable these cultural embassies proved, not only for the target audiences of these exchanges but for the emissaries as well.
