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Meet Our Founder


In 1959, Marian Adair recognized the need for an organization devoted to interaction between US women and those of other nations. She also believed that better understanding of other people could lessen conflict around the world.

Marian, from  Ann Arbor, Michigan, came to Washington when her husband, Ross, was elected to Congress in 1950. She understood and took to heart President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s 1958 initiative “People to People” and so Welcome to Washington (WTW) was founded.