Showing 1–10 of 22 results
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These business cards belonged to Avraham (Rami) Rabby, who was a lifelong advocate for the rights of those with disabilities, particularly vision loss. He was completely blind, having lost his sight as a child due to detached retinas. He also served as a diplomat in the U.S. Foreign Service for 17 years,…
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U.S. Diplomatic Couriers are some of the most traveled people in the world. They’re responsible for ensuring that classified materials are safely and securely transported across international borders. Without their hard work, U.S. missions and consulates couldn’t function. Few objects in our collection illustrate the breadth and frequency of a diplomatic courier’s…
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This State Department ledger records information about the issuance and renewal of passports for Americans living in or traveling to the Soviet Union (USSR), including details of specific individuals' cases, dating from 1926 through the late 1930s. The case of Robert N. Robinson, an African American engineer who ended up trapped in…
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Tom Gallagher joined the Foreign Service in 1965. Ten years later, he came out as openly gay while speaking at a conference on gays in the federal government in Washington, DC. It is believed that he is the first FSO to do so. Before the next periodic renewal of his security clearance,…
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Foreign Service Officer Michael Hoyt received the prestigious Secretary’s Award after enduring 111 days in captivity in the Congo in 1964. He was serving as Principal Officer at the U.S. Consulate Stanleyville when he and his staff were taken hostage by the rebel Simbas. They were narrowly rescued in a joint U.S.-Belgian…
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In April 1971, nine players from the U.S. Table Tennis team took a historic trip to China. Their trip was the start of what became known as “ping pong diplomacy” and helped lay the groundwork for establishing official diplomatic relations between the United States and the People’s Republic of China. This was…
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2004 APEC meeting I.D. card and lanyard, issued to Foreign Service officer Barbara Nielsen. APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) is the premier forum for facilitating economic growth, cooperation, trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific region; the U.S. is one of APEC’s 21 members.
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Issued to Hulda Ingejärd Enebuske (“Euebuske” on the passport) in April 1918, this passport lists her destination as France and the reason for her travel as “Service with Harvard Surgical Unit”. At the bottom left, under her physical description, her occupation is listed as “nurse” – which her photograph, in a nurse’s…
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While the way that passports look has changed a lot since 1887, their purpose has not — to identify an international traveler as a national of a given country. A 19-year-old woman from Washington, D.C. named Eleanor Salome Wilson was issued this U.S. passport for a grand trip that included stops in…
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In 1948, President Harry S. Truman sent Edward R. Dudley to Liberia as U.S. Envoy and Minister. Upon elevation of the Mission in Liberia to a full U.S. Embassy in 1949, Dudley was promoted to the rank of Ambassador. With that, Ambassador Dudley became the first black Ambassador in U.S. history. Issued…
