Passports and Identification

These items include passports and other types of identification used by diplomats in their daily work.

Showing 11–20 of 22 results

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    Lucy Barnard Briggs' Passport

    Shortly after her marriage to American diplomat Ellis O. Briggs in May 1928, Lucy Barnard Briggs received this diplomatic passport and traveled with him to his post in Lima, Peru. After the birth of her children, their photos and personal details were appended to pages in this passport — as was the…

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    Meyer Franklin Kline's Passport

    Meyer Franklin Kline, who went by Franklin, dreamed of traveling the world from a young age. At age 18, he traveled from California to Paris to visit the 1900 World’s Fair. Beginning around 1913, Franklin spent over twenty years traveling the world while working for the Osaka Mercantile Steamship Company Ltd. in…

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    Edward Dudley's Commission as Ambassador to Liberia

    In 1948, President Truman appointed Edward R. Dudley to serve as U.S. Minister to Liberia. Dudley was a civil rights lawyer from New York who worked at the NAACP with Thurgood Marshall. At the time of Dudley’s appointment, the U.S. Government represented its interests through a legation in Monrovia. In 1949, Truman…

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    Constance Harvey's Dog Tags

    These wartime dog tags belonged to Foreign Service Officer Constance R. Harvey, one of the first women in the Foreign Service. Harvey was awarded the Medal of Freedom in 1947 for her meritorious service with the French Underground from 1941-1942. Her citation reads, in part: “Despite close surveillance by Gestapo agents and…

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    Lester Schnare's German Diplomatic ID Card

    Diplomatic identification card issued to U.S. Consul Lester L. Schnare in Hamburg, Germany, 1935. Identification documents of various types are frequently issued by host governments to resident diplomats.

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    Henry White’s 1910 Exhibition Pass

    U.S. diplomat Henry White’s pass to visit the exhibition at the 1910 Pan-American Congress in Buenos Aires, Argentina. White, whose 30 year diplomatic career included serving as Ambassador to Italy and France, was once praised by President Theodore Roosevelt as “the most useful man in the entire diplomatic service.”

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    Joseph Nye's Special Agent Credentials

    Issued to Joseph M. Nye, March 26, 1920. The first Chief Special Agent for the State Department was Joseph Nye, a former Secret Service agent. Nye had a distinguished tenure and stepped down in May 1920. The State Department's Office of Security later became the Bureau of Diplomatic Security.

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    Lester Schnare's "Passeport Diplomatique"

    Diplomatic passport issued to U.S. Consul Lester L. Schnare, 1920. He used this passport for 19 years – until 1939 – and filled several pages with stamps and visas. During this period, Schnare served as a Consul in Japan, China, Colombia, Germany, and Italy.

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    Samuel Waller’s 1859 Passport

    1859 U.S. passport used by businessman Samuel Mills Waller of Connecticut. The unusual symbol at the top – an eagle with a lyre – was added to the U.S. passport design by Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, who served from 1817-1825. Adams developed the seal himself, which symbolizes the civilizing effect…