This collection consists of condolence books from the U.S. Department of State and its various diplomatic missions around the world commemorating the death of former President Gerald R. Ford. The collection was originally created by the Department of State’s Ceremonials division within Office of the Chief of Protocol and transferred to the National Archives as part of Record Group 59. During processing at the National Archives, the condolence books were transferred to the Ford Library.
Series Description and Container List
Container List
Collection Overview
Scope and Content Note
The Ceremonials division within the Department of State’s Office of the Chief of Protocol plans, executes and supports a wide range of ceremonial and official functions hosted by the President, Vice President, Secretary of State, and other high-ranking United States Government officials. The division also organizes the participation of the Diplomatic Corps in special events and official public events such as Joint Sessions of Congress, inaugurations, funerals, and other ceremonies. In addition, the Ceremonials division plays a key role in maintaining international protocol, the practice of employing proper etiquette, official formalities, dignified ceremonies in the welcoming and hosting of foreign leaders, and maintains the Order of Precedence of the United States of America, and answers questions on flag etiquette, forms of address, seating, invitations, dietary, and cultural restrictions.
When former President Gerald R. Ford passed away on December 26, 2006, there were many people both in the United States and around the world who wished to pay their respects. It appears that the Ceremonial division provided the embassies and consulates around the world with condolence books that were available to its employees and the public to sign. They were then removed from 3-ring binder books, collected by the Ceremonials division along with some additional books, and eventually transferred to the National Archives. This collection includes these condolence book pages as well as those sent from the U.S. Department of State employees and international diplomatic corps. Some additional condolence messages were tucked into the pages and are included.
The condolence book pages are arranged alphabetically by the location city of the diplomatic mission and include both embassies and consulates from around the world, with some countries sending books from both their embassy and multiple consulate locations. The pages include notes and signatures from ambassadors, consuls and high commissioners to the country they are filed under along with notes of sympathy from State Department employees, U.S. citizens abroad, and the public. Specific pages from the international diplomatic corps include messages from ambassadors to the U.S. as well as from the Permanent Mission to the Organization of American States (OAS), and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).
Related Material:
Related materials are located in the Gerald R. Ford Funeral Materials Collection, but they are not yet available for research.
Details
3.9 linear feet (approximately 7,800 pages)
Federal records accessioned by the National Archives on October 6, 2015 (NARA accession number LTI-0059-2014-0174), and transferred to the Ford Library on June 30, 2017 (accession number 2017-NLF-003).
Access
Open.
Copyright
Works prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties are in the public domain. The copyrights to materials written by other individuals or organizations are presumed to remain with them.
Processed by
Sarah Conrad, June 2018