Relations between the United States...

Relations between the United States and the Soviet Union were still in the indifferent stages of the Cold War when Juanita Crabb got involved with Sister Cities International. As major of Binghamton, NY from 1982 to 1993 she spearheaded an effort to establish a sister city relationship with Borovici, Russia, however the icy atmosphere between their respective countries made the going difficult.

That, however, is part of the reason Crabb and Binghamton got involved in Sister Cities in the first place.

"We felt like, instead of leaving the peace efforts up to the national leaders, we would do our part," Crabb says. For six years, the sum of two units cities worked toward establishing a relationship. The succes of that effort l Binghamton to consider at additional pairings. Under Crabb's leadership, the city established ties with La Teste France, and, when she left office in 1993 it was working toward relationships with