Consolation Prize

In Episode 11, we explore the complicated, and sometimes tragic, life of Richard Greener, the first Black consul to a predominantly white post. Before Greener went to Vladivostok, he was a trailblazer in education and politics, but questions about his race and his motivations followed him throughout his political life.

In this bonus episode, we learn about the much more recent history of women in the consular service, as Abby interviews Maura Harty, a career Foreign Service officer who concluded her career at the State Department in the role of Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs. Shownotes at consolationprize.rrchnm.org.

In today's episode, we take a look at some people connected to the consular service who are worthy of notice: the women. We're telling the story of three women, whose stories range from the very conventional to the very unconventional (at least by the standards of the time). Each of these women contributed something significant to the history of the U.S. consular service, and each deserves to have her story told. Producers Deepthi Murali, Megan Brett, and Brenna Reilley bring us their stories, just in time to close out Women's History Month. Shownotes at consolationprize.rrchnm.org.

James Leander Cathcart and Richard O'Brien were uniquely suited to their jobs, from one point of view: they had spent a lot of time in the region they were consuls to--as captives of the ruler during the previous decade. Their struggles to do their jobs in the Barbary states was complicated by their inability to get along with each other, and in the end they couldn't accomplish the mission they'd been charged with: to make peace without payment with the Barbary states. Shownotes are at consolationprize.rrchnm.org.

In this episode, we venture into the tragic story of the 1902 volcanic eruption of Mount Pelée on the island of Martinique. Consul, Thomas Prentis and his family were among the 30,000 victims of this natural disaster. We will discuss the eruption itself, and the diplomatic consequences for Martinique. Show notes are at https://consolationprize.rrchnm.org/2021/02/11/episode-8-eden-to-ashes/.

We go to Jerusalem to find out more about Selah Merrill, the longest-serving consul there before 1948. Despite his desire to be in Jerusalem, Merrill didn't like the city or the people he encountered. He positively hated Jews; he disdained the American tourists; and he picked fights with the American colonists. So why did he stay?

In this bonus holiday episode, we explore the consular life of Joel Roberts Poinsett, everyone's favorite holiday historical figure. Before he went to Mexico, where he "discovered" the flower that now bears his name, Poinsett went all over the world, including to South American as a consul. While he was there, he got involved in quite a lot of activities that didn't really fit the consular program.

Within a year of the end of the American Revolution, the United States sent a ship to China, where the government hoped Americans could start a robust (and lucrative) trade. Samuel Shaw was the supercargo on that first voyage of the Empress of China. On his next voyage to Canton, he went as the U.S. consul, charged with helping the United States gain a foothold in the China trade. On behalf of the United States, he had to make a good impression---all the while knowing that the United States might not make such a good trading partner. From the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media at George Mason University, Consolation Prize is a podcast about the history of the United States in the world through the eyes of its consuls.

In this episode, we learn about Richard Waters. Waters served as the first consul from the United States to Zanzibar because the burgeoning trade of Salem merchants required some official oversight, but in order to be successful, he had to learn to navigate the world of Indian Ocean trade.

In this episode we continue our story of Mohammed Alexander Russell Webb from his decision to resign as an American consul to his inauguration as an honorary consul-general for the Ottoman Empire! We continue to wrestle with the intersection of politics and religion in Webb's career and the ways in which his legacy remains with us today, even if Webb himself faded from the American scene in the early twentieth century.