140 years ago today, Romania and The United States established diplomatic relations, marking the beginning of a long, complex and fruitful association in all respects. While the Romanian-American relations are much older, going beyond diplomacy and political relations, we celebrate this day as the inaugural moment of a common journey that grew to become a crucial strategic partnership as a most solid anchor of security, stability, and development.
Join us in exploring this long and fertile connection, which now enjoys unparalleled strength and depth including in terms of cultural, academic and scientific exchanges, with an online exhibition preceded by introductory remarks by H.E. Mr. Bogdan Aurescu, the Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs, H.E. Mr. Adrian Zuckerman, the U.S. Ambassador to Romania, and Ambassador Philip T. Reeker, Acting Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs.
The exhibition was set up by the Diplomatic Archives of the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs together with the U.S. Embassy in Romania.
Nov 20, 1880, Washington – Letter sent by the U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes to His Royal Highness Carol I, in reply to Romania’s notification of independence.
Left: George Pomuț (1818-1882), U.S. Army General and diplomat of Romanian origin;
Right: Nicolae Dunca (1837-1862), Captain, of Romanian origin, in the 12th New York Infantry Regiment.
A Commemoration of Two Civil War Heroes. General George Pomuț and Captain Nicholas Dunca, Americans of Roumanian Origin (America. Roumanian Daily News, Cleveland, Ohio, vol. XXVII, no. 132, June 4, 1932).
[Nov 1917] – Queen Mary and Princess Elizabeth with members of the American Red Cross Mission in front of the American Hospital in the town of Roman. Col. Henry W. Anderson, head of the American Red Cross Mission in Romania, stands at the Queen's right (Library of Congress, U.S.A.).
Oct 18, 1926, New York – Queen Mary of Romania together with Mayor James J. Walker in front of New York City Hall. From Oct 18 to Nov 24, 1926, Queen Mary toured the United States where she visited many places including New York, Washington D.C., Mount Vernon, Annapolis, Baltimore, Philadelphia, West Point, Buffalo, Niagara, Minneapolis, Seattle, Portland, Denver, Kansas City, Chicago, and Indianapolis.
May 1939 – Romania at the Universal Exhibition in New York: Grover Whalen, President of the Exhibition, Eduard J. Flynn, Commissioner of the U.S. Government, Dimitrie Gusti, Commissioner General of Romania, and Radu Irimescu, Extraordinary Envoy and Plenipotentiary Minister of Romania to the United States of America.
Left: May 14, 1939, New York – The program of the concert led by George Enescu at the Metropolitan Opera on the occasion of Romania’s participation at the Universal Exhibition in New York;
Right: Excerpts from the American newspapers regarding concerts given by George Enescu in the United States of America.
Left: Poster from the “Folk Art from Romania” exhibition organized by the Romanian Legation in the United States of America at the American Museum of Natural History in New York (May 6 – July 19, 1959);
Right: May 5, 1959, New York – Harry L. Shapiro, Chairman of the Department of Anthropology at the American Museum of Natural History at the opening of the “Folk Art from Romania” exhibition.
Aug 3, 1969, Bucharest – President of the United States of America, Richard Nixon, greeting Romanian people during his official visit to Romania (Agerpres photo/ Historical archive). This was the first official visit of a President of the United States of America to Romania (Aug 2-3, 1969).
The first page of the first issue of the Bulletin of the Romanian Library in New York, Jan 1972. The agreement for the establishment of a Romanian Library in the U.S.A. and an American Library in Romania had been signed in Bucharest on Aug 3, 1969, during the official visit of U.S. President Richard Nixon to Romania.
Constantin C. Giurescu – the first lecturer of the Romanian History and Civilization Course at Columbia University in New York (Feb 10 – May 25, 1972) (Radio Romania Archive).
Selection of photographs from the exhibition. See more on the Facebook page of the Romanian Diplomatic Archives, Arhivele Diplomatice ale Ministerului Afacerilor Externe or browse the exhibition on the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs' website (please tap the links to open).