From Pirates to Passports: Inside the State Dept Exhibit

From Pirates to Passports: How Parts of My Collection Ended Up in a State Department Exhibition

A logbook from the U.S. Consulate General in Marseille sits behind glass in Washington, D.C., listing the names of Americans who came through its doors during the darkest years of the twentieth century. Gertrude Stein is on that list. So is Varian Fry, the journalist who helped smuggle thousands of refugees out of Nazi-occupied Europe. That logbook, alongside passports formed “From Pirates to Passports: A Timeless Commitment to Service,” the Bureau of Consular Affairs exhibition that opened at the United States Diplomacy Center in May 2019. I was delighted to contribute some items from my collection.

What Was the “From Pirates to Passports” Exhibition About?

The exhibition marked the 40th anniversary of the Bureau of Consular Affairs and traced the evolution of American consular service from before the signing of the U.S. Constitution to the present day. It ran from May through July 2019 at the United States Diplomacy Center, a museum housed within the U.S. Department of State that is dedicated to telling the story of American diplomacy through exhibitions and public programs.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke at the opening on May 28th. He described the exhibit as one that tells the story of the Bureau’s timeless commitment to serving the American people, noting that its mission spans centuries, from before the founding of the republic down to today. The exhibition combined photographs, first-person stories, and historical artifacts to trace the evolution of U.S. consular affairs, and organizers announced plans for an expanded digital version with interactive content to follow later that year.

What Passport-Related Artifacts Were on Display?

Visitors saw the transformation of the American passport itself, from an early written memo requesting safe passage for a traveler to the secure, state-of-the-art passport book issued today. Alongside the documents, the exhibition included the physical tools of consular work: a visa-issuing machine, visa plates, and wax seals used to authenticate travel documents in earlier eras. The exhibit also traced the parallel evolution of visa regulations across centuries, showing how consular practice adapted as international travel became increasingly complex.

Among the passports on display were several I provided from my own collection, which Secretary Pompeo and Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Carl C. Risch examined together at the opening. (Source: Bureau of Consular Affairs Press Unit)

Being Part of the Exhibition

Helping the Bureau of Consular Affairs assemble this exhibition, contributing both research and images from my collection, was one of the more meaningful projects I’ve taken part in. I’m still looking forward to seeing the promised online version. And receiving an email from Karin Lang, Director of the Bureau of Consular Affairs, was the kind of thing that doesn’t happen every day:

Tom, you have been a great partner for the State Department team all through the preparation of this exhibit. I wish you could have attended the reception! Stay tuned for the online version of the exhibit. -Karin Lang, Director, Bureau of Consular Affairs, US State Dept-

A Follow-Up Visit to the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok

That connection led to a visit to the United States Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand, where I met with Consul General Timothy Scherer and Aja Stefanon of the American Citizen Services unit. We talked through the shared history of consular service and passport collecting, and I was presented with an official U.S. State Department award recognizing my contribution to the Washington exhibition. Stefanon also walked me through how passport processing actually works from the embassy side, seen through the lens of the applicant’s experience rather than the collector’s.

The Story of William Palfrey

One story I shared during these conversations is worth repeating here, because it’s a reminder of just how dangerous early consular postings could be. William Palfrey was appointed to a consular post but was lost at sea while traveling to take up his assignment. As a result, Thomas Barclay of Pennsylvania was appointed Consul to France on October 2, 1781, and sent in Palfrey’s place. It wasn’t until that year that American consuls formally began their service, a detail easy to overlook when looking at a modern passport but essential to understanding where the office came from.

None of this would have happened without Karin Lang, and I owe her real thanks for that. Allyson Berri of the Diplomatic Courier also wrote a thorough piece covering the exhibition, which is worth a read for anyone who wants more context on the Diplomacy Center’s mission.

Later in 2019, I had the pleasure of presenting a copy of my book, Let Pass Or Die, to everyone who helped make the exhibition and the Bangkok visit possible.

 

Tom Topol | Passport Historian & Author
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