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“Hna Wa Mericane”TALIM Director Visit to American Language Centers in Oujda and Fez

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TALIM director, John Davison, speaking to ALC Students in Oujda

As part of Bicentennial Outreach efforts, the TALIM Director travelled to Oujda and Fes to meet with students from the American Language Centers who are participating in Embassy/American Culture Association (ACA) sponsored courses entitled “Hna Wa Mericane” (“We and Americans”).The Director took questions from the students about Morocco-American diplomatic history and discussed both the diplomatic … Read more “Hna Wa Mericane”TALIM Director Visit to American Language Centers in Oujda and Fez

Categories Bicentennial

The Legation’s Bicentennial Featured in Smithsonian Magazine

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We hope that you will enjoy this article from Smithsonian Magazine by Dr. Graham Cornwell of George Washington University entitled, “Why a 200-Year-Building in Morocco Is the Only National Historic Landmark Outside the U.S. “ It’s an honor and a pleasure for all of us from the Tangier American Legation Institute for Moroccan Studies to … Read more The Legation’s Bicentennial Featured in Smithsonian Magazine

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Marie-Hélène Loftus in Tangier

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Image of Distribution of Arabic literacy diplomas July 2013

Post by Gerald Loftus, TALIM Resident Director (2010-2014) For a grandmother-to-be, it was a sacrifice to leave Europe for Morocco, just as her first grandson was about to come into the world in the summer of 2010.  But Marie Hélène – as she had done during our years crisscrossing the world in the diplomatic service … Read more Marie-Hélène Loftus in Tangier

Categories Historic Landmark, Museum, Tangier, Uncategorized

Marguerite McBey and the Creation of the Tangier American Legation Museum

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It is not an exaggeration to say that the Legation Museum owes much of its existence to the vision and generosity of one of Tangier’s truly grand women: Marguerite McBey, née Loeb, daughter of Philadelphia and forever a guardian of Tangier. In a richly fascinating obituary of Marguerite McBey in the Guardian, we learn of … Read more Marguerite McBey and the Creation of the Tangier American Legation Museum

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Women’s History Month: The First Daughter of the Legation

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As we begin our celebrations of Women’s History Month, it is fitting that we honor the “First Daughter of the Legation,” Glorvina Mullowny Fort, who as a young woman traveled to Tangier from Philadelphia in the 1820s to join her father John Mullowny, who headed the American Consulate in Tangier. Later in her life in … Read more Women’s History Month: The First Daughter of the Legation

Categories Books, Tangier

Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Allen Ginsberg: A Tangier Connection?

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RIP Lawrence Ferlinghetti, poet, publisher and owner of the famous City Lights Bookstore, who died yesterday at age 101 in his hometown, San Francisco. Described in his New York Times obituary as the “spiritual godfather of the Beat movement,” Ferlinghetti had some indirect links to the city of Tangier, where some Beat Generation authors found … Read more Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Allen Ginsberg: A Tangier Connection?

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The January 6, 2021 Events in Washington DC

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“As Americans, we have since our country’s founding placed a high value on the peaceful transfer of political power and the rule of law.  The violence and mayhem we witnessed at our nation’s Capitol on January 6 were intended explicitly to halt that peaceful transfer, and those shocking events underscore that our commitment to these … Read more The January 6, 2021 Events in Washington DC

Categories Diplomatic History, Legation Tales, Morocco, Museum, Tangier

RIP Ana Gabriela Da Silva Araujo Bonnet (1930-2020)

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Rest in Peace, Ana Gabriela Da Silva Araujo Bonnet, who passed away peacefully last week in Tangier. Ana Gabriela was a fifth generation “Tangerina” — her great-great grandfather Felix A Matthews served as the US Consul in Tangier in the 19th century. This lovely photograph by Tessa Codrington of Ana Gabriela in front of a … Read more RIP Ana Gabriela Da Silva Araujo Bonnet (1930-2020)

Categories AIMS, American Studies, Cultural Diplomacy, Diplomatic History, Historic Landmark, Historic Preservation, Morocco, Tangier, Uncategorized

Diplomatic note on the “Lamentable News of Death by Assassination of Abraham Lincoln”

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On the Eve of Juneteenth, we share with you a copy of the 1865 diplomatic note that hangs in the Legation’s Museum (a gift of the Forbes family): Consulate General of the United States of America, Tangier28 April, 1865. Gentlemen: — The lamentable news of the death by assassination of Abraham Lincoln, President of the … Read more Diplomatic note on the “Lamentable News of Death by Assassination of Abraham Lincoln”

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Lawrence Peskin Podcast: James Simpson — The First American Consul to Tangier

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Lawrence Peskin, a history professor at Morgan State University in Baltimore, is in Tangier to research the life of James Simpson, America’s first consul to Morocco (1797-1820). He is doing so as part of a larger book project that traces the development of the Early National American community in the Mediterranean region by studying the lives and networks of three consuls. In addition to Simpson, he is studying Robert Montgomery of Alicante, Spain and Thomas Appleton of Livorno, Italy.
In addition to the many sources in the library at TALIM, he has benefitted from the opportunity to be able to walk around Tangier and understand the local geography. In doing so he has struggled to identify the remains of the 18th and early 19th century town and, particularly, the various consular houses in which members of the roughly 150-member European community resided.
In the pod cast and in a more detailed blog post he discusses his efforts to find the location of the first American consular house (before the current American Legation) and Simpson’s country villa, “Mount Washington.”

Read moreLawrence Peskin Podcast: James Simpson — The First American Consul to Tangier