Edward R. Dudley (1911-2005)
Ruth A. Davis
Edith S. Sampson
Hazel Singer
July 17, 2013
African Americans Abroad
African Americans have a long history of serving their country in the
Foreign Service. The following is a list of 'firsts': this list is by no
means exhaustive and presents many people not commonly discussed.
The first such individual was William A. Leidesdorff,
who was appointed in 1845 as Vice Consul at Yerba Buena (now San
Francisco), when California was part of Mexico. In 1869, President
Ulysses S. Grant appointed Yale graduate Ebenezer Don Carlos Bassett
as Minister Resident and Consul General in Haiti. From this point on
through the 1930s, African Americans served as ministers, consuls, and
other officials in Latin America, Europe, Africa, and Asia. These
officials included such luminaries as Frederick Douglass, James Weldon Johnson, Archibald Grimke, George Washington Ellis, and Henry Francis Downing.
Lester Aglar Walton
can be considered the first African American Ambassador, even though
his title did not officially use that term. He was appointed by
President Franklin D. Roosevelt as envoy extraordinary and minister
plenipotentiary to Liberia in 1935. His successor, Edward R. Dudley,
was appointed Minister to Liberia in 1948 and promoted to Ambassador to
Liberia in 1949, thus becoming the first African American to officially
hold the title of Ambassador.
The first African American woman to hold the post of Ambassador was Patricia Harris. She was appointed by President Lyndon Johnson as Ambassador to Luxembourg from 1965-1967. Ruth A. Davis is the first African American woman to be promoted to the rank of Career Ambassador, the highest rank in the
Foreign Service. Ambassador Davis joined the Foreign Service in 1969 and served her country during the Clinton Administrations.
James Carter and William Yerby were the first African Americans to enter the regular career Foreign Service. Their colleague, Clifton Reginald Wharton Sr.
joined the Foreign Service in 1925. He became the first African
American Foreign Service Officer to become chief of a diplomatic mission
to a European country when he was appointed Minister to Romania in 1958
and served until 1960. He subsequently served as Ambassador to Norway
from 1961-1964. His son Clifton R. Wharton, Jr. was the first African American to hold the number two position in the State Department as Deputy Secretary of State, 1973.
Dr. LaRae Washington Kemp
was the first African American Medical Director, serving as Assistant
Secretary of the Department of State for Health Affairs and Medical
Director for the U.S State Department and Foreign Service (1991-1994).
The first African American Civil Service employee to serve as an
Ambassador is Barry L.Wells, who was appointed as Ambassador to the Republic of The Gambia in 2007.
The first African American Secretary of State was Colin Powell, appointed by President George W. Bush in 2001. The first African American woman to be Secretary of State was Condoleezza Rice, appointed in 2005 by President George W. Bush. Barbara M. Watson
had a distinguished career in the Foreign Service, starting as
Administrator of the Bureau of Security and Consular Affairs in 1968. In
1977, she became Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs and
served until 1980. She was the first woman to hold the title of
Assistant Secretary. She also served as Ambassador to Malaysia, 1980-81.
Andrew Young is
trumpeted as the first African American Ambassador to the United
Nations, appointed by President Jimmy Carter in 1977. However, Edith S. Sampson
was an African American diplomat who was appointed by President Harry
Truman as an alternate U.S. delegate to the United Nations in 1950, thus
making her the first African American to be hold this position.
The final entry for this discussion is Pamela Spratlen, Ambassador to the Kyrgyz Republic. BlackPast.org
is proud to list her as a contributor to the website. For individuals
wishing to peruse a longer list of African Americans in the Foreign
Service, the information can be found at the U.S State Department
History Archives, some of which is compiled here.
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