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
John Carter Vincent, Tangier 1967, by Marguerite McBey You never know what you're going to find in those cryptically marked boxes. I recently came across a treasure trove of sketch books left to the Legation by Marguerite McBey, Tangier American artist, 1905 – 1999. Though her husband James was a better known artist (his portrait … Read more John Carter Vincent by Marguerite McBey
French Protectorate brochure for the Morocco Pavilion at the 1939-40 New York World's Fair, TALIM museum and research library, Tangier In this year of the centenary of the 1912 Treaty of Fez, retrospectives on Protectorate Morocco abound. The first thing you must know about Morocco, 100 years ago, is that two Protectorate zones were … Read more What You Must Know About (Protectorate) Morocco
For the last couple of months, settle into a Royal Air Maroc airplane seat, reach for the inflight magazine, and you'll see the cover story – the Museums of Tangier. Featuring, along with our friends the Kasbah Museum, the Tangier American Legation (TALIM) museum. We are thrilled that RAM, with its six million passengers per … Read more Read All About It: Legation & the Press
Bordj Nord in fog, Christmas Eve Fez, 2011 "Christmas in Fez!" was already taken as the title to a blog post by another American last year. In any case, for us it was Christmas Eve in Fez, and Christmas day at the Roman ruins of Volubilis, then on to Moulay Idriss, a sacred destination. Above, … Read more Moroccan Christmas in a Holy Town: Moulay Idriss
The organizers, with sold-out table Many websites that provide step-by-step guides to "starting your new tradition" are semi-commercial. With yesterday's first edition of what might well become an annual event, our intent was strictly charitable, but then charity does start at home. Saturday's Tangier American Legation Open House and Christmas Market was a roaring success, … Read more Legation Open House & Christmas Market
Just an ordinary Friday afternoon, an hour or so before closing. What is this – a takeover? More than a dozen French people, with sketch pads and watercolors, descend on our courtyard. It's Franck Hommage (seated on chair, far right) and his friends. This artist from eastern France (he works largely in Nancy) was enticed … Read more Impromptu Art School: Legation Courtyard
All the Morocco guide books mention it: Tetouan's Ecole des Arts et Métiers (EAO in the Spanish that is still very prevalent in Tetuán: Escuela de artes y oficios). Weekenders should abstain: you can only visit the Artisanal School Monday through Thursday. But it's worth rearranging your itinerary. Tetouan is the first (established 1919 under … Read more Tetouan: Morocco’s Mecca For Historic Preservation
"On October 9, the new office building of the Consulate General was completed, and on October 16 the move from the old buildings was completed." The laconic entry of the anonymous diplomat or consular clerk, writing in his or her best "Palmer Method" penmanship, belies its historic importance. What is being described above, from one … Read more Medina Diplomats: December 7, 1797 – October 16, 1961
