The Foreign Service Journal, September 2004

is deserving of the support of those who recognize the need for a place to promote the public’s understanding of diplomacy.” One of Secretary Powell’s first acts after taking office was to reaffirm the department’s undertaking and his strong support of the museum: “I want to do a better job of explaining to the American people why what we do is important to them and merits their support.” To oversee the project (now known as “The Department of State Visitor Center and National Museum of American Diplomacy”), the United States Diplomacy Center office was created in 2001, responsible to Assistant Secre- tary for Public Affairs Richard Boucher, and headed by Senior Foreign Service officer Michael A. Boorstein. As Secretary Powell declared, “The United States Diplomacy Center will be an important part of our effort to help free people everywhere understand the crucial role of diplomacy in keeping the peace and advancing the cause of freedom.” The Center has already put together a major exhibition that has toured the country, “After 9/11: Messages from the World and Images of Ground Zero” (see p. 84). The Way Ahead A feasibility study conducted by a major fundraising consultancy found that there was great interest in the project among donors nationwide and concluded that the money to build the project could be raised. Ralph Appelbaum Associates Inc. was selected from a number of firms to design the exhibits and work with the archi- tects of the building renovation: Karn, Charuhas, Chapman & Twohey. Appelbaum — a former Peace Corps volunteer, USAID employee, creator of exhibits for the United States Information Agency and the country’s leading museum designer — designed the exhibits for the Holocaust Museum, the Newseum, and the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, and is now working on the National Capitol Visitors Center, the Clinton Library and other museums all over the world. He has completed the initial concept design for the Visitor Center and Museum (see illustration, p. 86). In a city of museums, ours has to be compelling, first-class and state-of-the-art. I am con- vinced it will be among the finest. Through interactive media, the Visitor Center will spotlight the work of the Secretary of State and American diplomacy, and will explore the role of American diplo- matic posts abroad. The public will learn what the Department of State and the other foreign affairs agen- cies have done and continue to do for the nation every day in helping to maintain security, promote prosperity, seek peace and expand American ideals. The museum will invite visitors to explore highlights of American diplomatic history from Ben Franklin to the present, pro- viding insight into the way we practice diplomacy, and posing challenges with which individuals and groups can grapple. The museum administrators are working with ADST to make use of its collection of over 1,200 oral histories. There will be stories that bring memorable artifacts to life, such as a blindfold worn by one of the hostages held in Iran in 1979-1980; historic treaties portrayed in the set- ting in which they were signed; paintings relating to diplo- macy; items hallmarking important milestones for diplo- macy in technology and communications (including a Wang computer!); and items related to arms control, such as a pen made of titanium from a melted-down rocket once pointed at the heartland of America and another, more ornate pen used to sign the optimistic Kellogg- S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 4 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 83 Retired FSO Stephen Low served as ambassador to Zambia and Nigeria, among many other assignments, and completed his career with five years as director of the Foreign Service Institute, during which time the new cam- pus was acquired and designed. Following five years as director of the Johns Hopkins Bologna Center, he returned to Washington to serve as president, first of the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training and then the Foreign Affairs Museum Council, both of which he was instrumental in creating. Providing a permanent home from which to showcase American diplomacy to the public is a concept well worth the effort.