HistoryThe sister city movement marked the 50th Anniversary of its founding in 2006. The movement dates its beginnings to a White House Conference on Citizen Diplomacy convened in 1956 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to bring together citizens forging ties with communities abroad. On September 11, 1956, President Eisenhower exhorted delegates, "to help build the road to an enduring peace" and a Civic Committee was appointed by the President to set up town affiliations linking U.S. communities with counterparts around the globe. Today it is a grassroots movement that reaches around the globe to 134 countries.Hampton has participated in the sister city movement since the 1950s and currently has four sister cities: Pietermaritzburg, South Africa; Anyang, South Korea; Vendome, France; and Southampton, England. |