TIMELINE

1903   - Ralph Johnson Bunch born, August 7 in Detroit

1917   - orphaned, moves to Los Angeles, lives with his grandmother, Mrs. Lucy Taylor Johnson, who changes his name from Bunch to Bunche

1922   - graduates first in his class from Jefferson High School, class Valedictorian

1927   - graduates summa cum laude from UCLA, class validictorian

1928   - awarded M. A. in political science, Harvard University
         - appointed instructor at Howard University

1929   - re-organizes and chairs political science department at Howard University

1930   - marries Ruth Ethel Harris, June 23

1931   - daughter Joan Harris Bunche born
         - organizes protest of segregated presentation of Porgy and Bess at National Theater in Washington

1932   - awarded fellowship to do field research in West Africa for his doctoral dissertation on colonialsim

1933   - daughter Jane Harris Bunche (Pierce) born

1934   - earns a PhD in political science from Harvard

1936   - co-founds the National Negro Congress
         - writes A World View of Race
         - awarded a fellowship from the Social Science Research Council to study impact of colonialism on native people

1937   - studies anthropology at Northwestern University, The London School of Economics and the University of Capetown

1938   - resigns from the National Negro Congress
             - conducts field research in Africa and the Far East

1939   - works with Gunnar Myrdal on the Carnegie Corporation-funded study of race in the USA, the first major study of its kind

1942   - appointed head of Africa Section, Research and Analysis Branch, OSS

1943   - son Ralph Harris Bunche, Jr. born

1944   - begins work at the State Department

1945   - Advisor to the US delegation to the San Francisco Conference
         - principal drafter of Chapters XI and XII on trusteeship and the future of the non-self-governing territories in the UN Charter

1946   - member of the US delegation, the first meeting of UN General Assembly in London
         - joins the UN Secretariat as Director of the Trusteeship Division

1948   - Principal Secretary of UN Special Commission on Palestine (UNSCOP)
         - Chief Mediator on Palestine Question after Count Bernadotte's assassination

1949   - negotiates armistice agreements between Israel and Egypt and 3 other Arab states

1950   - awarded Nobel Peace Prize

1953   - coordinats the UN's "Atoms for Peace" project

1954   - appointed Under Secretary-General of the UN without portfolio
         - cleared of disloyalty charges by the Loyalty Board

1956   - sets up and then directs UN peacekeeping in Middle East after Suez Crisis

1957   - appointed Under Secretary-General of UN for Special Political Affairs, oversees all peacekeeping activities

1960   - directs technical assistance programs and peacekeeping forces in the Congo

1963   - receives Medal of Freedom from President Lyndon Baines Johnson
         - participates in Martin Luther King's March on Washington
         - represents the UN in talks with Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen in dispute over Yemen election results.

1964   - organizes and directs UN peacekeeping force in Cyprus

1965   - participates in Selma-to-Montgomery Voting Rights March

1970   - negotiates settlement of dispute between Britain, Iran and Bahrain

1971   - retires from UN due to ill health
         - dies on December 9