Barnard Alumna Nancy Hath Dupree the Focus of Article in The New York Times, July 9 

New York, NY July 9, 2002- In the July 9, 2002 edition of The New York Times, a piece entitled "A Love Affair with Afghanistan Continues at 74," focuses on Barnard alumna Nancy Hath Dupree ’49. Mrs. Dupree is known for the work she has done to document and coordinate humanitarian aid to Afghan refugees, to save Afghanistan’s devastated cultural heritage and to send books to remote Afghan villages, even during the days of the Taliban.

Born in India, she went to Afghanistan for the first time in 1962 as an American Foreign Service officer’s wife. She later studied Chinese at Barnard College. Since then, she has written five guidebooks to Afghanistan, among them a guide about the once-giant Statues of Bamiyan, that have since been destroyed by the Taliban; the cities of Kabul and Heart, and the National Museum in Kabul. Besides writing her books, Mrs. Dupree also helped found the Society for the Preservation of Afghanistan’s Cultural Heritage.

As for her determination to rebuild a damaged Afghanistan, she notes that "You have to get everyone involved from top to bottom. There is so much to do, and so much that can be done, and as everyone around me knows, I don’t let anyone say ‘I can’t do it.’"

Contact: Petra Tuomi, Office of Public Affairs, 212-854-7907
Alina Hamza, Office of Public Affairs, 212-854-2037