U.S. History

Filter results
Reset

Showing 101–110 of 130 results

  • Item

    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.

  • Item

    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.

  • Item

    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…

  • Item

    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…

  • Item

    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…

  • Item

    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…

  • Item

    Passport issued to David Hinckley

    Rufus King, then American minister to Great Britain, issued this 1798 passport to David Hinckley, a wealthy Boston merchant who traveled frequently to London on business. It is the oldest in the museum’s collection and also one of the more intriguing. Corsairs of the Barbary states had captured David Hinckley in the…

  • Item

    1871 Medal Commemorating George Robinson

    On the night of President Lincoln’s assassination, John Wilkes Booth’s co-conspirators attempted to assassinate Vice President Andrew Johnson and Secretary of State William Seward. The co-conspirators’ attempts failed. In the case of Secretary Seward, this was thanks to the actions of George Robinson, a soldier detailed to guard Seward. In 1871 the…

  • Item

    Printing of 1778 Treaties with France

    The Treaties of Amity and Commerce and of Alliance were arguably the single most important diplomatic success of the colonists during the Revolutionary War. Signed in Paris on February 6, 1778, they created an alliance with France that was crucial to American victory in the conflict. Benjamin Franklin, Silas Deane, and Arthur…

  • Public Program

    Diplomacy After Hours: Secretaries, Senators, and the Presidency

    January 27, 2021

    Virtual

    How has the road to the White House evolved since 1789? Join us for a conversation on the Secretaries of State and Senators who have run for President. The program will feature Public Historian Dr. Alison Mann, and Historian Emeritus of the United States Senate Dr. Donald Ritchie.