American Embassy Photographs, The Bystander, February 7, 1940.
UUID: F6E83244-0D10-4B8B-4BD4-632B739AE2DF
ID: ms158er1-017img001-ms158er1-017img015
Source:
“The Bystander visits the American Embassy in London.” The Bystander, February 7, 1940, p.169-173. Valdosta State University Archives and Special Collections, Charles Albert Converse Papers, 1939-1940.
Description:
Fourteen photographs of the American Embassy in London from the Bystander Magazine. Printed images, scanned at 600 DPI.
Contents
Title: The Ambassador, Joseph Patrick Kennedy
Creator: The Bystander
Date: 2/7/1940
Description: The Ambassador, Joseph Patrick Kennedy, sits down at his uncluttered desk first thing every morning to go through his personal mail, all of which he sees and deals with himself. But, for the last few weeks, he has been far from this setting, spending Christmas with his family in Florida. He left England early in December, flying to New York, and then posting down to Washington to see the President. There, as former head of the Maritime Commission, he discussed the position of American shipping during and after the war, as well as giving the President information “ too confidential for cables,” speaking publicly in favour of a third term of office for Mr. Roosevelt, and of the U.S. keeping out of war. After ten strenuous days, Mr. Kennedy left with Mrs. Kennedy for Florida. Rumours of his possible resignation from his London post still circulate, but we hope they are not true. The Ambassador has become extremely popular in Britain since he arrived in 1938. First his smile, then his family, then his own energetic, cheerful, generous personality won this popularity, which deepened and widened as he became better known through a number of fine speeches and addresses in various parts of the country. He was born in Boston in 1888, is primarily a business man, with past connections with finance, banking, shipbuilding, films, theatres. (A January report from New York said he might buy a baseball team, the New York Yankees.) He is a Catholic and a Democrat. In 1914 he married Rose Fitzgerald, daughter of a former Mayor of Boston; her charm and amazingly youthful good looks have brought her innumerable admirers here. Their nine fine children, Joseph, John, Rosemary, Kathleen, Eunice, Patricia, Robert, Jean and Edward, now have an almost proverbial fame.
Source: Valdosta State University Archives and Special Collections, Charles Albert Converse F6E83244-0D10-4B8B-4BD4-632B739AE2DF.Papers, 1939-1940. “The Bystander visits the American Embassy in London.” The Bystander, February 7, 1940, 169-173.
Subjects: “Converse, Charles Albert (1904-1940)”; Diplomatic and consular service; United States. Embassy (Great Britain); World War (1939-1945); The Bystander; Kennedy, Joseph Patrick (1888-1969);
Identifier: ms158er1-017img001
Title: The Counselor, Herschel V. Johnson.
Creator: The Bystander
Date: 2/7/1940
Description: The Counselor (American spelling) is forty-five-year-old Herschel V. Johnson, from North Carolina. After his war service with the A.E.F., 1917-19, he became a diplomat was posted to Berne, Sofia, his own Department of State, Tegucigalpa (Honduras), and Mexico City. Then he came back to Washington, to take charge of Mexican affairs at the Department of State for four years, and after that, in 1934, he was appointed to London as First Secretary. He became Counselor here in 1937.
Source: Valdosta State University Archives and Special Collections, Charles Albert Converse Papers, 1939-1940. “The Bystander visits the American Embassy in London.” The Bystander, February 7, 1940, 169-173. F6E83244-0D10-4B8B-4BD4-632B739AE2DF.
Subjects: “Converse, Charles Albert (1904-1940)”; Diplomatic and consular service; United States. Embassy (Great Britain); World War (1939-1945); The Bystander;
Identifier: ms158er1-017img002
Title: Attaché and Personal Secretary to the Ambassador, Edward E. Moore.
Creator: The Bystander
Date: 2/7/1940
Description: Attaché and Personal Secretary to the Ambassador is Edward E. Moore. He has been with Mr. Kennedy as Personal Secretary since the latter got married twenty- five years ago : when Joseph Kennedy married Rose Fitzgerald, he took from the Hon. John F. Fitzgerald, Mayor of Boston, his secretary, Edward E. Moore, as well as his daughter. Mr. Moore has his desk in the Ambassador’s outer office.
Source: Valdosta State University Archives and Special Collections, Charles Albert Converse Papers, 1939-1940. “The Bystander visits the American Embassy in London.” The Bystander, February 7, 1940, 169-173. F6E83244-0D10-4B8B-4BD4-632B739AE2DF.
Subjects: “Converse, Charles Albert (1904-1940)”; Diplomatic and consular service; United States. Embassy (Great Britain); World War (1939-1945); The Bystander;
Identifier: ms158er1-017img003
Title: Military Attaché and Military Attaché, Sherman Miles & Alan G. Kirk.
Creator: The Bystander
Date: 2/7/1940
Description: Military Attaché and Military Attaché for Air is Brig. General Sherman Miles, son of General Nelson Miles, of Civil War fame. He was in mid-ocean on his way to take up his appointment when war was declared, had been O.C. Field Artillery Command of the U.S. Army at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. With him here is Captain Alan G. Kirk, U.S. Navy, who commanded a battleship before he came to London five months ago as Naval Attaché and Naval Attaché for Air. (As the U.S. Air Force is part of the Army and Navy, it has no Attaché of its own.) It was Captain Kirk who went on board the Ark Royal to prove it hadn’t been sunk.
Source: Valdosta State University Archives and Special Collections, Charles Albert Converse Papers, 1939-1940. “The Bystander visits the American Embassy in London.” The Bystander, February 7, 1940, 169-173. F6E83244-0D10-4B8B-4BD4-632B739AE2DF.
Subjects: “Converse, Charles Albert (1904-1940)”; Diplomatic and consular service; United States. Embassy (Great Britain); World War (1939-1945); The Bystander;
Identifier: ms158er1-017img004
Title: Conference in the Ambassador’s Office
Creator: The Bystander
Date: 2/7/1940
Description: Conference in the Ambassador’s office brings a good many of the Embassy staff together, and the Ambassador, perching on the side of his desk, cracks them a joke. Looking up at him are Alan N. Steyne, Second Secretary and Consul; Walton C. Ferris, Consul ; Edward E. Moore (see left) ; Harvey Klemmer, Attaché and Assistant Commissioner of U.S. Mari- time Commission ; Homer S. Fox, Assistant Commercial Attaché; Dr. Alexander V. Dye, Commercial Attaché; Franklin C. Gowen, Second Secretary and Consul; John G. Erhardt, First Secretary and Consul-General; Lloyd V. Steere, Agricultural Attaché. Mr. Klemmer, as a shipping expert, went to the U.S.A. with Mr. Kennedy to help with the discussions on the future of American merchant ships now immobilized by the Neutrality Act. [Alan N. Steyne; Walton C. Ferris; Edward E. Moore; Harvey Klemmer; Homer S. Fox; Alexander V. Dye; Franklin C. Gowen; John G. Erhardt; Lloyd V. Steere;]
Source: Valdosta State University Archives and Special Collections, Charles Albert Converse Papers, 1939-1940. “The Bystander visits the American Embassy in London.” The Bystander, February 7, 1940, 169-173. F6E83244-0D10-4B8B-4BD4-632B739AE2DF.
Subjects: “Converse, Charles Albert (1904-1940)”; Diplomatic and consular service; United States. Embassy (Great Britain); World War (1939-1945); The Bystander;
Identifier: ms158er1-017img005
Title: Second Secretary, Franklin C. Gowen.
Creator: The Bystander
Date: 2/7/1940
Description: Second Secretary is Franklin C. Gowen, of Philadelphia, who sits opposite Mr. Moore in the Ambassador’s outer office, at a neatly- appointed desk on which he often has a vase of flowers (see the solitary chrysanthemum appearing right.) He has been in London for several years, before which he served in Rome and other posts in Western Europe.
Source: Valdosta State University Archives and Special Collections, Charles Albert Converse Papers, 1939-1940. “The Bystander visits the American Embassy in London.” The Bystander, February 7, 1940, 169-173. F6E83244-0D10-4B8B-4BD4-632B739AE2DF.
Subjects: “Converse, Charles Albert (1904-1940)”; Diplomatic and consular service; United States. Embassy (Great Britain); World War (1939-1945); The Bystander;
Identifier: ms158er1-017img006
Title: Arriving For Work
Creator: The Bystander
Date: 2/7/1940
Description: Arriving for work : some of the staff live at Headley Park, near Epsom, where the whole Embassy might go if London were bombed. They commute daily between Headley Park and Grosvenor Square by Embassy bus. A skeleton staff is always on duty at Epsom.
Source: Valdosta State University Archives and Special Collections, Charles Albert Converse Papers, 1939-1940. “The Bystander visits the American Embassy in London.” The Bystander, February 7, 1940, 169-173. F6E83244-0D10-4B8B-4BD4-632B739AE2DF.
Subjects: “Converse, Charles Albert (1904-1940)”; Diplomatic and consular service; United States. Embassy (Great Britain); World War (1939-1945); The Bystander;
Identifier: ms158er1-017img007
Title: Air Raid Precautions Department, American Embassy in London, 1940.
Creator: The Bystander
Date: 2/7/1940
Description: A.R.P. [Air Raid Precautions] is in charge of Major McDonald, U.S. Army Air Corps, and Assistant Military Attaché for Aviation at the Embassy. With him in the bombproof, gas-proof shelter in the basement are three secretaries, Miss Robinson. Miss Geiger and Mrs. Griffith. The very comprehensive fittings of the shelter include an air-purifier on the Maginot Line system, which can be worked by ordinary electricity, a small internal electric plant, or by a hand pump.
Source: Valdosta State University Archives and Special Collections, Charles Albert Converse Papers, 1939-1940. “The Bystander visits the American Embassy in London.” The Bystander, February 7, 1940, 169-173. F6E83244-0D10-4B8B-4BD4-632B739AE2DF.
Subjects: “Converse, Charles Albert (1904-1940)”; Diplomatic and consular service; United States. Embassy (Great Britain); World War (1939-1945); The Bystander; “Great Britain. Air Raid Precautions Department.”; “McDonald, George Clement (1892-1969)”;
Identifier: ms158er1-017img008
Title: Immigration Visa Section, American Embassy in London.
Creator: The Bystander
Date: 2/7/1940
Description: Visas are asked, demanded, begged, pleaded and prayed for from the Immigration Visa Section which can only say “ No ” when the quotas are full. Since the war this department has been hard pressed, 30,000 refugees having applied for visas, apart from the normal applications. In the past year about 4000 visas were issued, note they are being given at the rate of about 1200 a month. 400 letters a day come in, and in November applications from refugees alone were over 6000. To deal with all this, the department has a staff of 30, including Consuls.
Source: Valdosta State University Archives and Special Collections, Charles Albert Converse Papers, 1939-1940. “The Bystander visits the American Embassy in London.” The Bystander, February 7, 1940, 169-173. F6E83244-0D10-4B8B-4BD4-632B739AE2DF.
Subjects: “Converse, Charles Albert (1904-1940)”; Diplomatic and consular service; United States. Embassy (Great Britain); World War (1939-1945); The Bystander; “United States. Visa Office”;
Identifier: ms158er1-017img009
Title: The Whole Staff, American Embassy in London.
Creator: The Bystander
Date: 2/7/1940
Description: The whole staff, including the Ambassador himself (on the steps) was grouped in front of the Embassy for a presentation pic- ture for Mr. Kennedy before he left for his Christmas visit to America. The Embassy and Consulate-General occupy three floors of the large modern neo-Georgian No. 7, Grosvenor Square, on the corner of Grosvenor Street. Above the Embassy are private flats.
Source: Valdosta State University Archives and Special Collections, Charles Albert Converse Papers, 1939-1940. “The Bystander visits the American Embassy in London.” The Bystander, February 7, 1940, 169-173. F6E83244-0D10-4B8B-4BD4-632B739AE2DF.
Subjects: “Converse, Charles Albert (1904-1940)”; Diplomatic and consular service; United States. Embassy (Great Britain); World War (1939-1945); The Bystander; Kennedy, Joseph Patrick (1888-1969);
Identifier: ms158er1-017img010
Title: Mail Out.
Creator: The Bystander
Date: 2/7/1940
Description: Mail out: the diplomatic bags, ready for dispatch to the Department of State at Washington, D.C., were being looked over by N.D. Borum, Administrative Officer of the Embassy and Consulate General, and Frank W. Gurney, courier.
Source: Valdosta State University Archives and Special Collections, Charles Albert Converse Papers, 1939-1940. “The Bystander visits the American Embassy in London.” The Bystander, February 7, 1940, 169-173. F6E83244-0D10-4B8B-4BD4-632B739AE2DF.
Subjects: “Converse, Charles Albert (1904-1940)”; Diplomatic and consular service; United States. Embassy (Great Britain); World War (1939-1945); The Bystander; Postal service;
Identifier: ms158er1-017img011
Title: Mail In.
Creator: The Bystander
Date: 2/7/1940
Description: Mail in: the mail-room clerk sorts the morning delivery, which includes a half-pint bottle of milk for the Treasury.
Source: Valdosta State University Archives and Special Collections, Charles Albert Converse Papers, 1939-1940. “The Bystander visits the American Embassy in London.” The Bystander, February 7, 1940, 169-173. F6E83244-0D10-4B8B-4BD4-632B739AE2DF.
Subjects: “Converse, Charles Albert (1904-1940)”; Diplomatic and consular service; United States. Embassy (Great Britain); World War (1939-1945); The Bystander; Postal service;
Identifier: ms158er1-017img012
Title: Consuls in Conference.
Creator: The Bystander
Date: 2/7/1940
Description: The Consul-General and First Secretary, John G. Erhardt, calls his colleagues, John J. Coyle, Vice-Consul; Charles A. Converse and Edward S. Manney, Consuls, into his office to consult upon the knotty problems of American citizens abroad or would-be American citizens who seek entry to the United States. Consuls in Conference: John G. Erhardt; John J. Coyle; Charles A. Converse; Edward S. Manney;
Source: Valdosta State University Archives and Special Collections, Charles Albert Converse Papers, 1939-1940. “The Bystander visits the American Embassy in London.” The Bystander, February 7, 1940, 169-173. F6E83244-0D10-4B8B-4BD4-632B739AE2DF.
Subjects: “Converse, Charles Albert (1904-1940)”; Diplomatic and consular service; United States. Embassy (Great Britain); World War (1939-1945); The Bystander;
Identifier: ms158er1-017img013
Title: Press Attaché.
Creator: The Bystander
Date: 2/7/1940
Description: Press Attaché and Secretary to the Ambassador is James Seymour, telephoning, smoking, and talking at his desk on the right. J. C. Stark is chief of the London Bureau of the Associated Press of America. Virgil Pinkley is European manager of the United Press. John J. Kennedy, no relation of the Ambassador, is his special assistant, went to America with him in December. Press Conference: James Seymour, J. C. Stark, Virgil Pinkley, John J. Kennedy.
Source: Valdosta State University Archives and Special Collections, Charles Albert Converse Papers, 1939-1940. “The Bystander visits the American Embassy in London.” The Bystander, February 7, 1940, 169-173. F6E83244-0D10-4B8B-4BD4-632B739AE2DF.
Subjects: “Converse, Charles Albert (1904-1940)”; Diplomatic and consular service; United States. Embassy (Great Britain); World War (1939-1945); The Bystander;
Identifier: ms158er1-017img014
Processed by Valdosta State University Archives and Special Collections, 3/5/2018. Dallas Suttles, dasuttles@valdosta.edu.