ADST’s Oral History Collection
Since 1986, the Foreign Affairs Oral History Program of the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training (ADST) has recorded more than 2600 interviews with former participants in the U.S. foreign affairs process. Collectively, these oral histories span over 80 years. About 60 new interviews are added annually. The series also contains some significant oral histories dealing with American diplomacy, which were provided by universities and presidential libraries. The oral history collection has become one of the largest in the country on any subject and the most significant collection on foreign affairs.
Interested in a particular country, region, or subject? Go beyond the experiences of just one diplomat with our Country and Subject Readers.
The collection is available on ADST’s website under Search Our Collection and also hosted on the Library of Congress website as the Frontline Diplomacy Collection.
The special project aims to collect oral histories of diplomats and other officials who served in Afghanistan or were otherwise involved with U.S.-Afghanistan policies from 2001–2024, including the 2021 Kabul evacuation.
With support from the American Foreign Service Association (AFSA), ADST conducted several oral histories with AFSA presidents and leadership, especially those who served in the opening decades of the 21st Century, specifically focusing on AFSA and the issues of that time.
In addition to its regular oral history program, ADST has collaborated closely with the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) on several special oral history projects pertaining to contemporary events.
In recognition of the 30th anniversary of the 1995 Dayton Peace Accords (DPA), the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training (ADST) is recording, transcribing, and sharing new oral histories with U.S. and foreign officials involved in the 1995 negotiations and subsequent DPA implementation.