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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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    Congratulatory Letter to Joseph Grew

    June 1927 “best wishes” letter to Undersecretary of State Joseph C. Grew upon his appointment as Ambassador to Turkey. Signed by Secretary of State Frank B. Kellog and nine pages’ worth of Grew’s State Department colleagues.

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    Photo of 2nd Foreign Service Class

    Photograph of the 2nd Foreign Service class to graduate under the auspices of the Rogers Act of 1924, which merged the separate U.S. diplomatic and consular services into the combined Foreign Service. This photograph was taken in September 1925 on the steps of the State, War, and Navy Building (now the Eisenhower…

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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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    1860 Japanese Embassy Medal

    In the 1850s, after more than 200 years of self-imposed isolation, Japan opened up to trade dialogues with the United States and western Europe. The first Japanese delegation to the United States arrived in Washington, D.C. in 1860. They delivered a trade agreement, negotiated by Commodore Matthew Perry, which opened select Japanese…

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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…

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    Martin Van Buren's Secretary of State Commission

    Martin Van Buren served as the 10th U.S. Secretary of State from 1829-1831. Following his tenure as Secretary, Van Buren was elected Vice President under Jackson (1833-1837) and then was elected President, serving until 1841. His accomplishments as Secretary of State include a settlement with Great Britain to allow trade with the…

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    Sheldon Whitehouse's 1914 Diplomatic Passport

    Sheldon Whitehouse, a career Foreign Service Officer, used this Special Passport to travel to his post at the U.S. Legation for Greece and Montenegro. It was issued on June 30, 1914, just as war was about to break out in Europe. Whitehouse used this passport from 1914 to 1918. It is stamped…

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    Ping-Pong Paddle

    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. Connie Sweeris was…