http://www.pbs.org/wned/war-of-1812/home Today's post is an admission of ignorance, prompted by the resurgence of interest in the War of 1812 between Britain and the United States, with its bicentennial commemorations (check the PBS link above, plus this great Navy/Marine/Coast Guard site, "Our Flag Was Still There"). With the resources at hand (8,000 volume library, JSTOR database … Read more Moroccan Questions for War of 1812 Experts
On this Fourth of July, when across the United States, and in those places overseas where Americans meet, the red, white and blue decorates many a barbecue and picnic, we display this gift of Moroccans to Americans, dating back to the late 1950s. American flags haven't flown over the Legation in, what, more than 50 … Read more Consul, Wrapped In Flag: Odd Legation Tales
After three days of conferencing, the Legation's fountains and birds are again audible in the relative calm of the medina. Not that we're complaining: a better group of participants couldn't be found. We have just hosted an illustrious group of experts on Berber Societies, the theme of this year's AIMS – American Institute for Maghrib … Read more Berber Societies: AIMS Conference 2012 at TALIM
For the past 62 years, there has been an American campus in this city – the American School of Tangier (AST), the first such school in Morocco, offering classes K-12. Now, with the announcement by UNE – Maine's University of New England – of plans to establish a presence at AST, there will be a … Read more An American Campus in Tangier
House Bunting (Emberiza sahari), American Legation Tangier (photo by Christiane Delongueville) Last year, when I wrote about "wildlife" in the medina, I neglected a whole class of the animal kingdom: birds. How could I? They are by far the most ubiquitous creatures in this mostly treeless part of the city. We're not really bird watchers, … Read more Buntings on the Balcony
The personnel of the American Legation must have been as excited as the rest of Tangier on April 5, 1928. The swimmer herself would have been out of sight, a tiny figure among the waves and treacherous currents of the Strait of Gibraltar, though her flotilla of witnesses, onlookers, and supporters may have been visible. … Read more First Across the Strait: Mercedes Gleitze 1928
Well, it wasn't really an exhibit, but rather a film of an artist and her exhibit. The artist is Carla Querejeta Roca, a Spanish Tangeroise (or perhaps Tangerina) whose family has strong roots in this city on the Strait of Gibraltar. The filmmaker is Jean-Claude Sussfeld, who has begun to explore Tangier subjects. The exhibit … Read more Instant Art Exhibit: Carla Querejeta Roca
Tangier is home to Morocco's leading institute of higher education in tourism, ISITT, of the Ministry of Tourism. Now in its 40th year, ISITT has an alumni list of thousands, many of whom have made careers in tourism, Morocco's most important source of foreign exchange. Invited to make a presentation on the Legation at ISITT's … Read more Culture, Tourism, and Cultural Tourism
This week marked the 70th anniversary of the creation of the OSS, the Office of Strategic Services, barely six months after the attack on Pearl Harbor. OSS Society President Charles Pinck has penned this article in the Tampa Tribune, "General Donovan's Glorious Amateurs," whose title provides a glimpse of the kind of recruits Donovan gathered … Read more OSS Diplomatic Courier Gordon Browne’s Fateful Pouch Run
Dorothy Weems as her mother, Ruth Wolfe Weems “I was the youngest member of the Legation, the one most newly arrived from America…” There’s a touch of Isak Dinesen’s wistful remembrance of Africa in Ruth Wolfe Weems’ writing on her years in Tangier. A bit of the postwar sense of loss after the adventures, the … Read more Reliving Forties Tangier with Ruth Wolfe Weems
