Recognition for a job well done, 1962

During the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962, communications personnel in the Department of State and at U.S. diplomatic posts overseas handling telegraphic communications went into overdrive.  In addition to the standard day-to-day telegrams flowing back and forth between the Department and its diplomatic and consular posts overseas, the communicators had to take care of … Continue reading Recognition for a job well done, 1962

Why Did You Wake Us Up in the Middle of the Night?: Use of NIACT, 1978

Today’s post is written by David Langbart, an Archivist in the Textual Records Division at the National Archives at College Park. An earlier post described a minor contretemps involving use of the Department of State communications precedence indicator "NIACT" [Night Action].  That problem persisted over the years as demonstrated by a 1978 exchange of telegrams … Continue reading Why Did You Wake Us Up in the Middle of the Night?: Use of NIACT, 1978

Why Did You Wake Us Up in the Middle of the Night?: Use of NIACT, 1963

Today’s post is written by David Langbart, an Archivist in the Textual Records Division at the National Archives at College Park. On January 21, 1963, at the behest of McGeorge Bundy at the White House, the Department of State sent a circular telegram to 14 embassies in Europe and the U.S. mission in Geneva.[i]  The … Continue reading Why Did You Wake Us Up in the Middle of the Night?: Use of NIACT, 1963

Foreign Service Friday! The Despatch

Today's post is written by archivist David Langbart who works primarily with diplomatic records. Researchers who use Department of State records may be interested to know a bit more about the types of documents used by Foreign Service Posts to communicate with the Department of State.  This is the first in a series of postings … Continue reading Foreign Service Friday! The Despatch