The guides are the first United Nations staff member people will interact with.”
For the tens of millions of people from around the world who have visited the headquarters, former Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon asserted, the guides are “the first, and often only, United Nations staff member they will interact with.” Guides, then, have had an enormous influence on the public’s understanding of the UN.
The Public Reacts
The public has reacted in a myriad ways to taking a tour of the UN. Here is a small sample of their reactions.
Postcard from Ernest and Li to Mr and Mrs Vigné in West Berlin, Federal Republic of Germany, 1954 [Dexter Fergie’s collection]
Visitors from around the world poured into the UN headquarters and reported back to their friends and family from abroad. In 1954, Ernest and Li communicated to Mr. and Mrs. Vigné in West Berlin, Federal Republic of Germany, that their tour had been an “unforgettable,” “great experience.”
Translation: “Our second postcard shows you more of the great experience which will be unforgettable for everyone. Ernest & Li” translated by Marc Nelles
Postcard from Ray to Freddy Harrington in Massachusetts, United States, 1962 [Dexter Fergie’s collection]
This postcard, sent from New York to Freddy Harrington in Massachusetts captures the public’s understanding of the UN.
“This is the United Nations—where men from all countries all over the world meet to keep peace and to do helpful things for needy children and other people everywhere on earth.”
Postcard from Arlene and Dick to Mr. and Mrs. E. A. Miller in Illinois, United States, 1960 [Dexter Fergie’s collection]
Some people, like this couple, enjoyed the tour so much that they would go on multiple tours in a single day.
Postcard from Joan to Mr. C. Kennedy and Mr. F. Kennedy in Southampton, England, 1964 [Dexter Fergie’s collection]
After taking a tour, Joan wrote to the Kennedys in England in 1964, about the international character of the UN: “We have just been shown over this building which is actually on international ground—hence the stamp. There are crowds here of many nations, they estimate that 8,000 visit the U.N. building each day.”
Postcard from Laura to Mrs. S. R. Davis in Ontario, Canada, 1966 [Dexter Fergie’s collection]
After taking a tour in 1966, Laura relayed to Mrs. S. R. Davis in Ontario, Canada, that she “found the whole place fascinating & thrilling both in concept & appearance.”
Bobbie Brookes Nation [Photo Bobbie Brookes Nation]
The tours could leave an indelible mark on some visitors.
For Bobbie Brookes Nation, an American guide from the 1960s, it was a school trip to the UN that planted a dream to one day work for the UN.
“As a kid, I was thrilled that this place existed where people would work very hard to bring peace to the world and stop nuclear bombs.”
Louise Laheurte [Photo UN]
Louise Laheurte, a French-Belgian of Chinese descent who worked as a guide in the late 1960s at the start of a long flourishing career at the UN, discusses how visitors have often been taken aback by how much they learn from the guides.
“Some people are surprised at how much they find out through the guides what the UN does.”
Tour guide with children [Photo UN]
Family vacations to New York have often included tours of the UN. Lena Dissin, a guide from Sweden, credits a transatlantic family trip that she took as having inspired her to become a guide.
The photo depicts an unnamed guide giving a tour to a group of children in the 1960s–the same decade that Dissin’s family visited the UN.
“I was eleven-years old at the time and we went on a tour. I thought it was just magical. That’s when I first got this dream that this is what I want to do in my life.”
Lenora Sampson to Karen LeShufy, June 19, 1968 [Courtesy of Karen LeShufy]
Children often write to their UN guides, thanking them for teaching them about the UN.
General Assembly Hall [Photo UN/VSS]
On a daily basis, guides have stirred the public’s emotions about war, peace, and the need for cooperation.
Yuichi Takamatsu, a Japanese guide who worked in the late 1990s and early 2000s, discusses how he did this regularly in the General Assembly hall.
“When you open the door—when I took them to the General Assembly hall—it’s an interesting moment. It’s a moment when people become quiet. There’s some kind of aura. It makes you humble. The world is big and you’re presence is small, but we need to work together under the logo flag of the United Nations.”
Trusteeship Council [Photo UN]
Israeli-American tour guide Jonathan Mishal describes how during an architecture tour one visitor in the Trusteeship Council suddenly understood how decisions about independence could be shaped by seating arrangements.
“People were touched by understanding how architecture affects decision-making.”
Guides in the Limelight
The tours may have just been of the UN headquarters, but the guides’ influence has extended far beyond Turtle Bay. Guides have been the focus of journalists covering the UN. They have delivered speeches on their work and international affairs to audiences across the United States. And they have even served as the main characters in books and films.
Dennis the Menace, Big Bonus Series, no. 184 (1979)
Not only did real people visit the UN headquarters in droves but so too did some very famous fictional characters, including Yogi Bear and Dennis the Menace.
“Yogi Bear Visits the U.N.,” no. 1349 (1961)
A Global Affair (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1964) [Dexter Fergie’s collection]
French actor Michèle Mercier plays a UN guide opposite Bob Hope in the 1964 romantic comedy A Global Affair.
Phyllis A. Whitney, The Highest Dream [David McKay, 1956]
In 1956, young-adult fiction author Phyllis A. Whitney published The Highest Dream, a novel that tells the coming-of-age story of a young American college student who spends a gap year working as a guide.
Lisa, the main character, explains to her mom why she wants to work as a guide: “I’d like to work as a guide here at the UN. I took the tour and loved it. Our guide cared about what she was doing. She gave a thrilling talk about the Economic and Social Council. If I could do something like that...”
Frederick Kohner, Gidget Goes New York [Dell Publishing Co., 1968]
Gidget Grows Up (ABC, 1969) [still copied from IMDB]
Gidget, the protagonist in a wildly successful franchise created by Austrian author Frederick Kohner, became a UN guide in both the novel Gidget Goes New York and the made-for-TV film Gidget Grows Up.
“Instead of brooding over one hard-headed guy,” Gidget narrates in the film, “I decided to concentrate on the three-and-a-half billion other people in the world.”
“Girl Guides of the U.N.,” in Treasure Chest of Fun & Facts, vol. 20, iss. 11 (January 28, 1965), (available at https://www.scprocedure.org/).
The work of the UN guides was depicted in a four-page segment in the comic series Treasure Chest of Fun & Facts.
“The millions who visit United Nations Headquarters are shown by a unique corps of guides–all girls, more than half of them come from foreign lands, and every year hundreds apply for the sixty-five jobs available.”
Local governments and international clubs across the United States treated guides as celebrities, rolling out the red carpet for them, inviting them to deliver presentations, conduct photo-ops, and participate in meet-and-greets with locals.
New York News, Coloroto Magazine, July 31, 1960.
History of over half a century, United Nations Tour Guides
Nippon in America, Winter 2002
Click on the images to see the english translation
Guess, where am I from?
“Your fate in your hands - Guess, where I am from?”. From Kobieta i ?ycie, December 2002
Poland’s President Kwasniewski was visibly floored when she greeted him in clear, concise Polish while the Prime minister, Cimoszewicz, quickly proceeded to engage her in discussions.
This is in New York at the United Nations Headquarters during the Millennium Summit in 2000. This year the General assembly session is attended by one hundred and sixty heads of States from around the Globe.
We later met with B’lala Nawurah (Beatrice), known to those close to her as Lala, a name from her native Poland where her mother hails from, at her home in Bloomfield NJ just outside of Manhattan.
She recounts her path to the largest organization in the world: a friend had alerted her to a job opening in the Public Information Unit, twenty-four multinationals were selected out of four hundred interviewed.
Selection was based on knowledge of the geopolitical climate and current affairs on an international level as well as interpersonal skills and knowledge of various languages.
Lala’s encounters with audiences usually follow a predictable pattern where curious guests often inquire about her ethnic background. She has quickly learned not to include this in the introductory portion of the talk lest it provoke further curious questions. At the end of the hour, she prompts her guests to “Guess where I am from.” Nobody has ever guessed her Polish and Ghanaian heritage.
Her dad moved to Poland from Ghana in 1964 for studies during which he met and married her mother, Lidia Nawurah. Dad, who is also present for the interview in Bloomfield, gives a very interesting synopsis of his transition to life in Poland and then their move to Ghana when Lala was still a child. This connection with both sides of her roots offers a fitting preparation for work at the UN and the larger world where multiculturalism provides an edge.
Lala is also pursuing medical studies and dreams of a merger of her two passions, medicine, and work at the UN, in the future.
A Turkish guide will now serve at the United Nations Headquarters in New York
“A Turkish guide will now serve at the United Nations Headquarters in New York”. From 贬ü谤谤颈测别迟, March 2005.
The Turkish guide named Suna Pallek, who will also help Turkish tourists at the United Nations building, which is flooded by tourists from all over the world every day, has been carefully selected among 300 applicants and succeeded to be among 25 hired guides. Suna Pallek's husband, who is a German citizen, works also at the UN as a legal officer.
Intensive training
Ms. Pallek, who stated that she had she followed international affairs carefully, even though she completed her degree in economics in Germany. She said that the guides had undergone an intensive training for 3 months and that they received a briefing every morning to be able to inform the visiting tourists about the current issues on the agenda of the UN.
Not many Turkish visitors
Suna Pallek, who speaks English, German and Turkish as her mother tongue, stated that in the past, there was no demand for a Turkish-speaking guide at the UN as not many Turkish speaking guests visited the UN and those who came were Turks who spoke English and therefore participated in English tours.
Expressing that being a guide at the UN and learning about current international political issues everyday lead to a wealth of knowledge. Suna Pallek said that the former US Presidential candidate Elizabeth Dole was once a guide at the UN and later became a United States Senator.
Text under photo: The Turkish guide Suna Pallek was born in Germany, is married and has one child.
Guided Tours, Today and Tomorrow
While the aim and even the route of the guided tours have not changed much over the decades, guides continue to find new ways to tell the story of the UN and to reach more and more people. In recent years, the Visitor Centre has developed specialised thematic tours, built successful partnerships, and created innovative products in the aftermath of major events. Seventy years may have passed since the first guided tour, but the work of the guides remains as important as ever.
Chilren's tour in the Kids' corridor [Photo UN]
A special child-friendly “Kids? Corridor” was set up to welcome young visitors. It features wall-sized world maps, mounted flags of the Security Council’s 15 members,? an actual refugee tent and much more.? Interactive games with the tour guides, quizzes and role-playing help children better understand the work of the UN and how it relates to their daily lives.
The Kids Corridor became an instant success. Though it was put on hold as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is picking up again with new and exciting features.
?
Black History Tour in front of the Ark of Return [Photo UN]
The Black history-themed tours provide a unique look at how the lives of people of African descent have intertwined with the mission of the United Nations, focusing especially on decolonization and the transatlantic slave trade.
Papa Thiecoro Dembele, a tour guide from Senegal, explains how the Black History tour, at the request of teachers of predominantly African-American students, was born.
“Teachers from schools from Bronx and Brooklyn—predominantly African-American students—would raise their hand and ask about slavery. They felt left out. So I sat down with my supervisor and advocated for it and we started giving the first Black History tours in February 2018.”.
Garden Tour [Photo UN]
Another successful new tour –the Garden Tour– invites visitors to explore the outdoors of the United Nations Headquarters. On this tour, visitors can stroll through the UN North Lawn, take a look at the exceptional rose garden and iconic cherry trees, and learn about the history behind unique artworks donated by Member States.
This tour, which is inspired by an Art and Architecture Tour that shows the extensive art collection at the UN Headquarters in New York, is conducted occasionally in areas off-limit to the public.
Virtual Tour [Photo UN/VSS]
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the whole organization was taken by surprise. Papa Thiecoro Dembele explains the impact of the pandemic on the guided tours and how they had to find innovative ways to continue the operation.
“The pandemic was a major shock to the operation and we had to shut down. Some of us put our heads together and came with a new product: virtual tours.”.
As the pandemic turned out to be much much longer than expected, the Visitor Centre began to offer the tour in many languages, as well as more thematically focused tours–including tours on women, Asia and the Pacific, and architecture–and one that concluded with a special briefing by a UN Expert in the field of interest to that group. Because the virtual tours have enabled people from around the world to access the UN headquarters–without ever taking an airplane or crossing a border–the Visitor Centre plans to continue to offer them, alongside in-person tours.
Photo UN/VSS
The Architecture Tour, which focuses on the design of the headquarters, is another tour developed during the pandemic. After having conducted in-person trials, the Visitor Centre is preparing to offer it to the public on a regular basis.
The UN Headquarters in New York offers unique features, and as tour guide Jonathan Mishal describes it: “The building is a marvel of modernist architecture.”
“The architecture tour started from the fact that coming into the building I fell in love with the UN headquarters immediately..
In recent years, the UN Visitor Centre in New York has strengthened its collaboration with its counterparts in Vienna, Geneva and Nairobi. The four Headquarters offer similar products and work closely to offer visitors a unique experience.
Guided tour at the Vienna International Centre. [Photo UNIS Vienna/Johanna Kleinert]
Children's tour at the UN in Vienna. [Photo UNIS Vienna/Nikoleta Haffar]
Guided tours of the UN in Vienna have been offered shortly after the Vienna International Centre (VIC) was opened in 1979. Every year, VIC welcomes more than 50,000 visitors, including many young people who participate in special programmes tailored for children. Tours are offered in English and German, but group tours can be booked in more than a dozen languages, subject to the availability of guides, covering the official UN languages and further regional and tourist languages.
Photo UN/Jean Marc Ferré
The Visitors’ Service at the United Nations Office at Geneva has been conducting tours since the 1950s. And guided tours already took place during the time of the League of Nations! With links made to the relevance of the UN’s activities to everyday life and to the Sustainable Development Goals, tour guides inform around 45,000 visitors every year about the UN and the specificities of the UN in Geneva while taking them a journey through history and the architecture of the Palais des Nations.
Photo Wiiii/Wikipedia
The UN has formed a unique partnership with the City of Hiroshima and the Hiroshima 国产AV Memorial Museum, which invites UN tour guides from New York, Geneva, and Vienna (2 per each UN Office) to a Briefing Programme in Japan every year.
The purpose of the Programme is to educate participants about the atomic bombing, the devastation it wrought and the continued dangers of a nuclear-armed world, so that this knowledge can be shared with other tour guides and UN visitors around the world.
Tour guide Ben Danieli experiencing life in the field through a virtual reality experience. [Photo UN]
In order to remain one of NYC's top attractions, the Visitor Centre is always looking for innovative and creative ways to engage the public. In the past months , there have been new additions to the Guided Tours: a revamped 国产AV and Security exhibit is on display on the 3rd floor tour route, outside of the Security Council, and a Virtual Reality experience with footage taken in field missions is being produced as an add-on for visitors at the end of their tour.
Photo UN/Mark Garten
Secretary-General António Guterres meets with UN Tour Guides on 70th Anniversary of United Nations Guided Tours.