What's New
USDC Director David Ballard and Senior Curator Priscilla Linn review collections, May 13, 2013
USDC collections storage received an upgrade recently with space-saving and environment-buffering cabinets and a map case. USDC Collections Assistant Eric Duyck gives a tour of the new cabinets and some of the items in the collections to USDC Director David Ballard and Senior Curator Priscilla Linn.
Secretary Clinton and former Secretary Baker host the launch of the U.S. Diplomacy Center, January 25, 2013
text version: http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2013/01/203325.htm
USDC welcomes new director, December 13, 2012
The U.S. Diplomacy Center celebrated outgoing director Stephen Estrada (left), after 26 years of federal service, with a fond farewell on December 13 and welcomed incoming director David Ballard, (right).
USDC's outreach efforts announced during "Conversations on Diplomacy" with Charlie Rose, June 20, 2012
The U.S. Diplomacy Center's outreach efforts and plans for the new Center were announced during the "Conversations on Diplomacy" event with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former Secretary of State Jim Baker, moderated by Charlie Rose. Video of the event can be viewed here and a text transcript read here.
Recent acquisition highlights unique role of diplomats during post World Ward II era, June 2012
Imagine yourself a newly-minted Foreign Service Officer and job #1 is to spearhead the transition from U.S. military to civilian occupation of postwar Germany. This was the charge for the 27 FSOs in the class of 1950. All 27 of them were sent to various cities in the American Sector of Germany as “Resident Officers.” Their main duty was to encourage citizens of the war-torn nation to adopt democratic practices at the local level. This Resident Officer Handbook guided their work and belonged to the late Malcolm Thompson, class of 1950. His colleague, also part of this training class, Harry Odell, received it from Thompson's widow and generously donated this unique piece of diplomatic history to the U.S. Diplomacy Center.
US Embassy Singapore donates unusual object to the US Diplomacy Center collections, March, 2012
Our colleagues at the US Embassy Singapore were not quite sure what to do with this object they had had lying around for awhile. They first contacted the Department of State's Bunche Library who then referred the embassy to the USDC. The artifact is a kerosene-powered slide and film strip projector. It is a retrofitted Coleman camping lantern. USIA diplomats would use such devices in the 1950s in regions where electricity was not available or reliable to make their presentations. We can just imagine those early public diplomacy officers toting this lantern into the outer regions of their host country, meeting with local communities and using the device to present topics on life in America. We are proud to include it in the USDC collections.
Interview with USDC Education Specialist Lauren Fischer about the Discover Diplomacy site, December 7, 2011
On December 7th, radio channel The Student Operated Press (thesop.org) interviewed USDC Education Specialist Lauren Fischer about the new education website Discover Diplomacy. Listen to the interview here.
