Michael Toler Samuel R. Gummere, First American Minister to Morocco (Tangier, 1898 – 1909) Note: This guest post by Mehdi Zainoune, summer intern en route to studies at Sciences Po in Paris, is part of our series of vignettes from the history of Morocco-United States relations. Samuel René Gummere (February 19, 1849 – May 28, 1920) was … Read more Minister Gummere & Teddy Roosevelt’s Big Stick In Morocco
TALIM's Fatima Benguerch with CLS students and women's literacy group As the State Department funded 2011 Arabic Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) program in Tangier draws to a close, it's time to reflect on what makes Tangier a special place to learn Arabic. Tangier is but one of several sites for CLS Arabic programs; there is … Read more CLS Tangier: Language, Culture & Heritage
Photo by Rachid Tefersiti Perhaps I should say Ramadan Notes 1432 (A.H., not A.D.). We marked Ramadan in the traditional ways the Legation has ever since my predecessor Thor Kuniholm established the pattern. We started the week with our Moroccan NGO partners FTAM (the Fondation Tanger al-Madina) and the distribution of foodstuffs to needy families … Read more Ramadan Notes 2011
The Wall Street Journal tells us that some Americans suffer from "sidewalk rage," which sometimes triggers "intermittent explosive disorder." Well, they better stay away from Morocco, or at least Moroccan cities. Better to stretch out on some secluded beach in Agadir than get stressed out walking from A to B in downtown Tangier. In the … Read more Sidewalk, Street, Souk: It’s All the Same
(click on picture to enlarge) Among all the documents that are squirelled away in odd corners of the Legation's research library or administrative files, every so often an item of more than passing interest surfaces. What we're looking at here is the unmistakable pink of the State Department "airgram" announcing in June 1956 that the … Read more Legation, Consulate, Diplomatic Agency: Tangier’s American Presence
"Shnoo the Hell is Going on H'naa?" – the subtitle to Aaron Sakulich's book Moroccan Arabic (Collaborative Media International) – probably captures the bewilderment of many a foreign student of darija or Moroccan colloquial Arabic. For modern day students trying to fathom how to transition from what they learn in Modern Standard or classical Arabic … Read more Deciphering Moroccan Arabic, 1911 – 2011
When (or if) I get to be his age, I want to be at least half as creative as Harold (Hal) Malt. This World War II veteran (he was a fighter pilot), who has been spending good parts of every year in Tangier for upwards of a decade, appeared last night at the Librairie des … Read more The Tangier Option
Here's another example of how farsighted Senator William Fulbright was. Fulbright, after whom the US Government scholarships for international exchange are named, probably didn't imagine that his program would be funding documentary films, but his intent – that funds from the disposal of surplus World War II materiel further international understanding – couldn't be better … Read more The Dressmakers Premieres in Tangier
The leather bound volumes of the Tangier Gazette are a favorite among researchers who spend time at the Legation library. Part of it is the look and feel of history in its original form. And there's all the period detail that gives context to the stories of events in Tangier and beyond. In the 1900 … Read more The Joys of the Tangier Gazette
Well, we did it. The "we" is many: the three artists – American, Moroccan, French (see photo below) – who donated their works depicting our historic building to the Legation for its permanent collection. The many people – expats, Moroccans, art galleries, hotels, restaurants, and artists – who donated raffle (known as "tombola" here) prizes … Read more Paint the Legation: Tangier Comes Through
