About Us
Welcome to the United States Diplomacy Center! As the future home of the US Department of State’s visitor center and museum, the Center will be a unique institution devoted to the powerful work of our nation’s diplomats. Through historic artifacts, video and cutting-edge technology, exhibits will explore the vital role diplomacy plays in securing our nation and ensuring our prosperity. Winning over allies to our vision of a safe and peaceful world; partnering with nations on the path to progress and widening our corner of the world market – that is the work of diplomats; it is the work that protects our way of life. The Center will open the doors to this world to you. Thank you for visiting our website, and we look forward to welcoming you to our Center in person before too long.
— Mike Hammer Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Public Affairs
Welcome from the USDC Director, David Ballard:
Thank you for your interest in our exciting museum center.
For almost 28 years, I have been honored to serve and represent the United States of America as a diplomat, so I am thrilled to be the Director of the USDC, a museum center that honors our diplomatic history and our diplomats through exhibits and educational programs. This is a rich and fascinating story that we are delighted to be able to share through the USDC and its programs.
The USDC’s goal is to demonstrate the ways in which diplomacy matters now and has mattered throughout American history. Diplomacy and the work of our diplomats in over 250 embassies, consulates, and other diplomatic missions are vital to our nation’s power, image, and ability to advance its interests around the globe.
I am often asked by friends and families what such a museum center might exhibit that would be of interest. “A bunch of pens?” is a frequent guess. If you look through our website’s sample representations of the over 6,000 artifacts we already professionally curate you will, in fact, find some pens-- and a lot more than pens. You will discover very personal tokens that represent the evolution of our diplomats’ efforts to live and work around the world in a way that honors American values and principles. You will develop a greater appreciation of the challenges they and their families endure and overcome because of their commitment to the United States of America, its institutions, and its citizens. If you are a U.S. citizen, you will learn how diplomacy affects your nation and yourself. If you are a foreign visitor, you will discover something you did not know about the United States.
The USDC is staffed by a team of professionals working to develop, open, and run a museum and educational center. Colleagues past and present from foreign affairs agencies will find reflections of themselves and their work in our center. Much more importantly, our visitors who had not been exposed to the world of diplomacy and its critical importance to the United States will quickly realize why our diplomacy and diplomats matter to them.
We look forward to hearing from you, so please send any comments or questions about the USDC to usdc@state.gov.
