By Noelani Kirschner Diplomat Barbara Watson achieved historic firsts during her time at the State Department. But firsts were familiar in her family. Watson was the child of New York’s first elected Black judge, James S. Watson, and Violet Lopez Watson, a founder of the National Council of Negro Women. Watson’s cousin Colin L. Powell ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 30 March, 2021 | Topics: History, Human Rights, Key Officials, News | Tags: African Americans, female leaders, U.S. history, women in the workforce, women's empowerment
The United States has been sending diplomats around the world since the 18th century. For the last 100 years women diplomats have been among them. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has emphasized that diversity and inclusion is a priority of the Biden administration. “Diversity and inclusion make us stronger, smarter, more creative and more ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 5 March, 2021 | Topics: History, Human Rights, Key Officials, News | Tags: female leaders, U.S. history, women in the workforce, women's empowerment
Ted DeLaney arrived at Washington and Lee University as a janitor. By the time he left, he’d been chairman of its history department. DeLaney’s story is extraordinary, but his path is one shared by millions of Black Americans: Overcome prejudice, seize new opportunities, and contribute to your community and your nation. DeLaney was born and ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 25 February, 2021 | Topics: History, Human Rights, News | Tags: African Americans, campus life, social activism, U.S. history
By
Noelani Kirschner |
Sherry L. Brukbacher The history of Black American music in the United States spans four centuries, and now there’s a museum to honor that legacy. The
National Museum of African American Music (NMAAM), which opened January 30 in Nashville,
Tennessee , calls itself “the only museum dedicated to preserving and celebrating the many music genres created, influenced and inspired by African Americans.” Divided ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 24 February, 2021 | Topics: Art & Culture, History, Human Rights, News | Tags: African Americans, arts, cultural preservation, music, U.S. history
Where many saw a bean, Percy Julian saw an entire laboratory. A synthetic chemist, Julian derived medical compounds from substances in plants. From the Calabar bean, he obtained a treatment for glaucoma, a leading cause of blindness among the elderly. His work with soybeans supported everything from hydrocortisone shots to treat arthritis to fire retardant ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 16 February, 2021 | Topics: History, Immigrant Visas, News, Science & Tech | Tags: African Americans, innovation, science, U.S. history
The U.S. Postal Service is honoring a Chinese-American scientist for her significant contributions to nuclear physics, a field largely dominated by men. Born in China in 1912, Chien-Shiung Wu immigrated to the United States and became “one of the most influential American nuclear physicists of the 20th century,” the post office said
in a November statement announcing plans to ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 9 February, 2021 | Topics: Gender Issues, History, News, Science & Tech | Tags: Asian Americans, innovation. science, U.S. history, women in the workforce
The U.S. Air Force on December 1, 2020, the 65th anniversary of Parks’ 1955 protest, unveiled a sculpture of her at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama, adding to an array of memorials that honor the civil rights icon, who died in 2005 at the age of 92. This year ShareAmerica is highlighting some of ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 2 February, 2021 | Topics: History, Human Rights, News | Tags: African Americans, civic equality, female leaders, social activism, U.S. history
By
Leigh Hartman For Antony Blinken, America’s new top diplomat, returning to the U.S. Department of State brings the opportunity to continue both professional and family traditions. Blinken, whom the U.S. Senate confirmed as secretary of state January 26, will lead the State Department, where he served during the Clinton and Obama administrations. His career in public ...
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By simonishvilia | 27 January, 2021 | Topics: History, Key Officials, News, News from Washington | Tags: civil society, U.S. elections, U.S. history
By
Lenore T. Adkins Joseph R. Biden Jr., a former vice president and a longtime Capitol Hill lawmaker known for reaching across the political aisle to get things done, takes office on January 20 as the 46th president of the United States. Biden served eight years as former President Barack Obama’s vice president and defeated incumbent President Donald ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 20 January, 2021 | Topics: History, Key Officials, News, News from Washington | Tags: presidency, U.S. history, White House
By
Leigh Hartman For Antony Blinken, the incoming administration’s pick for America’s top diplomat, returning to the U.S. State Department brings the opportunity to continue both professional and family traditions. If confirmed by the Senate, Blinken would resume a career at the State Department, where he served during the Clinton and Obama administrations. His career in public ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 19 January, 2021 | Topics: History, Key Officials, News, News from Washington | Tags: civil society, U.S. elections, U.S. history
While many democracies swap in new leaders in a sprint, the U.S. ambles along with a transition period of 11 weeks. But slow as that might seem, it’s shorter than the four months the Constitution originally left for the handoff of power from an incumbent to a new president. Picking up the pace The original ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 14 January, 2021 | Topics: History, News, News from Washington | Tags: good governance, presidency, U.S. elections, U.S. history, White House
By
Noelani Kirschner |
Suzanne K. Mast While the pandemic has forced many to stay home, museums across the United States are bringing their world-famous collections online for anyone to view. The public response has been enormous. American tech company Google recently reported its most searched terms of 2020, and the second most popular search after the word “virtual” was ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 13 January, 2021 | Topics: Culture, Health Issues, History | Tags: arts, Coronavirus, technology, U.S. history
Fans of old classics are now free to use and adapt stories, songs and films published in 1925 thanks to U.S. copyright laws’ protections for both the livelihoods of creators and the enjoyment of future generations. Among the thousands of works that entered the public domain January 1, 2021, are classic novels, such as F. ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 12 January, 2021 | Topics: Culture, History, News | Tags: arts, cultural preservation, intellectual property rights, music, U.S. history
By
Lenore T. Adkins In 1839, the Amistad cargo schooner sailed from Havana to Puerto Principe, Cuba, with 53 Africans bound for a life of slavery on the island. But while aboard the schooner, the Africans fought for their freedom. Their battle gained them a reprieve. And soon, American abolitionists would take up their fight in U.S. courts. The Africans ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 12 January, 2021 | Topics: History, Human Rights, Key Documents, News | Tags: civic equality, human trafficking, U.S. history, U.S. judicial system
By
Lauren Monsen The
Emancipation Proclamation is arguably one of the most important documents in the history of the United States. Abraham Lincoln himself stated that he considered it to be his greatest legacy. “I never in my life, felt more certain that I was doing right than I do in signing this paper,” he said. “If my name ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 30 December, 2020 | Topics: History, Human Rights, News | Tags: African Americans, civic equality, civil society, U.S. history
By
Lauren Monsen |
D. Thompson In recent days, many thousands of American families have faced holidays without loved ones who succumbed to COVID-19. Also in 2020 many notable Americans died — whether of COVID or another cause — who left an imprint on the world. David Dinkins — the first African-American mayor of New York City, who died ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 30 December, 2020 | Topics: Art & Culture, Culture, History, News | Tags: arts, U.S. history, women in the workforce
January 1, 1942, was a milestone in diplomatic history — a day when representatives of the “Big Four” Allied countries (the United States, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, and China) gathered in Washington to sign the
United Nations Declaration , formally pledging cooperation in defeating the forces of fascism. The following day, representatives of 22 other Allied ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 28 December, 2020 | Topics: History, Key Officials, News | Tags: international cooperation, U.S. history, United Nations, WWII
Captain Amy Bauernschmidt will become the first woman in U.S. history to command a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier. In 2016 Bauernschmidt was the first woman to serve as executive officer of a nuclear aircraft carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln. Bauernschmidt
graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1994, the same year
women began to serve on combat ships and planes. She logged more than 3,000 hours of flight ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 17 December, 2020 | Topics: History, News | Tags: female leaders, U.S. history, women in the workforce
November 11 is Veterans Day in the United States. Americans usually plan parades, ceremonies and tributes to those who have served, and are currently serving, in the U.S. military. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Americans will observe Veterans Day 2020 somewhat differently. Edinburg, Texas, for example, is holding a virtual parade, with photos of veterans, ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 9 November, 2020 | Topics: History, News | Tags: American holidays, U.S. history, Veterans Day
Music and politics have been closely linked throughout U.S. history, with songs that promote candidates (or attack their rivals) dating back more than 200 years. Those songs have often reflected the bruising nature of
U.S. campaigns , which Stuart Eizenstat — a U.S. diplomat and former White House domestic affairs director for President Jimmy Carter — once ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 29 October, 2020 | Topics: History, Human Rights, News, Video | Tags: arts, presidency, U.S. history
The
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), ratified in 1948, for the first time articulated the rights and freedoms to which every person is entitled. Influenced by the core values at the heart of the U.S. Constitution, the UDHR affirmed “the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 24 September, 2020 | Topics: History, Human Rights, Key Officials, News | Tags: civic equality, international cooperation, Secretary Pompeo, U.S. history, United Nations
American debates have changed much since the days when an Illinois lawyer held the nation spellbound with his moral arguments against slavery. That was 1858, and the arguments of Abraham Lincoln, who was debating Stephen Douglas, didn’t lead to Lincoln’s winning the Senate seat he sought. Nevertheless, transcripts were distributed throughout the country and became ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 14 September, 2020 | Topics: Education, History, Human Rights, Key Officials, News | Tags: elections, presidency, press freedom, technology, U.S. elections, U.S. history
From civil rights activist to member of Congress: Remembering John Lewis (July 20) Civil rights hero and U.S. Representative John Lewis died July 17 at the age of 80. He had been battling pancreatic cancer since he received the diagnosis in December. The son of Alabama sharecroppers, Lewis was a central figure in the U.S. civil ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 20 July, 2020 | Topics: History, Human Rights, News | Tags: African Americans, civic equality, Congress, Martin Luther King Jr., social activism, U.S. history
The American Red Cross helps those who suffer (May 8) Exhausted in 1869 after nursing U.S. soldiers in the U.S. Civil War,
Clara Barton followed her doctor’s advice and embarked on an extensive European vacation. But the nurse couldn’t stay away from helping people. A year into her vacation, Barton volunteered with the Switzerland-based
International Committee of the Red Cross during the Franco-Prussian ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 8 May, 2020 | Topics: Health Issues, History, Human Rights, News | Tags: Charity, disaster relief, U.S. history, volunteerism
How Americans observed V-E Day during World War II (May 8) Victory in Europe (V-E) Day, when the Allied countries of World War II accepted the surrender of Nazi Germany, was celebrated as a festive holiday in many parts of the world. The occasion sparked unbridled, emotional public celebrations on May 8, 1945, in ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 8 May, 2020 | Topics: History, News, News from Washington | Tags: international security, U.S. history, WWII
