The Foreign Affairs Oral History Collection: A National Treasure.

• Author: Ashe, Heather

American Diplomacy

May 1, 2022

www.americandiplomacy.org

Title: The Foreign Affairs Oral History Collection: A National Treasure

Author: Heather Ashe

Text:

The diplomatic oral histories collected by the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training (ADST) comprise a unique reservoir of over 2,500 primary source accounts detailing the experiences of American diplomats and how they have conducted business with other nations--how they "got things done." The stories capture a wealth of insights and reflections not available from official documents alone and contain a treasure trove of raw material for journalists, historians, researchers, and future diplomats. These oral histories provide usable "lessons learned" spanning decades on what worked and what did not.

Since its founding in 1986 as a nongovernmental, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization by retired foreign service officers, the late Charles Stuart Kennedy, the late Victor Wolf Jr., and the late Ambassador Richard B. Parker, ADST has built the world's largest diplomatic oral history collection. With the support of its staff, membership, and the diplomats who have contributed their stories, ADST strives to achieve its mission of "capturing, preserving, and sharing the experiences of America's Diplomats". Charles Stuart Kennedy conducted over half of ADST's interviews before his passing in January 2022 and was a true visionary in the development of the oral history program. The collection holds personal accounts from ambassadors such as Prudence Bushnell, John D. Negroponte, Harriet Elam-Thomas, Thomas Reeve Pickering, Shirley Temple Black, A. Elizabeth (Beth) Jones, and many other notable figures.

ADST incorporates best practices and new technologies wherever possible in the oral history process. We utilize peer interviewers, many of whom are volunteers, and typically conduct interviews with retired foreign service practitioners who are able to reflect upon their service without concerns of sharing restricted information. The oral history interviews conducted by ADST are lengthy, with the shortest being one to two interview sessions and the longest stretching well past 50 interview sessions averaging one hour each. A standard interview will cover an interviewee's early life, education, entire foreign service career, and reflections. To further ensure clarity and accuracy in the first-hand accounts, ADST encourages the interviewee to edit the final written transcript. This permits...