A change in leadership of the Public Information Office of the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs was announced today by Commissioner Robert L. Bennett.
Virginia S. Hart, the Bureau's Chief of Public Information for the past three years, has been succeeded in that post by W. Joynes Macfarlan, for many years a member of the Washington Bureau of the Associated Press. Macfarlan's appointment was effective May 29. Mrs. Hart was named Special Assistant (Communications) to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs on May 7.
A native of Darlington, S. C., Macfarlan has been for some years the senior regular news reporter regularly covering the Department of the Interior, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, General Services Administration, Selective Service System, Veterans Administration, and Federal Power Commission. He was also responsible for the AP's basic news coverage of the Civil Service Commission.
Macfarlan began his career with Associated Press in Charlotte, N. C. after two years as a reporter for the Columbia, S. C. "State." He served in the Navy during World War II, attaining the rank of Lieutenant Commander. Macfarlan is a member of St. Andrews' Society of Washington and is a Scottish Rite Mason.
Mrs. Hart's Federal career of approximately 12 years has included appointments as an Information Officer for the U.S. Office of Education, feature writer for the Voice of America, and publications editorial work for the Department of State. Her non-government experience includes public relations and radio production work in the Washington, D.C. area. She began her career on the Worcester (Mass.) "Evening Gazette," in her hometown. She is a member of the Women's National Press Club and the American Newspaper Women's Club, and holds an M.A. degree from American University.
Both Mrs. Hart and Macfarlan are residents of Arlington, Va.
