The author on a research trip near Al-Hoceima in the Rif Mountains Caitlyn Olson, writing the guest post below, tells of her 2010 Fulbright fellowhip in Tetouan (near Tangier), and meeting a young Spanish artist also working in the city. “I requested some feedback on the project abstract I’d translated to Spanish. It provided background … Read more Moroccans On Both Sides In Spain’s Civil War
Have I become accustomed to living in historic landmarks? En route to a week in Washington for meetings, I have decided to set up shop at DACOR Bacon House, one of Foggy Bottom's few remaining historic homes, now the home of DACOR, which organizes a lively calendar of activities for foreign affairs professionals. I've stayed … Read more Open for Business, In Tangier and Washington
People often ask "what is a legation?" So I provide the above photo of a page from a dictionary that was published when countries still had legations. And ministers, the people (well, at the time, the men) who headed them. Wikipedia has a limited or stub page on legations. In Tangier, the American Legation and … Read more Le-ga’tion, Defined
Okay, folks, I think we have solved the mystery of the American flag carpet, or at least placed it in time. First, the link to our plea to readers for photo interpretation of this picture: Now, analysis provided by Mark Smith, architect and former Peace Corps Volunteer in Morocco (and former resident of the American … Read more History Detected, Flag Restored
Wildlife in the medina of Tangier Actually, the French Consulate General isn't in the medina any longer (the old French Legation was in a historic building – Dar al Niyaba – that once housed the Sultan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs during the International Zone era). Now it's at the center of the modern city, la … Read more Legation Lions & Les Oies du Consulat
For years, it has been hanging in the courtyard of the American Legation in Tangier. The red, white, and blue are now faded, dirty. Poor Old Glory. The courtyard is, after all, subject to the desert dust of the chergui as the Moroccans call the East wind off the Sahara. When it's the Atlantic wind, … Read more Moroccan-American Relations: Photo Interpretation, Please
At left: American Consul in Tangier, James De Long, circa 1861 (Click on photo to enlarge to full-size pop up). Thanks to Tangier native and Parisian pediatrician (and author) Philip Abensur, we have this photo of the Civil War era Consul James De Long. De Long, who served from September 1861 through March 1862, might … Read more Topic In Search of Historian: The US Civil War in Tangier, Morocco
Don't worry: Teddy Roosevelt and his gunboat diplomacy have not made a reappearance on the Strait of Gibraltar. Whatever happens down the coast in Libya, the USS Olympia of the Great White Fleet (image: ModelShipMaster.com) is safely moored in its Philadelphia museum home. Here in Tangier, we don't expect any battleship-assisted hostage rescue attempts à … Read more The Great White Fleet Returns to Tangier
Today, Presidents Day in the United States, is a nice hook to link a succession of American Presidents – from George Washington to Barack Obama – to Morocco, and, by extension, to the American Legation in Tangier, home of TALIM. Of all American Presidents who have interacted with their Moroccan counterparts, it is probably George … Read more American Presidents, Morocco, and the Legation in Tangier
190 years ago, in 1821, Morocco's Sultan Moulay Slimane (the French transliteration tends to be used, vice the more familiar to Anglophones "Suleiman") gave the original building of the Tangier Legation to the United States. Now, 190 doesn't have quite the same ring as 200, but this is notice to those who care about such … Read more 1821: Sultan Moulay Slimane Gives Tangier Legation to U.S.
