Contributions by Alabamians in the Foreign Service

Born in Selma and raised on a farm in Alabama, James O’Brien Howard joined the Department of Agriculture in 1939 and became one of the early agricultural attachés of the newly formed Foreign Agricultural Service in the 1950s and helped develop markets for U.S. cotton. While serving in Cairo, he became separated from his family in the midst of a chaotic evacuation during the 1956 Suez Crisis. Read his account in ADST’s collection.

Raised on a farm in west Alabama, Andrew Killgore served in the Pacific in World War II and began his Foreign Service career in 1949. As Ambassador to Qatar in the late 1970s, he convinced the Emir to keep oil prices low during the oil crisis and sought opportunities with U.S. energy companies in Qatar’s natural gas fields. His full story is in ADST’s collection.

Leonardo M. Williams was born in Eufaula and raised in Anniston, and he joined the U.S. Information Agency in 1968. As assistant cultural officer in Athens in the early 1970s, he helped maintain ties with a Greek population disenchanted with U.S. foreign policy during Greece’s repressive junta. Learn more in his complete oral history.

Born in Montgomery, Mabel Murphy Smythe was one of the first Black women to be appointed as an Ambassador, representing the United States in both Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea. Her leadership in the late 1970s was instrumental in strengthening America’s relationship with these developing countries. Here’s the rest of her story.

William J. Dyess was born in Troy and educated at the University of Alabama and joined the Foreign Service in 1958. He was chief of liaison with Soviet authorities in Berlin 1968-70, negotiating the release of Americans detained in East Berlin and exchanging prisoners at “Checkpoint Charlie.” Learn more about his career, including his time as Ambassador to the Netherlands, in his full oral history.

Born and raised in Birmingham, Margaret Tutwiler entered the foreign affairs community through politics when Secretary James Baker III, her colleague on electoral campaigns, convinced her to take on the role of State Department spokesperson. She explained U.S. foreign policy to the American media during such monumental events as the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Persian Gulf War. She went on to serve as Ambassador to Morocco from 2001 to 2003 and as one of the first American civilians in Iraq in 2003. Read her story in ADST’s collection.