Loyola’s Apprentice House Press publishes new edition of memoir by Sargent Shriver

Loyola University Maryland’s Apprentice House Press is publishing a new edition of the memoir by Sargent Shriver, the founding director of the Peace Corps and one of the 20th century’s most effective public servants. We Called It a War: Lessons Learned from the Fight to End Poverty gives Shriver’s first-hand account of his experience leading President Johnson’s War on Poverty between 1964 and 1968.

The memoir is now available in bookstores. For more information or to order a copy, visit the Sargent Shriver Peace Institute. 

Apprentice House Press is the nation’s first entirely student-managed book publisher. Students at Loyola University Maryland are responsible for every aspect of the publishing process, from acquisitions to design and publication of every book.

"Sargent Shriver’s legacy is of service through lifting up communities, aligning with Loyola University Maryland’s mission to inspire students to learn, lead, and serve in a diverse and changing world,” said Kevin Atticks, ’97, DCD, director of Apprentice House Press. “Apprentice House Press is proud to publish this important work."

We Called It a War was originally written in the 1960s and rediscovered in the Sargent Shriver Peace Institute archives. It has been edited and annotated by Shriver’s friend and colleague, David E. Birenbaum, Esq., with a new introduction and annotations by long-time collaborator of the Sargent Shriver Peace Institute Adam Green, Ph.D. The memoir “traces Shriver’s efforts to fulfill President Johnson’s audacious pledge to end poverty,” according to the Sargent Shriver Peace Institute.

"Working with Apprentice House Press is important for us,” shared Mark Shriver, trustee at the Sargent Shriver Peace Institute and recipient of Loyola's President’s Medal. “The fact that the press is student-run is significant, because it means that the young people involved in the work have the opportunity for an immersive, hands-on experience in the publishing industry. Their approach is very much in line with how our father thought about empowering people, as he describes in We Called It a War. And the fact that the press is based in Maryland is meaningful, because the Shriver family has deep roots in the state, having settled here in the 1700s."

Sargent Shriver was awarded the Andrew White Medal by Loyola in 1964, and he and his wife and children received honorary degrees from Loyola in 1994.

Launched in 2002, the Sargent Shriver Peace Institute is dedicated to the study of Sargent Shriver’s approach to leadership, peacebuilding, and creative problem solving. Its mission is to inspire commitment, action, and social innovation following the example of Sargent Shriver.

Above Right: Sargent Shriver receives the Andrew White Medal from the Rev. Vincent F. Beatty, S.J., 22nd president of Loyola, in 1964 (Loyola Notre Dame Library Archives and Special Collections)