Issued on: January 31, 2019 In the year 1619, a Dutch trading ship sailed into the Chesapeake Bay and dropped anchor at Point Comfort, Virginia. The vessel’s arrival marked the beginning of the unscrupulous slave trade in the American colonies. It was from this immoral origin—and through inhuman conditions, discrimination, and prolonged hardship—that emerged the vibrant ...
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By U.S. Mission to France | 4 February, 2019 | Topics:
History, News, President of the United States, Security & Emergency Messages, Speeches
| Tags: Black History Month
Statement from the White House Press Secretary Issued on August 31, 2018 President Donald J. Trump will travel to Paris, France, to participate in a November 11 commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the armistice that ended the fighting in World War I. The President’s participation in this event will highlight the sacrifices that Americans ...
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By U.S. Mission to France | 4 September, 2018 | Topics:
Featured Event, History, News, President of the United States, U.S. & France
| Tags: Donald J. Trump
“To all the souls Who perished 100 years ago In a bloody battle For the sake of an ideal By the name of freedom” “We would chase airplanes in a car, holding a map and camera. Whether we’d be granted access to the airbases was uncertain. But the gates of America opened as we passed. ...
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By U.S. Mission to France | 19 June, 2018 | Topics:
Education, Events, History
Remarks by Ambassador McCourt Utah Beach Ceremony June 6, 2018, at Utah Beach, Normandy Les plages devraient toujours nous rappeler des lieux paisibles où les familles se retrouvent, où les enfants nagent et jouent, et où les amoureux se tiennent par la main. Elles occupent une place spéciale dans nos cœurs et nos esprits. ...
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By U.S. Mission to France | 7 June, 2018 | Topics:
Ambassador, History, U.S. & France
| Tags: D-Day, Utah Beach
Transcript of the voice over: They were called “Doughboys.” Then, as now, no one was exactly sure why. Like their name, their heroic deeds fade from memory. People and places etched in a thousand local memorials across our nation…seen, but seldom noticed. Faded monuments to a war that changed everything. The Doughboys named it “The ...
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By U.S. Mission to France | 6 April, 2017 | Topics:
History, News
Congress declared war on Germany on April 6, 1917, formally bringing the United States into World War I, a conflict that had been ongoing for nearly three years. When the war began in 1914—pitting the Allied powers of France, Great Britain and Russia against Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire—most Americans simply wanted to keep ...
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By U.S. Mission to France | 6 April, 2017 | Topics:
History, News
| Tags: ABMC
February is National African American History Month. President Trump issued the following proclamation to commemorate the role African Americans have played in U.S. history: NATIONAL AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY MONTH, 2017 – – – – – – – BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA A PROCLAMATION As we celebrate National African American History ...
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By U.S. Mission to France | 6 February, 2017 | Topics:
History, News, President of the United States
| Tags: Donald J. Trump, National African American History Month
16-hour days & meals “hurriedly swallowed”: Embassy staffing shortages August 1914 The duties of Embassy Paris multiplied exponentially in the first half of August 1914. In addition to representation of U.S. Government interests to the Government of France, the Embassy had to evacuate, shelter, feed, and issue emergency passports and identity papers for stranded U.S. ...
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By U.S. Mission to France | 3 February, 2017 | Topics:
History, U.S. & France
| Tags: Centennial, WW1
It took, French Ambassador to the US JJ Jusserand, three weeks to travel from Paris to Washington in August 1914 French Ambassador to the United States J.J. Jusserand was no stranger to America. Since 1902, he served as France’s envoy in Washington, D.C., and by 1914 was dean of the diplomatic corps. When war broke ...
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By U.S. Mission to France | 31 January, 2017 | Topics:
History, U.S. & France
| Tags: Centennial, WW1
The American Ambulance Hospital in Neuilly established & operated from Lycée Pasteur On August 9, 1914, the American Ambulance Hospital in Neuilly was established, a private hospital funded and staffed by U.S. volunteers to treat wounded soldiers from both sides of the conflict. Championed by Ambassador Myron T. Herrick, the American Ambulance Hospital was quickly ...
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By U.S. Mission to France | 27 January, 2017 | Topics:
History, U.S. & France
| Tags: Centennial, WW1
How to navigate Paris August 1914 w/out the métro, taxis, or private cars? Hire a horse chaise (fiacre)! One of the many ways war impacted daily life for all in Paris, including those within the U.S. diplomatic community, was transportation—or lack of it. The Paris Métro closed at 7:30pm to comply with the 8pm curfew ...
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By U.S. Mission to France | 24 January, 2017 | Topics:
History, U.S. & France
| Tags: Centennial, WW1
Paris at war August 1914: the Tour Eiffel guarded by barbed wire & guns; the Champs-Élysées darkened With France fully engaged in the war, life in and around Paris quickly changed. Much of the city’s bustling life abruptly halted as men mobilized and shipped off to the frontlines. In their place, wives, daughters, sisters, and ...
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By U.S. Mission to France | 20 January, 2017 | Topics:
History, U.S. & France
| Tags: Centennial, WW1
Ambassador Herrick procured lodging and security for Germans stranded in France early August at Lycée Condorcet France entered into a state of war with Germany at 6:45pm on August 3, 1914. That evening the German Ambassador to France, Baron Wilhelm von Schoen, departed the country. As previously arranged, responsibility to care for German subjects in ...
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By U.S. Mission to France | 17 January, 2017 | Topics:
History, U.S. & France
| Tags: Centennial, WW1
Stranded w/out money or shelter: thousands of American tourists descend on the embassy for help Thousands of Americans in Europe were stranded as the Continent passed from peace to belligerency within a week of July 28, 1914. The crisis was compounded by their inability to withdraw funds from French banks. Wealthy Americans were just as ...
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By U.S. Mission to France | 13 January, 2017 | Topics:
History, U.S. & France
| Tags: Centennial, WW1
Penniless in Paris! How to solve money matters; 300 francs in gold “insures plenty of good food” August 1914 Between July 28 and mid-August 1914, inability to access funds was a major problem for foreigners as French banks refused to cash traveler’s checks so as to retain currency and gold reserves. Thousands of tourists and ...
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By U.S. Mission to France | 10 January, 2017 | Topics:
History, U.S. & France
| Tags: Centennial, WW1
What would you do without your croissant? “No more fancy bread!” Food regulations & mobilization August 1914 Orders for general French mobilization were issued on Saturday August 1, 1914. On the evening of August 3, France entered into a state of war with Germany. Ambassador Myron T. Herrick telephoned René Viviani at the Quai d’Orsay ...
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By U.S. Mission to France | 6 January, 2017 | Topics:
History, U.S. & France
| Tags: Centennial, WW1
The outbreak of July 28-Aug 4 1914 took everyone by surprise – many diplomats were on home leave or en route to the U.S. At 5 pm on July 28, 1914, U.S. Ambassador to France Myron T. Herrick hosted a reception for a group of U.S. businessmen from the Chicago Railways Terminal Commission and the ...
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By U.S. Mission to France | 3 January, 2017 | Topics:
History, U.S. & France
| Tags: Centennial, WW1
The
National Museum of African American History and Culture will open September 24 in Washington, but wherever you are, you can take an early look now. The newest addition to the Smithsonian Institution has nearly 3,000 objects and 12 exhibitions, along with 183 videos, to tell the story of America through the African-American lens. President Obama will deliver remarks at the dedication ceremony. ...
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By U.S. Mission to France | 19 September, 2016 | Topics:
Art & Culture, Featured Event, Former U.S. Government Leaders, History, News
| Tags: afro-americans, Barack Obama, diversity, museum
Three documents integral in the foundation of the United States were on display in the Ambassador’s residence thanks to the kind help of the Blois-Agglopolys Library and the agglomerate community of Blois. It contains the original and rare Constitutions of the Several Independent States of America (Philadelphia, 1781) ; the first French edition of the Constitutions ...
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By U.S. Mission to France | 27 June, 2016 | Topics:
Art & Culture, History
| Tags: Constitutions, Independence Day 2016
A revolutionary style of boxing brought fame to Cassius Clay, but it was his voice for social justice that made Muhammad Ali — the name Clay took after
embracing Islam — an international icon. The three world heavyweight championships speak for themselves. It’s what he did outside the boxing ring that’s drawn the most comment in the days ...
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By U.S. Mission to France | 9 June, 2016 | Topics:
History, News
| Tags: Muhammad Ali ; Civil Rights ; sports ; champion
After a tribute to American soldiers at Pointe du Hoc, Jane D. Hartley , U.S. Ambassador to France participated to the international commemoration at Port-en -Bessin where she gave a speech honoring the veterans. “We must pass on to younger generations what these men have taught themselves the pain and sacrifice – is that unless ...
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By U.S. Mission to France | 7 June, 2016 | Topics:
Ambassador, Events, History
| Tags: Commemoration ; D-Day ; anniversary ; Rangers ; Port-en-Bessin ; Pointe du Hoc ; Colleville
On Sunday, May 8, Consul General Amy Westling commemorated Victory in Europe Day and laid a wreath – with Mayor-delegate Thierry Speitel-Gotz — at the American Monument just outside of Sigolsheim in Alsace, France. The monument was erected in memory of all American units that fought alongside the French First Army from November 1944 to ...
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By U.S. Mission to France | 30 May, 2016 | Topics:
History, Strasbourg
| Tags: Europe Day ; Sigolsheim ; American Monument
The U.S. Embassy presented US soprano Nicole Taylor and pianist Daniel Ernst in a series of musical performances and interactive pedagogical concerts incorporating historical information about the birth, development, preservation of Negro spirituals in 19th and 20th century America. Learning and singing songs together, the artists engaged youth, women groups and general audience in Paris, ...
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By U.S. Mission to France | 14 March, 2016 | Topics:
Art & Culture, Culture, Europe & Eurasia, Featured Event, History, Public Affairs, Video
| Tags: African History Month ; Negro Spirituals ; Daniel Ernst ; Nicole Taylor ; Soprano ; music ; culture ; history ; Public Affairs ; Culture
On April 13, 2015, Public Affairs Specialist Eva Prévost participated in the screening of the film Selma that the U.S. Consulate for Western France co-organized with the Gaumont cinema in Rennes, and the local chapter of “SOS Racisme” association. Prevost highlighted the 50th anniversary of the march between Selma and Montgomery. She also introduced the ...
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By U.S. Mission to France | 13 April, 2015 | Topics:
Events, History, Rennes
| Tags: Civil Rights ;
Martin Luther King, Jr. was born and grew up in Atlanta, sister city of Toulouse. A major figure in American history, Dr. King has also become a symbol of a unique friendship uniting Toulouse and the United States. Athough he never visited Toulouse, it was a fellow civil rights pioneer and family friend of Dr. ...
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By U.S. Mission to France | 22 January, 2011 | Topics:
Featured Event, History, Toulouse
