Word: swifts
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...images freeze the day in the minds of the American public: Nancy Reagan, attired in brilliant red, gazing admiringly at her husband as he takes the oath of office upon a tattered family Bible: Elizabeth Ann Swift '62, the first hostage to come through the door of the plane, starting down the stairs, hanging back, then descending the ramp, talking and smiling broadly...
...weeks after the American hostages touched down in Algiers, Elizabeth Ann Swift '62 accepted an offer to come to Harvard as a fellow at the Center for International Affairs (CFIA). There Swift has spent a quiet year, intentionally avoiding the flurry of publication and publicity that has surrounded some of her fellow hostages. Last fall, when Swift shopped for Kennedy School textbooks, her name-emblazoned clipboard turned a few heads in the Coop, but for the most part she has managed to escape attention...
Within the CFIA, however. Swift has won unusual friendship and esteem from her colleagues One of the best liked fellows at the center. Swifts described variously as "warm and outgoing," "energetic" and "extremely intelligent," and one administrator called her "a spark plug member of the group...
This year has been a period of reflection for Swift a period of, as she puts it, "getting back to normal." Although Swift has been reluctant to discuss her experiences publicly--she has repeatedly turned down interviews and on-the-record speaking engagements--her colleagues at the CFIA say she is not hesitant to talk about her captivity in private settings. Says one CFIA fellow, "she takes her experience as part of her life--it is something she could occasionally even make jokes about...
...Swift--who recently consented to an interview with the Crimson--is not bitter about her 14 months as a hostage, the experience has plainly had a profound effect on her approach to both private and professional life. "You reevaluate your priorities," she says. "Certain things become more important--friends, family, that sort of thing. Things that used to make me mad now just don't faze me. Things don't faze me, things don't scare me. Things get put in perspective...