Resilience and Resolve

These items in NMAD's collection demonstrate the resilience and resolve required of diplomats on a daily basis.

Showing all 45 results

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    Patti Morton's Clutch Purse

    For nearly fifty years, Diplomatic Security Service Special Agents were men. That changed in 1972 when Patricia “Patti” Morton became the first woman to serve as a Diplomatic Security Service Special Agent. This clutch purse is a testament to the many challenges that Special Agent Morton faced as a trailblazer. At the…

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    Constance Harvey's Medal of Freedom

    Constance Ray Harvey, one of the first women to become a Foreign Service Officer, voluntarily put herself in danger while serving as a diplomat in France during World War II. For her extraordinary efforts, she earned this Medal of Freedom—the predecessor of today’s Presidential Medal of Freedom.

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    Cardinal Jozsef Mindszenty's Missal

    Cardinal Jozsef Mindszenty was the highest Catholic official in Hungary mid-20th century during the Soviet takeover of Hungary. He was opposed to communism and sentenced with treason. His life was in danger, and he sought and received asylum at the U.S. Embassy, Budapest on November 4, 1956. He ended up staying at…

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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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    LAFD Fire Helmet

    This yellow fire helmet represents an important life-saving partnership between the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Los Angeles County Fire Department (LACoFD). LACoFD’s Urban Search and Rescue Team serves with distinction as one of two departments in the U.S. trained and authorized to deploy with USAID disaster response teams…