Diplomatic Reception Rooms, U.S. Department of State

For the Diplomatic Reception Rooms at the White House, see Diplomatic Reception Room (White House).

Diplomatic Reception Rooms

The John Quincy Adams State Drawing Room features the desk upon which was signed the 1783 Treaty of Paris, ending the American Revolutionary War. The painting above depicts Franklin and Adams affixing their signatures.
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Established	January 1961 (1961-01)
Location	Harry S Truman Building, Northwest, Washington, D.C., U.S.
Coordinates	38°53′40″N77°02′54″W / 38.8944°N 77.0484°W / 38.8944; -77.0484
Type	art, furniture, decorative arts
Collections	Federal-era American arts
Visitors	90,000
Founder	Clement Conger
Operator	Office of Fine Arts
Director	Virginia B. Hart (2024)
Owner	U.S. State Department
Public transit access	Foggy Bottom
Website	diplomaticrooms.state.gov

The Diplomatic Reception Rooms at the United States Department of State are forty-two principal rooms and offices where the United States Secretary of State conducts the business of modern diplomacy. Located on the seventh and eighth floors of the Harry S Truman Building in Washington, D.C., the diplomatic reception rooms include one of the nation’s foremost museum collections of American fine and decorative arts.

Architect Edward Vason Jones designed several of the rooms between 1965 and 1980. Clement Conger, curator of the collections from 1961 to 1990, assembled many of the art, furniture, and decorative arts objects. ^{[1] [2]}

Management

In accordance with Title 22 of the United States Code, Chapter 38, Section 2213(a), the Office of Fine Arts (M/FA) at the U.S. Department of State oversees the art and architecture of the Diplomatic Reception Rooms and administers this museum on behalf of the Secretary of State. In addition to the Office of Fine Arts, the Office of the Chief of Protocol administers official visits by guests of the secretary. The facilities themselves apart from their contents are managed by the Bureau of Administration (A/OPR/GSM), which with the Office of Fine Arts reports to the Under Secretary of State for Management. ^[3]

Collections

Masterpieces in the collections are assembled from the early Federal period, c. 1790–1815. These masterpieces are interwoven into an interpretative narrative that explores U.S. diplomatic history: charting of the new world and the colonial foundations, the nation’s road to independence and birth of the United States, and expansion westward over the years 1740–1840. The Diplomatic Reception Rooms are a national treasure that belongs to the American people. It is the People that support the vital activities of the Diplomatic Reception Rooms. Charitable contributions from private citizens, foundations, and corporations support revitalization and expansion initiatives, collections maintenance and conservation, and educational programming.

On September 3, 1783, the Treaty of Paris, establishing peace with Great Britain after the Continental Army prevailed in the American Revolutionary War, establishing the nation's independence, was signed on this Tambour Writing Table. This diplomatic achievement is depicted in the collection’s unfinished painting, after Benjamin West’s 1782 original, The American Commissioners of the Preliminary Peace Negotiations with Great Britain. Hand-wrought silver by patriot-silversmith Paul Revere, porcelain wares from George Washington’s Society of Cincinnati, and companion portraits of John Quincy and Louisa Catherine Adams, 1816, by artist Charles Robert Leslie are among the national treasures.

• 
  Portrait of Benjamin Franklin (ca. 1760), by Benjamin Wilson.
• 
  Portrait of Thomas Jefferson (ca. 1791), by Charles Willson Peale.
• 
  Bombé desk and bookcase (1753), by Benjamin Frothingham Jr., Massachusetts.
• 
  Chippendale high chest (ca. 1760), unknown maker, Philadelphia.
• 
  Marlborough-leg camel-back sofa (ca. 1775-1800), attributed to Thomas Affleck, Philadelphia.

8th floor

• The Edward Vason Jones Memorial Hall
• Entrance Hall
• Passageway
• Gallery
• Walter Thurston Lounge
• Martha Washington Lounge
• Dolley Madison Room
• John Quincy Adams Drawing Room
• Thomas Jefferson Reception Room
• Benjamin Franklin State Dining Room
• James Monroe Room
• James Madison Room
• Henry Clay Room

7th floor

• The Treaty Room

Gallery

• 
  Thomas Jefferson State Reception Room.
• 
  Benjamin Franklin State Dining Room.
• 
  Edward Vason Jones Memorial Hall.
• 
  Treaty Room Suite.
• 
  Secretary of State's Office
• 
  James Monroe Conference Room
• 
  James Madison Dining Room.

References

1. Files, John (January 13, 2004). "Clement Conger, 91, Curator Who Beautified Federal Halls". The New York Times.
2. Kempster, Norman (August 7, 1990). "Insider : He Took Charge of a Shabby State Department : Clement Conger is his name and furnishing is his game. For the last 30 years, he has made sure that foreign VIP's like what they see in Washington D.C". Los Angeles Times.
3. Sinopoli, James (December 2014). Pacheco, Isaac (ed.). "Dining Diplomacy". State Magazine . No. 595. Washington, D.C.: Bureau of Human Resources, United States Department of State. p. 11. ISSN   1099-4165 . Retrieved August 1, 2019.

Further reading

• Conger, Clement E (1991). Treasures of State: Fine and Decorative Arts in the Diplomatic Reception Rooms of the U.S. Department of State. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
• Serfaty, Gail (2003). Becoming a Nation: Americana from the Diplomatic Reception Rooms of the U.S. Department of State. New York: Rizzoli.
• Kerry (foreward), John F. (2023). America's Collection: The Art and Architecture of the Diplomatic Reception Rooms at the U.S. Department of State. New York: Rizzoli.

External links

• Official website
• Tours – Scheldule a public tour of the Diplomatic Reception Rooms via Salesforce
• Diplomatic Reception Rooms on Flickr